Considering Assessment Best Practices in Reading Assessment Development in Malawi

• In Event: Linguistic diversity & program strategies: Precursors & potential for foundational learning

Proposal

During the instrument development workshop for the national reading assessment in Malawi, we collaboratively applied universal design for assessment principles to the new tools. This was a priority to ensure that the assessment could be accessed by as many children as possible, including those with learning difficulties or disabilities. During the workshop, facilitators and participants discussed common access barriers during assessments, as well as strategies for reducing or removing those barriers, within the limits of a national assessment context. In addition to general education teachers and officials from the ministry data quality unit, representatives from the the department of inclusive education as well as four special needs teachers attended to provide their insight into the needs and experiences of learners with disabilities who transition between resource classrooms and general education classes. In this work, it is important to reference updated thinking on assessment design and development including the anti-racist and justice-oriented heuristics proposed by Randall (2021, 2022) around defining the construct of interest and the development of a validity argument (Kane, 2013). In so doing, we are ensuring that we are asking the difficult questions regarding assessment content, administration, and standards of performance that are aligned with the context within which we are working. This includes considering validity evidence based on the construct and on test content.

Author

• Mary Faith Mount-Cors, EdIntersect, LLC