Assessment Breakfast: DEI & Assessment

When: October 6, 2021, 10:00 am - 11:30 am

Presenter(s): Joel D. Bloom, Ph.D., Director of Assessment, Hunter College, CUNY; Michael Seelig, Ed.D., Institutional Effectiveness Officer, Medgar Evers College, CUNY

“Dismantling the Master’s House: Justice, Equity, Diversity; Inclusion (JEDI) in Assessment”

Audre Lorde famously said “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” We know American higher education is built on a racist foundation; we also know many of the assessment tools currently in use frequently have racist outcomes, even where there is no racist intent. Many assessment practitioners have been trained to believe that the methods we use are neutral when it comes to racial equity. Unfortunately, decades of research have shown that many tools do indeed discriminate — from “objective” multiple choice exams, to the ways we write learning outcomes, and design rubrics, assessment practitioners would benefit from considering issues of equity in every aspect of our work.

In this session, Dr. Seelig will review the history of inequity in American higher education. Dr. Bloom will then lead an interactive discussion of ways in which the very tools we use to assess student learning are themselves racist, and discuss more equitable options. Finally, we will focus on ways we can use assessment analysis and reporting to further more equitable outcomes. By discussing/examining/brainstorming alternatives to these flawed tools, as well as ways in which we can conduct analyses and reporting in a more equitable manner, we can hopefully steer our campus discussions in an antiracist direction.