Educational Assessment Issues - Essay Example

Review Essay of Assessment Contexts Insert Name Tutor Date Introduction Assessment is a term that refers to processes that are used to measure the outcomes of a student's learning in terms of the knowledge that the student has acquired the level of understanding of various concepts and the skills that the learner has gained (Boud, 2007). Assessment generally offers the means by which the learners are graded as either having passed or failed a certain course. It also offers the basis for deciding whether a student is qualified to proceed to the next level or qualified to receive a certain award. To the students, assessment helps them to get a feedback on their learning process and to the teachers; it enables them to evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching processes (Falchikov & Boud, 2007). However, educational assessment is considered as "a value-laden socio-cultural activity, influenced by politics and history" as looked at in this essay. In this essay I will look at how educational assessment has become a value-laden activity, the social cultural aspects in it, how assessment is influenced by historical and political practices and finally what it all means to me as an educator. Educational assessment is a value-laden socio-cultural activity, influenced by politics and history There are so many debates surrounding education assessment concerning the academic standards, its role in preparing the students to take up future jobs, measuring the quality of education and also providing incentives in return (Boud, 2007). Most of the systems for assessment are resistant to change because they take up many socio-political assumptions on the role of education to the individual and that is why assessment has not received much attention as requiring to be well structured (Boud, 2007). Education assessment being a value-laden activity means that a lot of value is placed on it in determining the quality of teaching and learning by the teachers. This means that during assessment, the learners are considered as passive subjects whose only role is to subject themselves to the assessment acts of the teachers for measurements and classification. The students have to conform to the assessment rules and procedures, present themselves during the set assessment times for tests which they have no influence on and this is the type of assessment that most schools use. They therefore face assignments which have been determined without any input from the students. This is because most educational institutions use summative assessment instead of formative assessment. Summative assessment is where the test is given at some point in time in most cases at the end of the course and this summarizes student’s learning at that point. Formative assessment is interactive since the students get feedback from the teacher and this can help improve learning greatly. It can occur at any point in learning and the results can be used to make improvement in both teaching and learning (Australian Universities Teaching Committee, 2002). With assessment being done at the end of a certain learning period and without any input from the students, it does not play a very useful role in helping the students put more effort. It could however play a better role if it is made interactive where it is conducted during the learning process like in formative assessment. This is because the teacher will be able to find out what the student can do alone so far and what more the teacher is needed to do. This will also enable the student to work on the feedback obtained after the assessment (Elwood, & Klenowski, 2002). However, the educational assessment that is commonly done does not give time for the student to reflect on the feedback since it is summative and only gives the teacher’s grading of the student and whether to proceed to the next level or not. It is therefore a value-laden activity where the results are a reflection of the teacher's opinions without allowing the student to take part in it. Social cultural aspects in education assessment In its various levels, education assessment is a social cultural activity which can be best understood by looking at the social, cultural and political contexts in which it is conducted. Assessment plays a significant role in social and cultural reproduction for example in allocation of education and economic opportunities and also to control the processes of teaching and learning. This is because it evaluates the extent to which the teacher has taught and also how the students have learnt. It is in other words conducted to maintain and ensure continuity of the education culture where at every point in time students are assessed. It has therefore become a culture because in most cases, no much action is taken towards improvement based on the assessment results (Broadfoot, 1996). There however exist complex interactions between assessment, the students and the teachers. This is because the teachers use assessment to judge the student’s level of learning but at timers they forget that it is also a reflection of how they have taught. It also reflects the efforts of both the teacher in teaching and also the ability of the student to understand the teacher’s concepts. However, in most cases, the results of assessment are considered a reflection of the student alone. It is however important to consider the validity, reliability and ability of the assessment tests to judge higher order thinking skills. These should be considered when the assessment is being designed (Broadfoot, 1996). Basically, assessment has become a cultural activity in almost all the educational institutions with