“Activism Through Assessment”: English Language Arts Teachers Advance Justice Through Culturally Sustaining and Liberatory Assessment

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: The Politics of Language and Literacy Curricula: Amplifying Obscured Perspectives Within Cultural Contexts (Table 27)

Abstract

What happens when ELA teachers apply the principles of culturally sustaining and liberatory assessment in their classrooms? This study explored how six teachers– the Alternative Assessment Collective– designed and enacted alternatives to traditional ELA assessment. Analysis of meeting transcripts, interviews, artifacts, and surveys found that teachers’ assessment practices were characterized by 1) cogenerativity, both with teacher peers and with students; 2) activism, with a focus on community input and impact; and 3) pluralism, centering multiple modalities, languages, cultures, and ways of knowing. These findings contribute to research examining how teachers disrupt traditional modes of assessment and develop alternatives that advance equity and justice.

Authors

• Daniel P. Moore, Seton Hall University

• Paula Dallacqua, New York City Department of Education

• Kevin Ho, Chicago Public Schools