Student Learning Assessment Resources

The purpose of student learning outcome assessment at Georgia Southern is the improvement of student learning. We develop student learning outcomes and assessment measures that allow us to systematically examine student performance so that we can identify strengths and weaknesses and plan strategically to make changes that will help students to more consistently meet our program or course expectations.

Equitable assessment adds a dimension to this goal by emphasizing that we want our assessment processes and measures to accurately reflect the learning of ALL students in our institution, taking into account the myriad individual differences that shape people and learning experiences. We have all personally experienced that we perform better on certain types of assignments or evaluations under certain circumstances due to our learning style, level of experience and confidence, life experiences, educational history, and cultural identity. This web of underlying performance factors can be particularly complicated for some students, including students from under-represented populations, first-generation college students, and transfer students. Engaging in equitable assessment asks us to optimize opportunities for all students, but in particular historically underrepresented students, to demonstrate their best learning by interrogating our own ideas about students, dynamics of privilege, philosophies of teaching and learning, curriculum content, assignment design, assessment methods, data analysis and presentation, and strategies for improving student learning.

There are many ways to improve assessment equity at each stage of the assessment process -- from the language used in mission statements and student learning outcomes, to disaggregating data to reveal equity gaps, to developing action plans that provide support and assistance appropriate to the needs of specific students. As we begin to focus more intentionally on equitable assessment practices, some central principles derived from the intersection of culturally responsive assessment, socially just assessment, and critical assessment presented in a paper by Erick Montenegro and Natasha Jankowski (2020) of the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment can be helpful:

1. Meaningful student involvement -- As the primary stakeholders in our educational programs, it is critical that we include student voices in developing and implementing assessment processes as a check to our own biases and habits.
2. Data disaggregation, exploration, and action -- The first step to revealing potential inequities in our assessment practices is the disaggregation of data to compare the learning of students with specific characteristics. However, simply revealing these inequities is insufficient without additional investigation into the causes of these inequities within assessment measures and as experienced by the students participating in these assessments.
3. Context-specific approaches and responses -- Equity in education has been a complex and persistent issue in education at all levels in the United States throughout our history. It is important to take steps that are realistic, meaningful, and impactful within the specific context of our institution. Montenegro and Jankowski recommend "Determining an issue of equitable assessment that can bring faculty, staff, and students together in a space of productive discomfort will lead to more equitable assessment in the future than charging ahead with full disruption of assessment process in the name of equity" (2020, p. 11).
4. Embedded in all things assessment -- Each stage of the assessment process offers opportunities to shift toward equitable practices. Checking biases, using multiple sources of evidence, including student perspectives, increasing transparency, disaggregating and interrogating data, and making context-specific changes based on evidence are all components of equitable engagement practice.

Resources included in this guide highlight current scholarship on equitable assessment practices as well as some practical tools to apply to your own teaching and assessment.

Montenegro, E. and Jankowski, N. (2020) A new decade for assessment: Embedding equity into assessment praxis. (42) NILOA.