Assessment for Equity
“After last year’s success, Assessment for Equity is back! We’re keeping what was loved by the participants, refining what wasn’t and … adding more! Real life assessment studies, flexible learning modalities, table talk and more.“
Over the past few decades, assessment for learning (AFL) has taken root in education policies globally. However, much of the literature has been driven by Western researchers; so the question arises…are the principles of assessment for learning accessible to all students, especially those who have been historically underrepresented?
This program embarks on an insightful exploration of this question by examining assessment for learning through various cultural lenses. We acknowledge that we have chosen to use ‘cultural lenses’ as an entry point into the conversation, with the understanding that the foundation of this work must be intersectionality. We recognize that each one of us has individual identities that intersect in unique ways. We also know that all phobias and isms impact how we are viewed, understood and treated. We seek to uncover, together, how we might best design assessments that value the learning of every unique learner in our classrooms.
This fully online, cohort-based program will first examine the idea of equity and then the inherent values and bias within Western-influenced assessment practices. Guest scholars and thought leaders will engage us in thought-provoking explorations about how assessment for learning aligns or conflicts with a range of diverse cultures and equity-deserving identities.
Guest Scholars & Practitioners
Learn more about each of them by clicking on the “Guest Speakers” tab below.
Details
Big Ideas
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- Assessment can be used as a tool for oppression and used to divide.
- Assessment approaches are value laden. Understanding the values both in our own assessment practices and those from other cultures enables us to be more inclusive and effective as practitioners. Unexamined bias about how people from cultures other than our own engage in learning can impact our classroom practice and relationships with families in unhelpful and harmful ways.
- A “both/and” perspective invites innovation into our practice.
Schedule
There will be 6 online synchronous sessions held from 4:30-6:00pm PT on the below dates.
| Date | Speakers | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| October 2, 2025 | Len Pierre | Opening: Assessment for Equity |
| October 16, 2025 | Deena Kotak Buckley Brooke Moore |
What is Equity? Assessment for Learning for equity |
| October 30, 2025 | Dr. Yolanda Sealy-Ruiz | Assessment for Equity |
| November 13, 2025 | Practitioners | Shop Talk |
| November 27, 2025 | Mohammed Rustom | The Quest for Self-Knowledge in the Islamic Tradition |
| December 11, 2025 | Sukaina Walji | Closing: Assessment for Equity |
Guest Speakers
Synchronous sessions will include guest scholars.
October 2, 2025 – Opening: Assessment for Equity
Len Pierre (he/him)
Owner & CEO
Len Pierre is Coast Salish from Katzie (kate-zee) First Nation. Len is an award winning entrepreneur, professor, consultant, TEDx Speaker, social activist, change agent, & traditional knowledge sharer. He specializes in the development of educational programs and services with decolonization and reconciliation as its core values. Len holds a Masters degree in Education from Simon Fraser University focusing on Indigenous curriculum and instructional design. His experience includes Indigenous education and program leadership from various organizations across colonial Canada. He comes to us with an open heart and open mind, and hopes to be received in the same way.
October 16, 2025 - What is Equity? Assessment for Learning for Equity
Deena Kotak Buckley
(she/her/elle) lives and works on the traditional unceded territory of the sc̓əwaθən (Tsawwassen) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) and of all the Hən̓q̓əmin̓əm speaking people who have been in relationship with this land since time immemorial. She is a parent, the District Principal of Inquiry and Innovation in the Delta School District, and Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia. Throughout these roles, both professional and personal, she is motivated by a vision where all young people can move into adulthood with dignity, purpose, and options. She learned this vision from the Network of Inquiry and Indigenous Education which has been a rich source of learning, support, and collaboration throughout her career. Her first trade book, co-authoured with Robin Gregory, will be published by Cambridge University Press in early 2024 and is called "Sorting it out: Supporting teenage decision making".
Brooke Moore
(she/her/elle) lives and works on the traditional unceded territory of the sc̓əwaθən (Tsawwassen) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) and of all the Hən̓q̓əmin̓əm speaking people who have been in relationship with this land since time immemorial. She is a parent, the District Principal of Inquiry and Innovation in the Delta School District, and Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia. Throughout these roles, both professional and personal, she is motivated by a vision where all young people can move into adulthood with dignity, purpose, and options. She learned this vision from the Network of Inquiry and Indigenous Education which has been a rich source of learning, support, and collaboration throughout her career. Her first trade book, co-authoured with Robin Gregory, will be published by Cambridge University Press in early 2024 and is called "Sorting it out: Supporting teenage decision making".
October 30, 2025 - Assessment for Equity
Dr. Yolanda Sealy-Ruiz
Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, Ph.D., is a Professor of English Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, and the 2024 Dorothy Height Distinguished Alumni Awardee from New York University. Her research, featured in leading academic journals, explores racial literacy and educational equity. She is co-editor of five books, including All About Black Girl in Education: bell hooks and Pedagogies of Love (2024), and co-author of the award-winning Advancing Racial Literacies in Teacher Education: Activism for Equity in Digital Spaces (2021), where she introduces her concept of Archaeology of Self™ and her Racial Literacy Development (RLD) framework.
Named one of EdWeek's Top 1% EduScholar Influencers for four consecutive years, Yolanda is the founder of the Racial Literacy Project @TC and the Racial Literacy Roundtable Series, where for over 15 years, scholars, teachers, and students have engaged in critical conversations about race and diversity. She has appeared in Spike Lee’s 2 Fists Up: We Gon’ Be Alright (2016) and Defining Us, Children at the Crossroads of Change, documentaries highlighting racial justice and education.
