Comparing the Talk to the Walk: Examining Whether Assessment Practitioners Are Embracing Equity-Centered Assessment Approaches

Discussions exploring the intersections of assessment and equity date back to the 1930s, and in the past 15 years, we have seen a veritable wellspring of new material emerge. With the evolution of assessment practice and associated literature come multiple emergent questions: Are practitioners using the recommended practices for equity-centered assessment? To what extent do reported assessment practices reflect the recommended practices that advance equity? Do assessment practitioners leverage the data to act in ways that advance equity? To answer these questions, this article compares the self-reported assessment practices of nearly 600 assessment practitioners from the United States to the practices recommended in the literature for equity-centered assessment.