The joys of assessing

It's been a while since I last blogged and the thing that spurred me to come back and blog was that it was assessment week in our school. I really dislike the idea of needing to assess my students and felt like I had to share my issues with assessment to the readers.

I remember in my training year, my class had a huge debate on assessment, with particular focus on assessment for learning (formative) and assessment of learning (Summative). The debate lasted hours with my classmates changing their minds constantly about the need for assessments in school and whether there could ever be a world that required no means of testing the student but allowing students to progress at their own rate. I remember we were all exhausted by the end of the class and we were looking to our lecturer to tell us the 'magic' answer for assessment, but instead she told us that there was no right or wrong answer. I remember leaving that classroom with mixed feelings, not knowing if that discussion enlightened us or was it a waste of time.

Unfortunately, going into my third year of teaching, I still feel the same way about assessment. Come to the end of the quarter/semester, when grades need to be keyed in or reports need to be given out, both teachers and parents are stressed to meet the deadlines. I often feel my assessments are rushed and my students need more time to get to grasp with the content. It's pretty tough when assessments have been set out at the start of the unit and you never know what obstacles you come across on the way, which may halt the progression of the student.

I often ask the question, if there ever would be a world where there is no assessment involved? I do understand both sides of the argument for assessment and I understand the need for it, but how can we change things if the consumers (colleges, universities, future employers) require grades to filter the selection process for their future candidates. The parents are also key players in this, where generally the grades are the most important thing for them and that is what they focus on when receiving report cards, rather than reading about the progression of their child as a whole.

This is my first job at an international school and I've never witnessed this much demand for the students to produce. In the UK, the pressure is mostly from the government and the governors of the school to produce as a whole, however in the international school, it's the expectation of the parents, which is more evident. Obviously it's a great thing that parents are concerned about their child's education but when students are pressured into going to extra tuition class after the long hours of education in school, it's not ideal for the child's holistic growth. I am pretty sure this is a cultural thing in Malaysia, but it would be interesting to hear if this happens in other international schools?

Having said all of this, I don't suggest that if we disagree with assessment, that we should neglect it, or from what I have seen, assess students for the sake of assessment. I say we make the best of the situation. I am a great believer that students should be involved with their assessment from the beginning of the unit until the end. Unfortunately, I often see students told about their rubrics and assessment at the end of the unit, which both the teacher and student see as the end product. I always explain the rubrics to my students at the beginning of the unit and often produce a student friendly version for them to relate and refer back to. In PYP, students generally refer back to the rubrics through discussion and question and answer sessions, where the MYP students will also self and peer assess each other using the rubrics. Doing this allows the students to be involved with the assessment throughout the unit, rather than just at the end. I know that the older PYP could probably do the same, or a simpler version to my MYP students and that will be an area I will be focusing on soon.

Another aspect of assessment that concerns me is the use of formative and summative assessment. Formative assessment should be done constantly, either during or after every activity. This is to check on the students learning and a great way for the teacher to see how the students are progressing and this should inform you on how to plan for your next lesson. Summative assessment is usually done at the end of unit, which assesses the learning as a whole and is usually done at the of the unit, which helps the teacher to summarise the whole learning process. However, I have seen formative assessment scheduled in the middle of units, where teachers see formative assessment as a mid way point. I know that this is a form of formative assessment, but I feel they are missing the crucial point that this should be done constantly rather than at a fixed time.

For summative assessment, I often see that the teachers think this is a fixed assessment for all abilities and usually there is no freedom to modify it. I understand that this a great way to standardise across the field, but is it fair that a lower abled student cannot complete their assessment or if a higher abled students doesn't find it challenging? Could the assessment be given in their preferred learning style, rather than what is easier for the teacher to assess?

I know that there are other issues involved with assessment but the points I have mentioned above are the main concerns for me right now. It would be interesting to hear from other teachers in different subject areas and schools to share their thoughts about assessment and share any good practices that will benefit us all.

Until the next time...