Reconceptualizing evaluation and assessment from a culturally responsive standpoint – An Irish perspective

Abstract

AbstractThis article explores the impact that Professor Stafford Hood had on the development of culturally responsive evaluation and assessment (CRE/A) in Ireland. Starting with a brief outline of the demographic and cultural changes that have happened in Ireland since the mid‐1990s, the article discusses the initial encounters with Professor Hood and his introduction of the theories, practice and praxis of CRE/A to a group of Irish scholars. This engagement was formalized by the establishment of the CREA‐Dublin, hosted in Dublin City University. The article examines how CREA‐Dublin has used the culturally responsive lens to critique evaluation, assessment, and quality assurance practices within Ireland and across the European Union (EU). Outlining the impact of several major EU funded projects as well as locally initiated research, the article concludes by highlighting the centrality of Professor Hood as a scholar and an individual to the transformation of research and practice in the fields of evaluation and assessment on the island of Ireland and beyond.