ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses cultural validity in assessment practices in both large-scale testing and classroom assessment. Cultural validity is defined as the extent to which the process of assessment addresses the cultural influences that shape how students interpret test items and respond to them and how they learn and participate in assessment activities in the classroom. Critical issues in cultural validity include: the difficulty of knowing each student’s unique cultural background, the semiotic complexity of test items and assessment activities, and the sampling and representation of diverse students at all stages in the assessment process. We discuss the challenges that limit the adoption of culturally valid assessment practices and the transformations that need to take place in assessment practices if we are to ensure cultural validity and fairness in the assessment of diverse populations. Also, we propose some analytical approaches that allow systematic examination of cultural validity in assessment practices.
