Assessment of, as, and for Learning

Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2012

Education and schooling involve not only materials to be taught or how they should be taught but also how the teaching and learning are assessed. Studying teachers" conceptions is important, as it relates to beliefs which influence teaching practices, including assessment. This article reviews several studies on teachers" conceptions and practices of assessment conducted in six different countries. The objective of the study is to presents teachers" conceptions of the role of assessment in teaching and learning from different contexts. Data were obtained from a careful review of international articles on the study of teachers" conception of assessment using inclusion and exclusion criteria. The result of the review reveals that assessment relates to learning improvement and support the use of various strategies and tools in assessing students. However, the six different countries in the review interpret improvement in different ways which is influenced by several factors. Implications and suggestions for further study are also provided.

2013

This chapter has as its focus the assessment of learning. Assessing learning has taken many forms, and understanding its history helps to explain the educational systems that are in place currently. Defining the term, assessment, can be difficult because some definitions focus on diagnostic approaches that learning specialists use to assess learning disabilities or differences while others take it to mean evaluation. More recently, assessment has taken on an accountability emphasis. Assessment of learning may mean standardized testing that is mandated by the state. In higher education, assessment has a distinctly bureaucratic flavor, as it is required for accreditation. With assessment taking on this administrative focus, some of its value to improve the learning/teaching process is lost. This chapter addresses the history of assessment in education and provides examples of authentic assessment tools. Future trends in assessment are also presented.

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.

International Journal of Learning and Media, 2009

Assessment gets a bum rap. Part of this is because people tend to equate assessment with testing. 1 In addition, assessment has historically acted as a barrier rather than a bridge to educational opportunity. Now, suppose that you surveyed a random sample of 100 people on the street regarding their thoughts on "assessment." It's quite possible that many of them may view it negatively-as unfair, difficult, confusing, inauthentic, boring, constraining, contrived, old school, and so on. Similarly, if you surveyed a random sample of 100 K-12 teachers, it's likely that they, too, may harbor some ill will toward the topic of assessment. Their misgivings may be colored by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2002) initiative which has, so far, failed to live up to its promises. Instead, NCLB, with its focus on accountability, has promoted a zeitgeist of "teaching to the test" where ultimately what gets left behind is deeper, more meaningful learning (i.e., knowledge, skills, concepts, and beliefs that are fully understood and can be related to other concepts). That is, meaningful learning is a desirable goal but much harder to test than rote learning, which is less desirable but fairly easy to test. There is, however, another more attractive face of assessment, where the primary goal is to improve peoples' learning (e.g., Black & Wiliam, 1998; Shute, 2007; Stiggins, 2008). Stiggins (2008) suggests that we assess for two reasons: to gather evidence to inform instructional decisions, and to encourage learners to try to learn. It is this face of educational assessment that I find to be exciting, powerful, and absolutely critical to support the kinds of learning outcomes and processes necessary to succeed in the 21 st century. I'm referring to "formative assessment," which may be thought of as assessment for learning, in contrast to "summative assessment" (or assessment of learning). The primary premise underlying this essay is that assessment results can and should have important implications for instruction, positively influencing both the teaching and learning sides of the equation. In today's classrooms, however, assessments are too often used for purposes of grading, promotion, and placement, but not for learning. The stance I take on assessment is that it should: (a) support, not undermine, the learning process for learners and teachers/mentors; (b) provide more formative, compared to summative, information (i.e., give useful feedback during

Tci, 2014

1 | P a g e https://www.ero.govt.nz/publications/the-collection-and-use-of-assessment-information-good-practice-insecondary-schools/examples-of-good-practice/ Teachers used a range of locally developed and nationally referenced assessment tools to increase their knowledge of students' achievement.

Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 2020

Professor Gordon argues for a significant reorientation in the focus and impact of assessment in education. For the types of assessment activities that he advocates to prosper and positively impact education, serious attention must be paid to two important topics: (1) the conceptual underpinnings of the assessment practices we develop and use to support learning and instruction, and ( ) the arguments and evidence we establish for their validity given the intended interpretive use. Such a focus highlights fundamental concepts that have long existed in the broader assessment literature -carefully defining and operationalizing our constructs and then validating the assessments of those constructs. What differs now are the conceptual frameworks, briefly outlined here, that can and must be used to guide both aspects of such work.

Life Science Journal, 2013

Assessment for Learning (AfL) has recently attracted the attention of researchers and educators and has become a buzz-word in the field of education. Research suggests that formative assessment can improve students" learning. However, the concept of formative assessment does not still represent a well-defined set of practices and this issue might affectitssuccessful implementationin different contexts. Studies show thatthere is still no consensus on the definition of formative assessment.Nevertheless, without an agreed upon definition it would be difficult to provide a summary of related research on AfL. In this article,the researchersexplainthe concept of AfL, discussthe most widely used definitions of AfL and proposea new definition from a sociocultural perspective.The proposed definition helps teachers better understand how to implement AfL in a way that enhances students" learning experience.

Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 1998