Abstract:
Meeting the inherent challenges of Accessibility in Assessment for Learning
Assessment for Learning (AfL) practices, the suite of shared learning goals and success criteria, self and peer assessment, strategic questioning and feedback work together to empower students to come to know what quality looks like. Yet the cognitive and procedural demands of AfL can make these practices inherently inaccessible for students with language and attention difficulties (Willis et al., 2023). As part of the Accessible Assessment Linkage, a Professional Learning program was designed to familiarise teachers with the ideas of designing out barriers to accessibility when using success criteria (Graham et al., 2018). Success criteria are the foundation for other AfL practices as without getting a sense of what is expected students remain dependant on the teacher to point out where performances can improve (Sadler, 1989). Success criteria are challenging for teachers to enact (Wylie, 2023). This paper reports on two aspects of the inherent challenges of accessibility and the implications for the teacher professional learning process. Firstly the concept of accessibility and AfL is an epistemic and ethical priority. Secondly the experiential and emotional work for teachers of learning to enact accessible AfL has inherent challenges.
Data was collected through the 8-week teacher professional development process (Willis et al., 2023) using a pre and post ACAI survey, video observations, reflections and interviews. Deductive analysis against 4 accessibility criteria, and inductive content and linguistic analysis was conducted by three researchers, with data triangulated within and across data collected via different methods. Once teachers were aware of the inherent barriers, they were able to make success criteria more identifiable for students, increase connections between the learning activities throughout the lesson, help students develop a shared sense of quality and to some extent students were given more time in class to use the success criteria to improve their work. For teachers who found early traction with the practices there were benefits for students and teachers. Analysis of the reflections from teachers who were slower to find traction with the practices highlighted the intellectual and practical demand of integrating new practices. The dimensions of epistemic, experiential, ethical and emotional assessment literacy (DeLuca et al., 2024) can provide an overall guide to approaching assessment change and professional learning, especially in prioritising accessibility in AfL.
Assessment for Learning (AfL) practices, the suite of shared learning goals and success criteria, self and peer assessment, strategic questioning and feedback work together to empower students to come to know what quality looks like. Yet the cognitive and procedural demands of AfL can make these practices inherently inaccessible for students with language and attention difficulties (Willis et al., 2023). As part of the Accessible Assessment Linkage, a Professional Learning program was designed to familiarise teachers with the ideas of designing out barriers to accessibility when using success criteria (Graham et al., 2018). Success criteria are the foundation for other AfL practices as without getting a sense of what is expected students remain dependant on the teacher to point out where performances can improve (Sadler, 1989). Success criteria are challenging for teachers to enact (Wylie, 2023). This paper reports on two aspects of the inherent challenges of accessibility and the implications for the teacher professional learning process. Firstly the concept of accessibility and AfL is an epistemic and ethical priority. Secondly the experiential and emotional work for teachers of learning to enact accessible AfL has inherent challenges.
Data was collected through the 8-week teacher professional development process (Willis et al., 2023) using a pre and post ACAI survey, video observations, reflections and interviews. Deductive analysis against 4 accessibility criteria, and inductive content and linguistic analysis was conducted by three researchers, with data triangulated within and across data collected via different methods. Once teachers were aware of the inherent barriers, they were able to make success criteria more identifiable for students, increase connections between the learning activities throughout the lesson, help students develop a shared sense of quality and to some extent students were given more time in class to use the success criteria to improve their work. For teachers who found early traction with the practices there were benefits for students and teachers. Analysis of the reflections from teachers who were slower to find traction with the practices highlighted the intellectual and practical demand of integrating new practices. The dimensions of epistemic, experiential, ethical and emotional assessment literacy (DeLuca et al., 2024) can provide an overall guide to approaching assessment change and professional learning, especially in prioritising accessibility in AfL.