9.3 Assessment Item Development
Considerations: Universal Design, Accessibility, Bias, and Sensitivity
Now that you have written your item, it is important to consider meeting the needs of all students that will be completing the item.
The concept of Universal Design focuses on “the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design” (Center for Universal Design, 1997). When Universal Design is used to create items/task on an assessment, the focus is to measure knowledge and skills of all students but … “does not imply ‘one size fits all,’ but rather acknowledges the need for alternatives to suit many different people’s needs..." (Universal Design for Learning, 2000, Rose & Meyer, p. 4).
In this video you will be given the guidelines that need to be followed when writing items/tasks that meet the needs of all students and shown some quality examples.
Keep these questions in mind while you watch the video:
- Which of the following factors do you consider to be most important when developing assessment items: Universal Design, Accessibility, or Bias and Sensitivity? Why do you consider this to be the most important factor?
- Which factor, universal design, accessibility, or bias and sensitivity, do you consider the most with your current form of instruction and assessment? Which factor do you consider the least?
- How does the item I developed within the Item Specification Table meet the guidelines outlined in the video?
It is important to keep in mind that just because you can create an item that has a cool feature, video, enhancement or task does not mean that you should. The assessment target and student evidence should be the driving force when determining the best type of item to create so the students are able to demonstrate success.
Digital Portfolio Activity
Based on the information in the video, revisit your Item Specification Table in section 9.3 of your Digital Portfolio make edits to your entries as needed and complete the Accessibility Considerations.
After you have completed the Accessibility Considerations, click the "Next page" button below.