Linking rights,needs, and fairness in high-stakes assessments and examinations |
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| Authors: | Kevin Woods Tamsin McCaldin Amanda Hipkiss Beverley Tyrell Megan Dawes |
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| Institution: | School of Environment, Education and Development, The University of Manchester, UK |
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| Abstract: | This paper presents a novel explanation for the continued absence of a children’s rights strategy within high-stakes educational assessment with reference to the competing purposes of high-stakes assessments and group-based constructions of fairness in assessment. We provide an original critique of group-based perspectives on the validity of assessment accommodations which supports an individual perspective on fair educational assessment. From this, the (almost forgotten) concept of ‘student assessment needs’ is (re-)introduced as a central axiom, to be constructed through feedback from, and dialogue with, students about their experience of high-stakes assessments, giving primacy to their purpose as an attainment demonstration opportunity for the student. To promote a new movement towards student participation in educational assessment processes and reforms, we propose ‘rights respecting assessment’, complementary to UNICEF’s ‘Rights Respecting Schools’ initiative, in which regular system-wide student representation would contribute to the development of high-stakes examination systems. In recognition of this aspiration, this paper is co-authored with a recent school-leaving age examination candidate. |
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| Keywords: | Educational assessment children’s rights fairness assessment needs high-stakes |
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