Link and Overview
An interesting thought piece intended to prompt a reconsideration about assessment, what it’s for and how it’s best done.
TL/DR
Assessment as currently practiced in most Western countries is ‘the wrong kind of net’ to catch what we need to know about student capability
To live a good life requires many competencies to be developed, and school has an important role in doing so
Teachers need to consider not just how to get good exam results
Because assessment determines to a large extent what gets taught, how, we need to think deeply about how we assess
At the moment, assessment is too narrowly focused and too shallow, primarily favouring the recall of decontextualised facts and demonstration of routine skills
There are many ‘unhelpful’ consequences as a result: eg, demotivated students, negative impact on the development of learner identity, exacerbation of inequality, reduced performance due to anxiety
The resource finishes by drawing together the characteristics of high-quality assessment and promising practices from around the world.