A Framework for Enacting Equity Aims in Assessment Use: A Justice-Oriented Approach

Abstract

This chapter introduces a framework for justice-oriented assessment use to evaluate the appropriateness of proposed uses of educational assessments within culturally and linguistically diverse societies. This work argues for an approach to educational measurement that explicitly prioritizes the aims of advancing social justice. The proposed framework guides teams of assessment program stakeholders (e.g., test users, test developers, and test takers) through a process that evaluates the strength of theory and evidence in relation to the intended and unintended consequences of assessment use on historically marginalized learners and communities. The framework applies a critical theory perspective to uncover and challenge the ways the considered uses of assessment may perpetuate systemic inequities. This chapter contributes to a growing discourse on the role educational measurement can play in both perpetuating and disrupting systems of oppression in multicultural societies.