Staff-Students Partnership for

Assessment Change and Evaluation

(SPACE):
Interdisciplinary guidance based on the
assessment experiences of over 800 disabled
and non disabled students.
http://tinyurl.com/inc-ass-SPACE

Teaching and Learning Research
Programme:
A project investigating how disabled
students academic performance and
experience of teaching, learning and
assessment varies by disability, subject
studied and by type of institution.
http://tinyurl.com/fuller-tlrp

Strategies for Creating Inclusive
Programmes of Study (SCIPS):
A web based resource providing strategies for
creating inclusive curricula and assessment.
http://tinyurl.com/inc-study-SCIPS

Making your Teaching
Inclusive:
An interactive website on making teaching
and assessment inclusive.
http://tinyurl.com/inclusive-teaching

Disability Legislation:
Practical Guidance for Academic Staff.
http://tinyurl.com/practical-guidance

American Psychological Association:
Assessment guides for learning goals and
outcomes.
http://tinyurl.com/apa-online


Key Resources
Overview
The pursuit of inclusive assessment is
part of a larger debate about the
validity and reliability of assessment
methods in Higher Education and it
highlights the importance of critically
examining traditional practice. The
traditional unseen, time limited
examination is only valid and reliable
for those students whose learning style
mirrors the demands of the method.
Many students feel disadvantaged by
unseen examinations and even make
course and module choices to avoid
them.

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)
are being tasked through the widening
participation agenda, international
recruitment and through equality and
anti-discrimination legislation to target
the areas of age, disability, gender,
race, religion and sexual orientation in
the development and delivery of
higher education.

To date only the area of disability has
a formal framework considering
'reasonable adjustments' in relation to
assessment. The Disability
Discrimination Act Part 4 Code of
Practice (DDA, 2005) stresses that the
anticipatory duty is particularly
relevant to the area of assessment for
disabled people and students at large.
To avoid unnecessary barriers and
discrimination, whilst still continuing to
identify genuine competence
standards, requires modifying
assessment design or delivery.

Inclusive Practice E-bulletin Series
Inclusive Assessment
Judith Waterfield and Bob West
(University of Plymouth)
July 2009 (V2)

Inclusive Assessment
Inclusive assessment makes no arbitrary distinction between types of student: disabled and
non-disabled, traditional and non-traditional, etc. The issue of disability dissolves into the
broader paradigms of student learning styles and experiences and how best to measure
individual achievement. The Disability Discrimination Act Part 4 Code of Practice (DDA, 2005)
calls for flexible modes of measurement in the awarding of qualifications as a way of reducing
the need to make numerous 'reasonable adjustments' for individual students.

Inclusive assessment offers flexibility of assessment choice; a range of tried and tested
methods for assessing competence in a rigorous and reliable way, built into course design and
subject to student and staff evaluation. Student preferences for assessment modes, based
upon their own perceived strengths and weaknesses, form a key component of making
assessment inclusive.

Research shows that inclusive assessment achieves higher levels of student satisfaction,
provides increased opportunities for discussion and leads to improvements in student marks
and grades. For staff, inclusive assessment removes the need for individual modified
assessment provisions, reduces the reliance upon alternative assessments, better reflects the
achievements of the diverse student population and can make modules more interesting to
teach. It can have an impact on staff time, may require more careful appraisal and necessitate
dedicated staff development.

The first stage to inclusiveness might include piloting assessment choice through: identifying
one or two 'champion' departments; evaluating current student experiences; engaging with
relevant professional bodies and subject centres; choosing valid assessment modes to evaluate
and auditing change.
This is one in a series of e-bulletins available online at:
http://tinyurl.com/inclusion-e-bulletins
Series Editor: Dr Helen May, Higher Education Academy:helen.may@heacademy.ac.uk
Series Manager: Naomi Craig, Higher Education Academy Psychology Network:
n.craig@psych.york.ac.uk
Key Points
Assessment provision for disabled students falls into three distinct categories:
1. Modified Assessment Provisions (MAPs) are a compensatory approach, a form of
integration based on the medical model of disability. The volume of MAPs organised
annually sector-wide is no longer tenable. Resting responsibility at the point of liaison
between disability services and examination offices tends to exclude the academic
departments, which also have anticipatory duties. There is no empirical evidence to show
that MAPs have the desired outcome of 'levelling the playing field'. Qualitative research
shows a degree of student dissatisfaction with them (SPACE, 2006).
2. Alternative Assessments are a 'one off' attempt to match impairments to assessment
methods. Arranging an alternative assessment might be necessary when the general
'minimal adaptations' made to meet an HEI's anticipatory duty are considered not to be
sufficient and 'specific individual requirements' demand a 'one off' solution (e.g. a viva
voce instead of a written assignment). Alternative assessments might always have validity
for a small minority as a 'reasonable adjustment'.
3. Inclusive Assessments are built into course design and meet the assessment
entitlements of the majority of students. Inclusive assessments are concerned with
equality of opportunity. It is an approach that recognises that students have different
learning styles and offers a range of assessment methods necessary to assess the
different ways in which students can demonstrate the achievement of the learning
outcomes.

Considering the requirements of meeting the demands of the equalities agenda inclusive
assessments are the preferred method and, as pilot schemes have shown, offering assessment
choice is the clearest example of implemented good practice.