Two Concepts of Assessment

Assessment is probably the most important thing we can do to help our students learn. We may not like it, but students can and do ignore our teaching; however, if they want to get a qualification, they have to participate in the assessment processes we design and implement. For that reason I believe it is worth thinking through, individually and collectively, what we currently do and exploring how we can do our best to ensure that our assessment practices help rather than hinder learning. In this paper I will explore these issues, play with a negative exercise about what we can do to hinder learning and conclude with some pointers towards integrating learning and assessment. Internationally, assessment is changing as the nature of teaching and learning in post-compulsory education changes. The student population in many countries is becoming diverse, with increasing numbers of part-time students, mature students and students coming from non-traditional backgrounds, particularly in the UK, where there is a political imperative to widen participation to students from socioeconomic groups who previously had little or no access to higher education. A diverse population of learners necessitates a change in practice in post-compulsory education, with less focus on didactic tutor-led approaches and more concentration on the learning outcomes that students can hope to achieve (Miller et al., 1998; Rust, 2002). Fit-for-purpose assessment I have long argued that assessment needs to be 'fit-for-purpose'; that is, it should enable evaluation of the extent to which learners have learned and the extent to which they can demonstrate that learning (Brown & Smith, 1997). We need to consider not just what we are assessing and how we are doing it (particularly which methods and approaches), but also why — our rationale for assessing on

Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 2004

The completion of the first ten years of this journal is an occasion for review and reflection. The main issues that have been addressed over the ten years are summarized in four main sections: Purposes, International Trends, Quality Concerns and Assessment for Learning. Each of these illustrates the underlying significance of the themes of principles, policy and practice, which the journal highlights in its subtitle. The many contributions to these themes that the journal has published illustrate the diversity and complex interactions of the issues. They also illustrate that, across the world, political and public pressures have had the effect of enhancing the dominance of assessment so that the decade has seen a hardening, rather than any resolution, of its many negative effects on society. A closing section looks ahead, arguing that there is a move to rethink more radically the practices and priorities of assessment if it is to respond to human needs rather than to frustrate them.

Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 2017

Educational assessments define what aspects of learning will formally be given credit and therefore have a huge impact upon teaching and learning. Although the impact of high-stakes national and international assessments on teaching and learning is considered in the literature, remarkably, there is little research on the connection between theories of learning and educational assessments. Given the voluminous assessment that takes place annually in systematic ways in most many nations, it is surprising that more has not been gained from these assessments in the development of theories of learning and vice versa. In this article we consider both theories of learning and assessment and draw the main message of the article, that if assessments are to serve the goals of education, then theories of learning and assessment should be developing more closely with each other. We consider fundamental aspects of assessment theory, such as constructs, unidimensionality, invariance and quantifiability, and in doing so, we distinguish between educational and psychological assessment. Second, we show how less traditionally considered cases of a) international assessments and b) Assessment for Learning affect student learning. Through these cases we illustrate the otherwise somewhat theoretical discussion in the article. We argue that if assessment is to serve the learning goals of education, then this discussion on the relationship between assessment and learning should be developed further and be at the forefront of high-stakes, large-scale educational assessments.

1991

This paper is intended to raise questions and identify some of the problems posed by assessment within an educational setting. The principal aim is to offer a springboard for discussion, rather than to propose a specific plan of action. It is also worth stressing that assessment designates more than just examinations (public or otherwise). As teachers and educators, we are constantly making assessments of our students, passing official, unofficial, conscious and unconscious judgements. These are judgements which inevitably influence our attitudes to our jobs, our performance and our teaching or administrative styles. They also have wide-ranging repercussions on the attitudes, performances and future of our students. They are judgements based on a complex series of assumptions which we habitually make about, for instance, what education involves, the nature of schooling, school structures and their aims, the learning process as it relates to human development. What follows is largely inspired by a desire to identify and scrutinize some of the most recurrent of these assumptions.

Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice,, 2008

The paper reports on the findings of a Learning and Skills Research Centre (LSRC) funded study investigating the impact of different modes and methods of assessment on achievement and progress in post-secondary education and training. Data were collected across Advanced-level academic and vocational preparation programmes in schools and colleges, work-based training, and adult education settings. The paper reports that clarity in assessment procedures, processes and criteria has underpinned widespread use of coaching, practice and provision of formative feedback to boost achievement, but that such transparency encourages instrumentalism. It concludes that the practice of assessment has moved from assessment of learning, through assessment for learning, to assessment as learning, with assessment procedures and practices coming completely to dominate the learning experience and 'criteria compliance' replacing 'learning'.