all tests focusing on similar aspects of the students. According to Utschig, (2009), an assessment culture is assessee-centered, which values an environment of mutual trust and follows criteria that have been agreed upon. It mainly focuses on the skills and expertise of those conducting the assessment. There is however need for change in the design of assessments and also in the various aspects that are judged through the assessment. This is because as time goes by, it may end up losing meaning to both the students and the teachers. According to Flowers (2009), some of the common questions that educators are asking includes what the students’ preferred learning style is, the best teaching and assessment methods, how they can improve on the cultural relevance of their courses and the factors that affect student’s participation. According to Flowers, such questions are may not be helpful for indigenous people who may be struggling to attain self-determination in education. These people need to change the structures and not the practices. Flower prefers a form of cultural partnership where different groups have the authority of independently constructing their own assessment standards in ways that they determine for themselves. He states that he would like to see diversity in ways in which standards are constructed as this would result in deeper and richer diversity in assessment practices. Historical aspect of educational assessment There is very little change that is taking place in the manner in which education assessment is conducted. For centuries, the same procedures are being used which are found to have very little impact on the development of the students. According to Shepard (2000), teachers have for a long time used objective tests for student assessment which only shows the subject matter knowledge that the student has according to the teacher’s expectations. Objective tests require the students to respond to questions whose answers are predetermined. This was based on the institution’s beliefs on traditional principles of scientific measurement. According to those education institutions, for assessment to be fair it has to be administered uniformly instead of being individualized. However, in the current times, individualized assessment where a student is assesses based on his or her learning weaknesses should be the way since it is more intensive and may help in identifying the individual weaknesses of each student. Shepard (2000) also asserts that teachers have also believed in objective assessment where it is targeted to a specific learning goal where each goal has its own assessment test. Teachers have however not supported the idea of conducting a holistic assessment for the students and they prefer using methods that are based on formulas which they considered more impartial. Shepard (2000) has however come up with a conceptual framework which is based on the principles of a social constructivist but has borrowed ideas from constructivist, cognitive and social cultural theories. Her conceptual framework consist of three interlocking circles of Reformed Vision of Curriculum which has contents such as all students can learn, equal opportunity for diverse learners and authenticity in the relationship between learning in and out of school among others. The other circle is about Classroom Assessment with content such as challenging tasks to elicit higher order thinking, an ongoing process integrated with instruction, used formally in support of student learning and used to evaluate teaching as well as student learning. The third circle is on Cognitive and Constructivist Learning Theories with concept such as intellectual abilities are socially and culturally developed, new learning is shaped by prior knowledge and cultural perspectives, deep understanding is principled and supports transfer among others. However she believes that for this model to be effective the content of the classroom content must change to incorporate important thinking and problem solving skills and also the use of the classroom assessment by teachers must change. The assessment content should match the standards of the subject matter and it should act to instantiate the meaning of learning and knowing the taught disciplines. This reform will therefore require a wide range of assessment tools which will capture to significant learning goals. This will also be important in linking the assessment to the continuing learning instructions such as meanings, application of concepts and definitions. Some of the assessment tools that can be used include peer review, rubrics, oral presentations, concept maps and exams. Politics in education assessment According to Benveniste, (2002), politics as well as the form of state polity relations play a key role in influencing how the education system assessment is designed, implemented and its overall impact. This means that the evaluation process is not technical tool which can be used to diagnose the conditions affecting the education sector. It is a political phenomenon reflecting the tensions, the agendas and the nature of power relations in the political sector. Institutional sociologists argue that nations have adopted educational assessment just because they want to align themselves with the evaluative practices in the world cultural model that most countries have adopted in assessing their students. They therefore don’t want to be left behind in global undertakings. The assessment systems have been designed in a manner that they can serve the basic ceremonial function that can legitimize state action to the global community and its local constituents without posing a threat to the state’s legitimacy. The model has just been adopted to show that that countries are following giving education the legality it requires but this is not the real case. However, from the globalization point of view, assessment systems should be used in assisting the teachers and the policy makers to identify deficiencies in the education system and suggest ways for improvements. What it means for an educator The statement “educational assessment is a value-laden socio-cultural activity, influenced by politics and history” arouses a great challenge to the educator in that we need to rethink our assessment methods. This is because misaligned assessment practices pass the wrong message to the students on what the educator want them to learn from the course. Educators need to restructure the entire assessment practice and put into consideration the curriculum, the instructions and the methods they use to assess the students so that it can be of benefit to both the teachers and the students. The curriculum is the course content, the instructions are the methods used to deliver the content while the assessment should involve evaluating the educator’s success in attaining the goals of the course. We need to take Broadfoot, (2007) definition of assessment as “a mechanism for providing instructors with data for improving their teaching methods and for guiding and motivating students to be actively involved in their own learning”. This will help the educators to work not only towards helping the students but also towards improving their teaching methods such as in focusing on the areas identified as weak based on the assessment results. Students can also point out on areas where they need the teachers to improve. We also need to consider Lamprianou &Athanasou, (2009) purposes of assessment which includes diagnosis, evaluation, grading, placement and guidance among others. The results of the assessment should be used in making decisions about the students in terms of their progress, in making decision about the learning and teaching processes inters of the curriculum and also linking the assessment determination of competence and validating the student’s performance of tasks that are related to the future careers. It is also important for teachers and students to have shared practices while pursuing the education goals so that the assessment process can be open and have the input of the learners. This will enable the learners to assess their own level of learning and be able to work towards their improvement. This is because students also better understand their weaknesses (Elwood & Klenowski, 2002). The statement also indicates how we have let our educational assessment system to be influenced by so many factors which are not making a positive contribution to the learners. This has rendered the entire process to be of less meaning to the student’s future. The state needs to focus on the global requirements of the education system so that assessment can be aligned to the needs. This will ensure that students can be internationally recognized and valued as well as enabling them meet the challenges of the global world. Conclusion Most country’s education systems have used improper education assessment which has given the wrong reflection of the nature of the students. This is because assessment has become part of the institution’s traditions and educators are relying on what has been the procedure for the past centuries. The traditional assessment practices are still being used and this has resulted in little or no improvement in teaching methods. Politics have also played a role in education assessment making it have little impact to the development of the students. There is therefore need to restructure the assessment practices that are being used to ensure that they align to the global educational needs. Change needs to be done from the curriculum, the mode of teaching and finally on what is being assessed. The goals of learning also need to change to ensure the right goals are being assessed. Bibliography Benveniste, L., 2002, The Political Structuration of Assessment: Negotiating State Power and Legitimacy, Comparative Education Review, vol. 46, no. 1,p. 89-118. Boud, D., 2007, Rethinking Assessment in Higher Education: Learning for the Longer Term, Taylor & Francis, New York. Broadfoot, P. 1996, Education, assessment, and society: a sociological analysis, Open University Press, Buckingham; Philadelphia. Broadfoot, P. 2007, An Introduction to Assessment, Continuum, London. Elwood, J. &Klenowski, V., 2002, 'Creating communities of shared practice: the challenges of assessment use in learning and teaching', Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, vol. 27, no. 3,pp. 243-256. Falchikov, N. &Boud, D. 2007, 'Assessment and Emotion', in D. Boud& N. Falchikov (eds), Rethinking Assessment in Higher Education, Routledge, London. Flowers, R. 2009, ''Can competency assessment support struggles for community development and self-determination'', Report Zeitschrift für Weiterbildungsforschung vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 23-35. Lamprianou, I. &Athanasou, J., 2009, (eds), A Teacher's Guide to Educational Assessment, Sense, Rotterdam. Shepard, L., 2000, 'The Role of Assessment in a Learning Culture', Educational Researcher, Vol 29, No 7, pp. 4-14. Australian Universities Teaching Committee, 2002, Core principles of effective assessment, retrieved on 3rd September 2012 from http://www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au/assessinglearning/05/index.html Utschig, T., 2009, Ten Critical Ideas About Assessment to Benefit Every Educational Professional, International Journal of Process Education, Vol 1, Issue 1. Read More