Explain what psychologists mean when they say that a classroom assessment instrument is culturally biased. Then describe two different strategies you might use to minimize the presence of cultural bias in your own classroom assessments

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

An assessment instrument has cultural bias if any of its items either offend or unfairly penalize some students on the basis of their ethnicity, gender, or socioeconomic status. Examples of strategies that can help minimize cultural bias are the following (the response should include three of them or other equally justifiable strategies):
• Scrutinize assessment instruments carefully for tasks that students might find offensive because of their ethnicity, gender, or socioeconomic status.
• Scrutinize assessment instruments carefully for tasks that students might have difficulty answering because of their ethnicity, gender, or socioeconomic status.
• If students have only limited proficiency in English (as might be the case for recent immigrants), minimize your dependence on language to assess achievement in subject areas other than language arts.
• Teach students test-taking strategies.
• Encourage students to ask questions if they are unfamiliar with the content or procedures required for assessment tasks.