2000

Many authors over the past twenty years have argued that the prevailing ‘psychometric’ paradigm for educational assessment is inappropriate and have proposed that educational assessment should develop its own distinctive paradigm. More recently (and particularly within the last five years) it has become almost commonplace to argue that changes in assessment methods are required because of changing views of human cognition, and in particular, the shift from ‘behaviourist’ towards ‘constructivist’ views of the nature of human learning. However, these changes are still firmly rooted within the psychometric paradigm, since within this perspective, the development of assessment is an essentially ‘rationalist’ project in which values play only a minor (if any) role. The validation of an assessment proceeds in a ‘scientific’ manner, and the claim is that the results of any validation exercise would be agreed by all informed observers. Developing on the work of Samuel Messick, in this paper...

Assessment Practices in Education "We plan. We develop. We deliver. We assess and evaluate the results of the assessment. We revise, deliver the revised material, and assess and evaluate again. Perfection is always just out of reach; but continually striving for perfection contributes to keeping both our instruction fresh and our interest in teaching piqued."-E.S. Grassian Assessment is a fundamental element in the process of teaching and learning and is instrumental in enhancing its overall quality. Well designed assessment sets clear expectations, establishes a reasonable workload-one that does not drive students into rote reproductive approaches to study, and offers myriad opportunities for students to self-monitor, rehearse, practise and receive feedback. It is an integral component of a coherent and a sound educational experience. The paper attempts to highlight some of the foundational concepts and principles of assessment, assessment strategies and assessment literacy-in other words, what it is, why it is important to a teacher and how it is practised with reference to a good Language test. We have this notion that assessment often hinders the flow of teaching; but it is not so. There are so many assessment techniques that we consciously and unconsciously incorporate in our teaching strategies, however, at times we are unaware of the specific terminologies that go with them. The term raises some questions in my mind: How good or effective an assessor am I? Am I neglecting assessments while I teach? Am I able to draw a line between a smooth flow of instructions and at the same time keep an eye on the effect of instructions on the learners? Are these one to three hour tests actually valid form of assessment? If a learner fails a test does that mean that his assessment is negative? A commendable aspect of assessment is that it focuses on what students know, what they are able to do, and what values they have when they graduate to higher pastures in their academic journey. Let us not judge our students simply on what they know. That is the philosophy of the quiz programme. Rather let them be judged on what they can generate from what they know — how well they can leap the barrier from learning to thinking.-Jerome Bruner (Harvard Educational Review, 1959) Assessment does not stand in isolation from other acts that are a part of the process of learning, unlearning and relearning. Introducing multifaceted learning strategies in class would open up numerous vistas for learners with multiple intelligences and would certainly validate the process of assessments that are employed by the teachers. There is an urgent need to have a more constructive approach towards assessment planning and strategies.

Educational Assessment in the 21st Century, 2009

In this chapter it is argued that there is a need to explore the theoretical underpinnings to assessment in the 21st century against the backdrop of increasing interest in large-scale, standardised teaching for accountability and reporting purposes on the one hand, and on the other hand, an interest in formative assessment for improving learning. A framework of assessment as critical inquiry is proposed based on an approach to assessment as 'meaning making' (Delandshere, Teachers' College Record, 104 , 2002). The framework is based on the proposition that when assessment is understood as critical inquiry, the practices and processes of assessing-social and cultural acts of doing assessment in actual contexts-can be considered in relation to four main lenses: (1) conceptions of knowledge, including the nature of the knowledge domains and the related capabilities to be assessed;

Deeply embedded in the current education system is assessment. Within education, assessment is used to track and predict pupil achievement and can be defined as a means by which pupil learning is measured (Ronan, 2015). The delivery of teaching and learning within schools is often predetermined by what is assessed, with pupils actively being taught how to achieve the success criteria (appendix 7a). Recognised as a key professional competency of teachers (GTCNI, 2011) and the 6th quality in the Teachers’ Standards (DfE, 2011), assessment can be outlined as ‘the systematic collection, interpretation and use of information to give a deeper appreciation of what pupils know and understand, their skills and personal capabilities, and what their learning experiences enable them to do’ (CCEA, 2013: 4). The aims of the current essay are to venture further into the role of assessment in teaching and learning, paying particular attention to how formative and summative forms of assessment contribute to the discipline; and what impact these have at the classroom and the school level for both teachers and learners. The paper will examine my own experiences of using formative and summative assessment in the classroom, looking specifically at the summative processes I am aware of, before evaluating the purpose of Independent Thinking Time (ITT) and Talk Partners (TP); and how formative assessment can take place within these. In addition to this, the essay will also explore the role of Closing the Gaps (CTGs) in marking, and how questioning can assess conceptual understanding. These will be evaluated against the Teachers’ Standards. The essay will endeavour to foreground some potential challenges with formative and summative assessment (including what I have learned about assessment), before identifying some areas for future development and the strategies to facilitate these.

Critical Quarterly, 2000