A Culturally Enhanced Framework of Caring Assessments for Diverse Learners

Most assessments adopt a one-size-fits-all approach to provide fair testing opportunities to all learners. However, this rigid approach to assessment may limit the ability for some learners to show what they know and can do. The Caring Assessments framework proposed a guide for the design and development of flexible, personalized, and adaptive assessments to provide each learner with the best opportunity to show what they know and can do. The original framework for caring assessments proposed that caring can be integrated into assessments by leveraging knowledge about learners' characteristics, behaviors, and learning context. Because we also recognize the critical role of acknowledging learners' cultures, identities, and social contexts to provide effective, caring support for all learners, in this paper we expand the framework to the Culturally Enhanced Caring Assessments framework to include personal, social, linguistic, and cultural aspects of learners and the contexts in which they learn. We discuss the culturally enhanced caring assessments framework and the need for further research to address the implementation challenges that can emerge when assessments are flexible, personalized, and adaptive.