The Ethics of Assessment in a Democratic Society

• In Event: Roundtable Session 100
  In Roundtable Session: Current Issues in Classroom Observation and Assessment

Abstract

This paper begins with the question, How should learning be assessed in a democratic society? Informed by the literature on democratic education as well as on test validity, program evaluation, and formative assessment, I suggest ten principles for assessment practices that could be defended as democratic. I note that formative assessment as currently conceived exemplifies the majority of these ideals, yet lacks important principles of critical inquiry and understanding of multiple perspectives. I argue for an expanded conception of formative assessment that provides the most defensible answer to the question of how we should proceed with a vision of assessment that advances a skilled, critically engaged, democratic citizenry.

Author

• Kristen L. Davidson, University of Colorado - Boulder