Intercultural Education in the Post-Primary School - National Council ...

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ased on data without sufficientconsideration being given to the potentialfor bias. There are two types of error thatcan arise in this context with anyassessment tool. These are (a) a ‘falsepositive’ result–falsely seeing somethingthat is not there and (b) a ‘false negative’result–failing to see something that is there.(a) A ‘false positive’ result occurs when theassessment identifies a phenomenonthat is not in fact present. For example:• Standardised tests in English whichare normed on a majority Englishspeakingpopulation may lead to astudent being characterised ashaving language difficulties if thetest is used on a student from anethnic group which uses a differentEnglish dialect.(b) A ‘false negative’ result occurs when anassessment fails to identify a student’scharacteristics, competencies, orproblems because the criteria used arenot sufficiently sensitive. For example:• Written assessments which aredesigned to identify the extent of astudent’s learning or skills in aparticular curriculum area may failto identify these in a student forwhom the language of assessment isa second language. Such studentsmay experience greater difficulties informal communication of complexideas than those for whom thelanguage of assessment is their firstlanguage, even when the studentappears fluent in the language ofassessment in everyday life.What the teacher/examiner should lookout forThere are three major ways in whichcultural or language factors may give riseto these sorts of errors in assessment.(i) The content or construction of theassessment may be biased, giving unfairadvantage to one group over another.For example,• an assessment of English oral languagewhich regards particular pronunciationsas correct is likely to be biased againstmany fluent English speakers whospeak in, for example, one of theAfrican English dialects• a standardised word recognition testwhich has been normed on onepopulation group may well be biasedagainst members of minority ethnicgroups• an assessment of a student’s socialengagement in class may conclude thata student who does not make eyecontact with a teacher is shy or unengaged,whereas in some cultures it isinappropriate for young people to makeeye contact with adults• there is evidence that the success rate ofdifferent ethnic groups in answeringmathematical problems is dependent inpart on how the problem is phrased.(ii) The formatting, mode of testadministration or the examinerpersonality may favour one group ofexaminees over another. For example,• tests that have to be completed within alimited time may well penalise testtakers who are not proficient in Englishbut who are proficient in the materialbeing tested• students who are familiar withnegatively marked objective tests maywell have learned answering strategies94Intercultural Education in the Post-Primary School
ASSESSMENT AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY 7that maximise test scores, which willplace students who are unfamiliar withsuch tests at a disadvantage.(iii) Assessment results may be used to basedecisions on inappropriate criteria. Forexample,• a student may be allocated to an abilitybasedgroup based on social or othernon-ability related criteria. Forexample, research in the US has shownthe overrepresentation of MexicanAmerican children in special educationclasses. (Handbook of MulticulturalAssessment, p.18).TOWARDS A MORE INCLUSIVE APPROACH TOASSESSMENTTeachers are becoming more familiar withthe variety of assessment tools that areavailable to gather information aboutstudents' learning. Asking questions,setting and correcting homeworkassignments, giving tests at the end of unitsof study, are all forms of assessment withwhich teachers are familiar.Teachers use the results of this assessmentto inform students on their progress, toreport to parents and to plan futureclassroom activities. Difficulties arise whenassessment methods are used that areclearly inappropriate for the situation.Teachers as assessors need an expandingrepertory of assessment tools to ensure thatassessment procedures are fair andresponsive to the needs of all students,including students who are disadvantaged,coming to the system from another cultureor those for whom the language ofinstruction and assessment is not their firstlanguage. There are many alternatives toIntercultural Education in the Post-Primary School 95
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INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION IN THE POST
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CONTENTSINTRODUCTIONiCHAPTER 1 The
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INTRODUCTIONEducation is therefore
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Chapter 2 articulates the major ele
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The Context of Intercultural Educat
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THE CONTEXT OF INTERCULTURAL EDUCAT
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SCHOOL PLANNING 3STUDENT COUNCILSAs
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SCHOOL PLANNING 3FIGURE 2: SCHOOL R
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SCHOOL PLANNING 3ensure this is add
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SCHOOL PLANNING 3environment, the l
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SCHOOL PLANNING 3• physical layou
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SCHOOL PLANNING 3PARENTAL INVOLVEME
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CLASSROOM PLANNING 4Use this exerci
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CLASSROOM PLANNING 4attitudes; unfa
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CLASSROOM PLANNING 4The resource sh
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Page 129 and 130: GLOSSARYPositive profilingA form of
Page 131 and 132: BIBLIOGRAPHYIreland, Department of
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Page 138: NCCANational Council for Curriculum
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