EQAO, in partnership with the International Association for Educational Assessment (IAEA) and Vretta, is proud to host IAEA’s 51st Annual Conference in Toronto, under the theme “Trust, Transparency and Technology in Educational Assessment.”
About the Session
As large-scale assessment programs grapple with the legacy of dominant-culture bias, strategies to increase equity and fairness in testing are paramount. In the 2021–2022 Annual Report, EQAO outlined three strategic priorities. Strategic Priority 2 states, “Commit to action on all applicable Truth and Reconciliation Commission [of Canada (TRC)] recommendations and the development of an agency-wide equity, diversity and inclusion plan.”
This presentation offers assessment professionals a practical case study in enhancing fairness and accessibility for Indigenous students during the development, review and implementation of large-scale assessments. The presenters will describe strategies used at EQAO including:
Creating a senior-executive-level position with a focus on equity;
Establishing partnerships with members of Indigenous communities;
Providing professional-learning sessions and activities to staff;
Crafting training materials for assessment developers and reviewers designed to raise cultural awareness and responsiveness for Indigenous test-takers.
Key outcomes included:
Increase in assessment items intended to create enhanced access for Indigenous students;
Data showing that professional-learning sessions increased employee awareness of accessibility barriers present in the organization’s work
Increased environment of awareness in the workplace
Increase in comments from students who observed feeling affirmed and engaged by the assessment content.
The initiative demonstrated how responding to recommendations from identified communities and applying best practices from the education-measurement field can result in enhanced fairness and cultural relevance in both the assessment and the workplace. Our session includes methodologies meant to disrupt the belief that culturally "neutral" assessments are unbiased.
These include strategies to:
Educate content developers and reviewers about the prevalence of dominant-culture bias in assessments
Provide professional-learning sessions and activities to raise staff awareness of barriers to equity and fairness faced by Indigenous students and communities
Implement guideline principles for the creation of culturally relevant and responsive assessment items
Employ Indigenous writers, reviewers and advisors skilled in creating items with culturally appropriate content.
About the Conference
The conference will bring together international experts, researchers, practitioners and policy-makers to explore how assessment systems can be designed and delivered to be more equitable, innovative and trustworthy in a rapidly changing world.
The 2026 IAEA conference will address a wide range of topics related to assessment, including culturally responsive and fair practices; transparency in scoring and measurement; student and educator voice in assessment design; data sharing; AI and machine learning; privacy and security, and the balance between accountability and support in education systems.
This event will provide an excellent platform for sharing experiences, advancing research, strengthening professional collaboration and building global partnerships. EQAO is committed to ensuring that the conference is a productive, engaging and memorable experience for all participants.