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

ASSESSMENT AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY 7Guidelines for setting homework andassessment questions• Keep questions as short and simple aspossible.• Avoid the unnecessary use of metaphorsor colloquialisms.• Where possible provide visual clues toshow students what to do.• Provide support to students whose firstlanguage is not English. For example,teachers can set questions and then canprovide a set of words and phrases tochoose from. Multiple choice questionscan also be useful in this regard, althoughcare should be taken as students fromanother education system may not befamiliar with this method of assessment.• Familiarise students with the structureand vocabulary of the tests andexaminations. Explain commonly usedwords such as ‘identify’, ‘describe’, ‘list’,‘discuss’.• Teach the students how to take the test byproviding practice questions that are notscored. Give feedback on the practicequestions.• Do not ask the students to attempt thewhole test paper at once. Break it up intomanageable bites. It is less intimidating ifstudents are faced with one section at atime.• Avoid references to culturally specific andcontextual knowledge that some studentsmay not share.• Encourage second-language learners touse dictionaries.• Allow sufficient time for students tocomplete the examination.THE ROLE OF SCHOOLS IN PROMOTINGPOSITIVE ASSESSMENT METHODSSchools have a role to play in reducinginequality and bias in assessment andpromoting the use of more inclusivemodels of assessment.• As part of its overall school plan,schools can set out clearly its policy andprovision for redressing problems ofdisadvantage and inequality throughschool-based assessment. This mightinclude provision of dictionaries forschool examination purposes, allowingextra time for students for whomEnglish is not their first language.• Secondly, they can broaden the range ofassessment tools to facilitate differentcultures, backgrounds and intelligencesand to assist students to demonstrate adiversity of skills, aptitudes andachievements.• Thirdly, they can have a clear policy forthe regular assessment of pupils with aview to identifying at the earliestpossible point, those pupils in need ofextra help.• Finally, they can work closely withparents to develop a real partnershipand so enhance each student’s potentialfor success.ASSESSMENT OF STUDENTS UPON ENTRYTO SCHOOLIn order to gain sufficient information tosupport the student’s learning, it may beappropriate to assess some students uponentry into the school. For example,students who have recently arrived fromanother country, or students for whomEnglish is not a first language, may benefitfrom the tailoring of education experiencesthat might stem from such assessment. Indeciding which students to assess on entryto school, it is important that teacherjudgement be used in consultation with theparents, and having regard to:• the inappropriateness and potentiallabelling of students that might resultfrom assessing all children fromminority ethnic groups who attend theschool;Intercultural Education in the Post-Primary School 99