The Requirements for Equality and Diversity and, Where Appropriate, Bilingualism in Relation to Assessment
Explore the essential requirements for equality, diversity, and bilingualism in assessment. Learn how to ensure fair and inclusive evaluation practices that embrace diverse learners effectively.
Assessment plans must be inclusive. It must be tailored to the needs of the various learning styles.
Gender:
Research by Lanyon and Hubball (2008) suggests that females typically demonstrate lower levels of self-confidence than males with respect to advanced academic achievement. In the field of counselling, Fitzpatrick (1999) found that female students were less confident than males in rating their abilities and skills. Therefore, using self-assessment and/or peer-assessment strategies may adversely affect the female gender more than the male gender, as they may see themselves as inadequate.
Disability:
Under the Equality Act 2010, the institution may be taken to court for unlawful failure to make reasonable adjustments. A risk assessment must be done for assessments requiring laboratory experiment tasks, and assessors must decide what reasonable adjustments are needed for disabled pupils to fully participate in the activity.
Race/culture/religion:
If the academic performance of students from a particular race/culture is poor in comparison to the school average, Institutions should consider closely monitoring the group. They can then identify the reasons/factors for this and apply the appropriate intervention measures to address the concern. For example, the use of home-link workers has been shown to improve school attendance and academic attainment among Gypsy and Traveller pupils (Ofsted, 2005).
Language:
Where learners spoken language may be a concern, the assessors must provide support materials that are clear, simple to understand, and unambiguous. A one-to-one tutorial session with the student can also be set up and recorded to ensure they understand all the requirements of the assessments and can view the recording at a later time.
Reference/Bibliography
Davies, A. and Stiling, L. (2021) TAQA – training assessment and quality assurance [PowerPoint presentation]. 22 October.
Equality and Human Rights Commission (2014) What equality law means for you as an education provider: schools. Available at: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/what_equality_law_means_for_you_as_an_education_provider_schools.pdf (Accessed: 21 December 2021).
Fitzpatrick, C. (1999) ‘Students as evaluator in practicum: examining peer-self assessment and self-efficacy’, ACES Conference, New Orleans.
Lanyon, L. and Hubball, H. (2008) ‘Gender considerations and innovative learning-centred assessment practices’, Transformative Dialogues: Teaching & Learning Journal, 2(1), pp. 1 – 11. Available at: https://www.kpu.ca/sites/default/files/Teaching%20and%20Learning/TD.2.1_Lanyon%26Hubball_Gender_Considerations.pdf (Accessed: 21 December 2021)
Meadows, M. (2018) Safeguarding the confidentiality of assessment materials & managing conflicts of interest. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/683919/Safeguarding_the_confidentiality_of_assessment_materials_and_managing_conflicts_of_interest.pdf (Accessed: 21 December 2021).
Ofsted (2005) Race equality in education - good practice in schools and local education authorities. Available at: https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/5546/1/Race%20equality%20in%20education%20good%20practice%20in%20schools%20and%20local%20education%20authorities%20(PDF%20format).pdf (Accessed: 22 December 2021).
