Compared to other countries in Europe, official figures in Austria, however incomplete, indicate that pessimism towards successful integration of immigrants and their children is justified. With regard to schooling and labor market, it is not only the first generation of the so‐called guest‐workers who seem to be stuck at low levels of the social hierarchy, but also the second generation. This is especially true for the descendants of Turkish immigrants. Among important factors to explain their educational position are the highly selective school system and the young age in which compulsory education ends. Relevant labor‐market features explain the low unemployment figures as well as the low permeability into some occupational positions and branches. Other important factors to explain the high share of low educational tracks among descendants of Turkish guestworkers are found in the difficult legal situation of families caused by the restrictive and highly complicated residence and work permission system of the past. It did not allow parents and their children to consider more ambitious educational and professional careers. All in all, the Austrian situation is a telling result of a 30‐year absence of concerted action in the field of immigrant integration.

Global mobility and economic and political crises in some parts of the world have fuelled migration and brought new constellations of 'cultural diversity' to European classrooms (OECD 2019). This produces new challenges for teaching, but also for assessment in which cultural biases may have far-reaching consequences for the students' further careers in education, occupation and life. After considering the concept of and current research on 'culturally responsive assessment', we use qualitative interview data from 115 teachers and school leaders in 20 lower secondary schools in Austria, Ireland, Norway and Turkey to explore the thinking about diversity and assessment practices of teachers in the light of increasing cultural diversity. Findings suggest that 'proficiency in the language of instruction' is the main dimension by which diversity in classrooms is perceived. While there is much less reference to 'cultural differences' in our case studies, we found many teachers in case schools trying to adapt their assessment procedures and grading in order to help students from diverse backgrounds to show their competencies and to experience success. However, these responses were, in many cases, individualistic rather than organised by the school or regional education authorities and were also strongly influenced and at times, limited by government-mandated assessment regimes that exist in each country. The paper closes with a series of recommendations to support the further development of a practicable and just practice of culturally responsive assessment in schools.

Across the world, teachers’ classroom assessment tasks and responsibilities are becoming more diverse due to increased migration. In this review, we address how migrant students are affected by assessment, both summative and formative, at the classroom level, with a focus on culturally responsive assessment (CRA). Previous research has shown that CRA practices mainly occur in student-centred classrooms. Furthermore, both student and teacher beliefs about teaching and learning might negatively affect migrant students’ opportunities to engage in assessment situations. Teaching and assessment practices should be negotiated and aligned with and included in classroom norms to be culturally responsive. We propose that what is generally considered a valid and reliable assessment practice might need to be adjusted to account for students’ cultural ways of knowing and participating and how this is expressed and communicated within the classroom.

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