Re-conceptualizing classroom assessment fairness: A systematic meta-ethnography of assessment literature and beyond

Abstract

Conceptualizing fairness in student assessment at classroom levels has been an area of focus in recent years given the growing emphasis on assessment-driven teaching and educational accountability across educational systems. However, previous studies into assessment fairness have predominantly drawn on assessment-based literature to conceptualize fairness. While this literature is central to the construct, we argue that it does not fully account for the dynamic relationship between assessment, teaching, and learning within the diverse socio-cultural classroom contexts. Therefore, using a systematic meta-ethnographic review of 150 studies, this study identifies a more comprehensive conception of fairness for classroom assessment drawn from not only assessment literature but also from literature beyond assessment, which has not already been included in the process of reconceptualizating classroom assessment fairness. The results of this study present a conceptualization of classroom assessment fairness with a dominant focus on the role of assessment fairness in supporting student learning.

Students’ critical incidents of fairness in classroom assessment: an empirical study

“…Given the emphasis on fairness as a critical aspect of CA contexts (Rasooli et al, 2018;Tierney, 2013), researchers have begun to conceptualize CA fairness predicated on theories beyond assessment and measurement arenas (Rasooli et al, 2018;Tierney, 2014). In response to these calls, several researchers have built on social psychology theories to conceptualize fairness for CA contexts and called for empirical studies across contexts to move this conceptualization forward (Grace, 2017;Rasooli et al, 2019).…”

“…Drawing on this conceptualization, educational and assessment scholars have begun to apply this theory to classroom contexts to understand students' perceptions of fairness (Cronen and Fuller, 1976;Oppenheimer, 1989;Rodabaugh, 1994;Thorkildsen, 1993). As indicated by a recent systematic review of the fairness in educational and assessment literature (Rasooli et al, 2018), most of the quantitative studies focusing on the social psychology theory of justice in classroom contexts have heavily drawn on the principles of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice fostered originally within workplace and legal contexts (e.g. Chory-Assad, 2002;Holmgren and Bolkan, 2014).…”

“…Some students provided detailed accounts of their un/fairness incident(s), while some provided more concise answers. The questions were intentionally crafted to focus beyond assessment incidents, as previous literature has conceptualized CA fairness in relation to classroom elements of teaching, learning, and classroom interactions demonstrating the interplay between assessment fairness and these other classroom elements (Rasooli et al, 2018;Tierney, 2016). As expected, the majority of un/fair incidents dealt with experiences related to assessment (i.e., 66%; 392 of 592 incidents).…”

“…Researchers have called for conceptualizing fairness specially for classroom contexts to contribute toward 'classroometric' (Brookhart, 2003) theories of assessment (Rasooli, Zandi, and DeLuca, 2018;Tierney, 2013Tierney, , 2014. To address these calls, the purpose of this study is to provide an initial empirical foundation for a conceptualization of fairness rooted in Iranian students' classroom experiences.…”

How Pre-service Teachers' Conceptions of Assessment Change Over Practicum: Implications for Teacher Assessment Literacy

“…However, their feedback practices were found not to develop in alignment with these reshaped conceptions, for the case teachers frequently gave positive but irrelevant feedback on the tasks. Besides, the teachers' CoA changes concerning fairness in classroom assessment and students' involvement in and engagement with assessment are not prominent, although these two assessment dimensions are recognized as key components of classroom assessment theory and practice (Tierney, 2014;Rasooli et al, 2018) and teacher assessment literacy (DeLuca et al, 2016;Xu and Brown, 2016). The insufficient practice during the practicum might mainly account for the misalignment between the teachers' actual feedback practices and their reshaped CoA, as well as for the teachers' partial CoA changes.…”