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"It'll Be More of the Same, Just Worse": Dystopian Future(s) of Education Assessment

Sat, April 18, 2:45 to 4:15pm, Hyatt, Floor: East Tower - Purple Level, Riverside West

Abstract

The future of assessment projected equivocally by Education Testing Service (ETS), the Gordon Commission, and Arne Duncan expands into non-cognitive traits and beyond. The uncritical growth of assessment sought by those situated to enact policy changes raises questions about the utopian horizon operative in assessment discourses. Countering these utopian hopes, the following paper collects and analyzes stories of the future of assessment from educationalists whose daily work involves education assessment. These stories offer a critical view on the future of assessment. The authors used these stories to create a dystopia of assessment that expresses the concerns of educationalists. The paper argues that dystopian approaches to assessment offer a counter-discourse to current calls for the unchecked expansion of assessment.

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