What is the purpose of assessment?
Currently I think that assessment is used to put children into boxes, to label them as successes or failures based on somewhat arbitrary criteria. I have encountered schools who use the key stage 2 SATs tests to place children into curriculum pathways that will dictate their future successes. Other schools use data to direct us to the children with whom we should do intervention. It seems that in these cases, the purpose of asessment is to work out which children we should spend time with and which we should write off. I have always wondered how it must feel to be the child who gets given the target grade of a G to be measured against for five years. What does that even mean?
I do, however, believe that assessment is important if it is used for the right reasons. I enjoy assessing my pupils learning. I enjoy watching them achieve success that they have worked so hard for, I enjoy the dialogue that good assessment necessitates and I enjoy seeing pupils achieve things that they thought were out of reach. Without assessment we would not have these experiences and I do believe that they are important. I think students like to have their efforts validated and currently external exams are what do this and for that reason they can be a good thing.
They are, for now, what we have but I do not believe they are the way of the future. I am currently developing a skills curriculum and the part I dilemma-ed over the most was the assessment. I knew what I wanted the learning to look like, and what experiences I wanted the children to take away with them but I could not figure out how to make it fit a traditional assessment framework. How do you level a child's ability to collaborate? I spent hours on it before seeking out a colleague for advice. He asked me if I wanted his opinion as a Deputy Head or as a father. As a Dad, he said he really just wants to know if his child is doing okay. Is he learning? Is he good? Can he work well with other pupils? For most parents telling them that their child is a 5a means nothing. So I changed my assessment criteria - during this project, did this child evidence collaborative skills -yes or no? I am not suggesting that this approach will set the world on fire but it will make assessment easier for the child, for the parent and for the teacher and I can use the time I save, with the students talking to them about their learning.
Assessment is fundamentally important if it is used for the right reason - to get to know our students and to recognise their achievements and success in whatever sphere these achievements may come but assessment needs to move on now to consider other methods of reward and recognition to remain meaningful in 21st century learning.
I do, however, believe that assessment is important if it is used for the right reasons. I enjoy assessing my pupils learning. I enjoy watching them achieve success that they have worked so hard for, I enjoy the dialogue that good assessment necessitates and I enjoy seeing pupils achieve things that they thought were out of reach. Without assessment we would not have these experiences and I do believe that they are important. I think students like to have their efforts validated and currently external exams are what do this and for that reason they can be a good thing.
They are, for now, what we have but I do not believe they are the way of the future. I am currently developing a skills curriculum and the part I dilemma-ed over the most was the assessment. I knew what I wanted the learning to look like, and what experiences I wanted the children to take away with them but I could not figure out how to make it fit a traditional assessment framework. How do you level a child's ability to collaborate? I spent hours on it before seeking out a colleague for advice. He asked me if I wanted his opinion as a Deputy Head or as a father. As a Dad, he said he really just wants to know if his child is doing okay. Is he learning? Is he good? Can he work well with other pupils? For most parents telling them that their child is a 5a means nothing. So I changed my assessment criteria - during this project, did this child evidence collaborative skills -yes or no? I am not suggesting that this approach will set the world on fire but it will make assessment easier for the child, for the parent and for the teacher and I can use the time I save, with the students talking to them about their learning.
Assessment is fundamentally important if it is used for the right reason - to get to know our students and to recognise their achievements and success in whatever sphere these achievements may come but assessment needs to move on now to consider other methods of reward and recognition to remain meaningful in 21st century learning.
Thanks for the contribution, Nikki! I think you hit the nail on the head when you say that most parents don't know what a 5a means. I'm delighted that you're changing your assessment criteria to fit the learning. :-)
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