Assessment
Assessment
Assessment
1. Teachers should employ assessment methods that are consistent with standard. This means that
assessment as a process must be based on standards and competencies that are stated in the k-
12 curriculum guide. Assessment must be based NOT on content but on standards and
competencies tools or tasks and standards and competencies.
2. Teachers must employ both formative and summative assessment both individually and
collaboratively. Assessment is done primarily to ensure learning, thus teachers are expected to
assess learning in every stage of lessons development – beginning, middle and at the end.
3. Grades are a function of written work, performance tasks and quarterly test. This means that
grades come from multiple sources with emphasis on performance tasks from Grade 1 to 12.
Grade does not come from only one source rather from multiple sources.
4. The cognitive process dimensions given by Krathwohl and Anderson (2001) from remembering,
understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating- governs formulation of assessment
task.
Summative assessment explained
Summative assessment aims to evaluate student learning and academic achievement at the end of a
term, year or semester by comparing it against a universal standard or school benchmark. Summative
assessments often have a high point value, take place under controlled conditions, and therefore have
more visibility.
Summative assessment examples:
End-of-term or midterm exams
Cumulative work over an extended period such as a final project or creative portfolio
End-of-unit or chapter tests
Standardised tests that demonstrate school accountability are used for pupil admissions; SATs,
GCSEs and A-Levels
Pupil assessment, both formative and summative, is deemed an imperative part of the education process.
Unfortunately, standardised exams and informal testing in schools are also blamed for the narrowing of
the curriculum and teaching methods, contributing towards damaging levels of stress among teachers and
pupils, and only valuing specific achievements to the detriment of broader learning.
Pearson and LKMco researched the topic of assessment in schools and published a subsequent report,
Testing The Water. The report was revealed that a fifth of teachers in the UK are unclear where to go for
information on assessing their pupils. What’s more, teachers feel unsupported when it comes to training
for assessment; less than half of educators received assessment training as part of their initial teacher
training.
Last year, SLT and school governors point towards a lack of budgets and limited time as hindering their
schools’ abilities to provide more thorough assessment training, and most of the available training is
regarded by teachers as being low in quality. However, according to the majority of this year’s survey
respondents, online assessments, as well as online content and resources are likely to see the biggest
growth over the next few years
The summative assessment procedure is tightly woven into the accountability system of teachers and
schools. Teachers are often tasked and appraised based on the results of summative assessment, while
schools are incentivised to achieve certain results and performance in specific areas over others.
The high-stake nature of summative assessment translates into how the school performance is judged, and
SLT often pass down pressure as a result. Statutory assessment, therefore, can cause an great deal of
stress for pupils, and a high degree of pressure for teachers.
It’s been suggested that the Department for Education should separate student exam results from teachers’
direct performance evaluations. Summative assessment results should, rather, serve as a discussion point
or a means to highlight where additional resources may be required.
At the same time, employing more formative assessment throughout the year can take the pressure of end
of term assessments for both teachers and pupils. This could include weekly quizzes or short lesson
evaluations that can help improve student learning on the spot and increase pupils’ confidence. This
ensures that final summative assessment has a positive impact on learning as well as providing pupils
with more tools to improve throughout the term.
The distinction between some types of summative assessment and formative assessment can be hard to
identify. For example, schools may use benchmark testing to monitor the academic progress of pupils and
determine whether they are on track to mastering the material that will be evaluated on end-of-course
tests.Some educators consider these interim tests to be formative; they are diagnostic and help modify
learning techniques, but others may consider them to be summative.
In our current education system, the purposes of both formative and summative assessment are not always
mutually supportive.
Traditional assessment — evaluation used for summative purposes — contains key diagnostic data for
teachers, but this information is perhaps too infrequent, or comes too late for appropriate action. Selected
response and formative written assessments, homework, meanwhile, and ongoing class feedback all serve
as valuable activities as part of a teacher’s evaluation toolkit, if used appropriately.
Official standard results like grades A-C may symbolise pupil achievement, yet they rarely incorporate
related learning factors such as readiness to learn or motivation. What’s more, grades are not explicit to
student progress, nor do they provide teachers with information that might further their teaching methods.
Schools, then, should consider cutting the time teachers spend conducting summative assessments so that
they can focus on conducting diagnostic, formative assessments.
There are alternative ways of assessing pupils progress and enhancing learning with summative and
formative assessment.
National exams and standardised tests leave little room for adaptation or creativity, but a midterm
assessment or a module final, however, could be tasked as a visual presentation, a long-form test, or an
individual essay.
Technology-enhanced assessment requires students to interact with exam material in various ways —
dragging and dropping answers, highlighting relevant data, and completing sentences or equations in a
drop-down menu. This fosters students’ digital literacy and prepares them for life after education.
By allowing students to explain their material in a medium they feel comfortable with, such as on mobile
devices or on an interactive front of class display like ActivPanels, teachers get an accurate picture of
their pupils’ understanding. This gives much greater opportunity for students to demonstrate their
particular skills.
Teachers can also set final exams or assessments in a form that resembles vocational assessments or job
applications. This style of assessment can cover a broad range of material, and prepare older students for
performance reviews and projects in a working environment, providing a stepping stone for the future.
In the 21st century workplace, people are expected to work with minimal
supervision, which requires them to plan their own work and monitor and
evaluate its quality. These are the qualities that describe self-regulated or self-
directed learners. According to Barry Zimmerman, one of the foremost
researchers on self-regulated learning, self-regulated learning represents an
ongoing series of feedback cycles that consists of three phases: planning,
practice and feedback.
During the planning phase, students learn to assess their previously gained
knowledge, choose appropriate strategies and set short and long-term goals.
During the practice phase, students implement the strategies and keep track
of their progress. During the evaluation phase, students evaluate the
effectiveness of the strategies. Feedback from this phase serves as the basis
for the next SLR cycle.
When students are actively engaged in the learning process, they take greater
responsibility for their learning and in this way their performance improves.
Effective self-regulated learning starts with learner autonomy. When students
are given detailed instructions and timelines, they do not have the opportunity
to plan their own work. Teachers can foster self-regulation skills by giving
students responsibility for deciding how they will:
2. Group performance: At the end of their work, Chrysa invited all her
students to discuss group work together. She encouraged them to implement
peer assessment by guiding them through a variety of questions to make
them aware of how peer feedback can help them to make their learning even
better in the future.
1 – It is a student-centered process
2 - Promotes students involvement in the assessment tasks
3 – Promotes students responsibility and motivation towards the learning
process
4 – Promotes self-reflection and students argumentation
5 - Students can learn socially from each other
6 – Promotes digital literacy through the use of digital web 2.0 applications
7 – Promotes development of 21st century skills and competences.
To this I would also add that collaborative assessment helps learners develop
their metacognitive skills. They reflect on the process of learning and become
aware of how they are learning, which leads to better learning.