Educational Sustainability Assessment - Article Example

Educational Assessment Client Inserts His/her Name Client Inserts Grade Course Client Inserts Tutor’s Name 27/08/2012 Different views arise when it comes to the actual role played by assessment for learning. But it is only logical for an approach to first define what the term ‘assessment for learning’ really means. According to Shepard (2000), assessment for learning is the kind of assessment framework that can be used as part of instructions aimed at supporting and enhancing the learning process. In other words, as Shute and Hanson (2007) elaborate, assessment for learning is as an approach to education involves weaving assessments directly into the fabric of the classroom and using results as the basis to adjust instruction to promote student learning in a timely manner. This is meant partly to assist easiness of the student to learn and partly to reassure and motivate the teacher or instructor that his or her efforts are effective. Still, Shepard (2000) discusses the social and cultural roles and implication of carrying out this kind of assessment from the societal development point of view. Upon the indication of the necessity of assessment for learning, Klein and Benjamin (2006) underpin that the primary focus should be directed on what specifically the assessment measures, its technical qualities, and its usefulness. This paper attempts to analyse the argument on the suitability of the imposition of the assessment in influencing how subject societies, groups and individuals understand themselves. Aims behind reinforcement of this approach to the learner and whether they are really achieved are as well analysed. As a learner, whether it is hypothetical to others that assessment for learning affects one’s self image, most authors indicate that the use of this approach by instructors affects not only students’ learning abilities and cognitive development, but it also alters one’s social aspects as an adult (Klein and Benjamin 2006). This claim is objected by various views and thus justifies the purpose of this study. Across the 20th century and beyond, the society believes in the necessity of instructions in any communal gatherings and the necessity of processes that link instructions successfully from instructor to the performer/subject (Shepard 2000). According to Abulencia (2011), the primary reason for the use of educational assessment in schools is to set higher and more rigorous standards for student learning. Additionally, Abulencia adds that this approach also provides necessary information regarding the needs of the teachers especially for the staff development. That said, Abulencia (2011) opens up a wider meaning of what this, that in a more simplified form, educational assessment is meant to improve instructions in the classroom. The sociological importance of educational assessment as indicated here, is to improve first, interaction between teachers and students and later, the ability of the students to follow given instructions. From a similar allegation, Shepard (2000) argues that this is the basis that determines ability of ‘ex-student’ adults to interact and observes that imbalance between individuals previously subject to assessment regimes either at school or at military or any other similar scenarios, and those who have not causes differences in the way the public or the societies handle different matters. While supporting the positive social role played by educational assessments in the society, Abulencia (2011) gives a variety of social roles or purposes of this approach in schools: “…assessment can serve: (1) as a basis for better-grounded education policies; (2) as a means of improving the management of education systems; and (3) as an instrument to foster collaboration and continuous learning within those systems…. assessment performs an increasing number of functions in recent years: from judging individual pupils to evaluating schools and monitoring national performance.” The parents and the teaching fraternity have emphasized not only the use of the approach on students, but they have also incessantly fought for review of related reforms. The society thus believes that academic excellence can only prevail where guidance and close teacher-learner interaction prevails. Shepard (2000) however finds it logical to handle different subjects to the approach in accordance to their individual ability. This is after reckoning that different individuals exhibit different levels of ability and the whole process might impact negatively. The roles and effects of educational assessment regimes, in the first place, originate from government policies and especially as concerns are raised by national educational advisory boards or as native concerns from comparative studies and analyses. While the approach is considered a key role player in improving the learners’ cognitive skills and thus performance, most governments enforce various reviewed educational assessment procedures hand in hand with developing most suiting reforms to ensure high performance from the learners. The major driving force is that academic performance at national level has been used, according to Abulencia (2011), as a means to classify countries in the thus supposedly continuum of competition. Meanwhile, multiple streams of influence, including social policies and societal goals, theories of the mind, and computational capacities, have affected educational assessment community over the 20th century and have prospects for continuing to do so well in future (Pellegrino 1999). Various governments, through and by the guidance from the relevant educational authorities, have had establishment, monitoring and subsequent improvement of various educational policies necessitating and defining the assessment procedures as the main tools to achieve higher performance in academics. