English assessment - Essay Example

The main purpose of assessment in the room is getting information on the progress and performance. Besides, according to Black and Wiliam (1998) assessment is to raise the standards of learning according to which the educational process should be conducted. Especially it is related to lower ability students, since assessing their performance and progress helps to define which particular learning areas should be addressed more. Nowadays both formative and summative assessment methods are used to gather such information.

Nevertheless, according to Garrison and Ehringhaus, relying on one of the two procedures more may lead to students’ needs becoming unclear since one form of assessment cannot provide a full picture of the situation. Summative assessment is used to evaluate certain students’ needs, and usually has a form of tests, semester exams, end of unit or end of chapter tests, etc. (Gao, 2002). Bloom, Hastings and Madhaus (1971) define summative assessment as evaluation conducted at the ends of certain periods of time in order to judge the sufficiency of students’ knowledge.

Such an assessment is to define the final grade of the students, as well as help educators to make corrections and adjustment in the current curriculum, where needed, in order for the learning needs to be met in future. At the same time a summative assessment cannot reflect the efficiency of teaching in its process because assessment is carried out only after the instruction – so any curriculum or methodological improvements can be implemented in future practice only. Therefore, formative assessment is the one to evaluate the process of learning in its process, and, consequently, is a part of the teaching process.

Incorporated into the educational process, it is to discover gaps and adjust both teaching and learning processes to the students’ needs immediately in the process of learning. Besides, such an approach enables educators to raise the learning standards (Black & Wiliam, 1998) right in the process of teaching: having evaluated the current needs of each individual student, including those with lower abilities, a teacher can address them immediately. The information provided by formative assessment is to be used for modifying the teaching and learning activities in the classroom in order to get the best possible learning results (Black & William, 1998).

This idea is also supported by Fennell & Maccoll (1983), who point out that formative assessment is important and useful for getting feedback on students’ progress to identify and correct any possible errors. As a result the teacher may, for example, change the methodology of developing oral communication or listening skills, for example.At the same time an arguable issue is reliability of assessment. According to Black and Wiliam (1998) different teachers have different grading and evaluating standards: while, for example, some put more emphasis on the amount of work performed, others value quality more.

Therefore applying certain standards to the assessment itself also seems to be a problem to be solved. It can be concluded that both formative and summative assessment procedures should be equally applied in the classroom. However, according to End of Key Stage 3 National Curriculum Assessment Guidelines (2008), it seems that more stress in the modern education system is put upon summative assessment, and students’ performance is evaluated mainly by means of summative tests. The same is related to GCSE and A-level assessment requirements (GCSEEnglish A, 2007; Hudson, 2007).

This is most likely caused by the fact that summative assessment is much simpler to conduct, while it provides an objective picture of the students’ skills and knowledge. However, Black and Wiliam (1998) recommend formative assessment to be applied in the classroom more often in order for a teacher to always have adequate current information about students’ learning needs.ReferencesBlack, P., & William, D.,1998. Inside the black box: Raising standards through classroom assessment. Phi Delta Kappan, 80(2), pp. 139-148.Bloom, B.S., Hastings, J.T., & Madhaus, G.E., 1971.

Handbook on the Formative and Summative Evaluation of Student Learning. New York: McGraw-Hill.Fennell, P., & Maccoll, P., 1983. Assessment & Evaluation. Canberra: The Curriculum Development Centre. Gao, L. S., 2002. English language testing and assessment. Beijing: People’s Education Press.Garrison, C. & Ehringhaus, M. ‘Formative and Summative Assessments in the Classroom’. National Middle School Association. [internet] Available at: http://www.nmsa.org/Publications/WebExclusive/Assessment/tabid/1120/Default.

aspx [Accessed 16 December 2008].. GCSEEnglish A, 2007. Qualifications. AQA. [internet] Available at: http://www.aqa.org.uk/qual/gcse/eng_a_assess.php [Accessed 15 December 2008].Hudson, D., 2007. A-level English Language. A collection of facts and figures by Dick Hudson. [internet] Available at: http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/ec/gce.htm [Accessed 16 December 2008].KS3 National Curriculum Assessment 2008. Birmingham City Council. [internet] Available at: http://ebriefing.bgfl.org/index.cfm?

p=resources,view_resource&id=4612 [Accessed 15 December 2008].