Her poetry collections, Love from the Vortex & Other Poems (2020) and The Peace Chronicles (2021), reflect her commitment to truth, love, and healing. In 2022, she delivered her TEDx Talk, Truth, Love & Racial Literacy, at the University of Pennsylvania. Connect with Yolanda on Blue Sky @sealeyruiz.bsky.social and Instagram @yolie_sealeyruiz.
November 13, 2025 - Shop Talk
List to be confirmed.
November 27, 2025 - The Quest for Self-Knowledge in the Islamic Tradition
Mohammed Rustom
Mohammed Rustom (Ph.D. University of Toronto) is Professor of Islamic Thought and Global Philosophy at Carleton University, Director of the Carleton Centre for the Study of Islam, and Executive Director of the Institute for Advanced Islamic Studies. He has been the recipient of a number of academic distinctions and awards such as the Ibn ‘Arabi Society Latina’s Tarjuman Prize, a Templeton Foundation Global Philosophy of Religion grant, the IIS Annemarie Schimmel Fellowship, Iran’s World Prize for the Book of the Year, and Senior Fellowships courtesy of the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute’s Library of Arabic Literature and Humanities Research Fellowship programs.
An internationally recognized scholar and philosopher whose writings have been translated into over ten languages, Professor Rustom has published over fifteen books and one hundred articles in the fields of Islamic philosophy, Arabic and Persian Sufi literature, Quranic studies, contemporary Islamic thought, translation theory, and cross-cultural philosophy. He is author of The Triumph of Mercy: Philosophy and Scripture in Mullā Ṣadrā (SUNY Press, 2012), co-editor of The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary (HarperOne, 2015), and translator of Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī, The Condemnation of Pride and Self-Admiration (Islamic Texts Society, 2018; 2nd edition, 2024).
Dr. Rustom’s more recent works include Islamic Thought and the Art of Translation (Brill, 2022), The Essence of Reality (NYU Press, 2023), Inrushes of the Heart: The Sufi Philosophy of ʿAyn al-Quḍāt (SUNY Press, 2023), and A Sourcebook in Global Philosophy (Equinox, 2025)
Professor Rustom is also Editor-in-Chief of Studies in Islamic Thought (Brill), Editor-in-Chief of Islamic Intellectual Traditions (Brill), Co-Editor of Brill’s prestigious Islamic History and Civilization book series, an Editor of the famed Library of Arabic Literature (NYU Press), and Editor of Equinox Publishing’s Global Philosophy series.
December 11, 2025 - Closing
Sukaina Walji
Sukaina Walji is the Director of the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. She promotes and supports the development of inclusive and equitable teaching, learning and assessment experiences that respond to diverse student and teachers’ needs underpinned by social justice. She provides strategic advice for senior leadership for deploying digital education and educational innovations that contribute to student success.
Her current research interests include inclusive assessment practices and responsible approaches to artificial intelligence in education. She is also a co-organiser and facilitator of MYFEST, a global open education and professional development festival that intentionally creates spaces that feel welcoming to all, especially those furthest from justice. Sukaina has a background in digital communications and developing open online courses as well as researching open educational practices in Global South contexts.
"After last year’s success, Assessment for Equity is back! We’re keeping what was loved by the participants, refining what wasn’t and … adding more! Real life assessment studies, flexible learning modalities, table talk and more."
Facilitators
Deena Kotak Buckley
(she/her/elle) lives and works on the ancestral and unceded lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) & səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation). She started her career in education in 1995 and has served as a Teacher, Vice-Principal, Principal, District Principal and Director of Instruction for public education, in Surrey, Vancouver and Hong Kong. She has been on multiple district and ministry committees in support of inclusive education and anti-racism. She completed her undergraduate degrees in French and French as a Second Language and has a Diploma and Masters degree in Inclusive Education; focusing on inclusion and the law. Deena recently completed a Doctorate in Education looking at building human-centered organizations based on the ethic of community, principles of co-design and grassroots methodology. Deena hopes to bring her personal and professional experience to this program and co-learn through a framework of cultural humility.
Brooke Moore
(she/her/elle) lives and works on the traditional unceded territory of the sc̓əwaθən (Tsawwassen) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) and of all the Hən̓q̓əmin̓əm speaking people who have been in relationship with this land since time immemorial. She is a parent, the District Principal of Inquiry and Innovation in the Delta School District, and Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia. Throughout these roles, both professional and personal, she is motivated by a vision where all young people can move into adulthood with dignity, purpose, and options. She learned this vision from the Network of Inquiry and Indigenous Education which has been a rich source of learning, support, and collaboration throughout her career. Her first trade book, co-authoured with Robin Gregory, will be published by Cambridge University Press in early 2024 and is called "Sorting it out: Supporting teenage decision making".
Synchronous sessions will include guest scholars..
Registration
Cost
The program fee is $850 + GST.
Discounts may be available for group registrations. Please contact Sarah Lockman at sarah.lockman@ubc.ca for more details.
Secure Payment
Payment is made through the secure UBC online payment gateway via credit card or accepted Interac cards (BMO, RBC, ScotiaBank, TD CanadaTrust). Please note, we are unable to accept Visa Debit cards.
If your school district is financially supporting your participation, we can also invoice them directly. Please contact us if this is the case.
Registration is now open until September 19, 2025.
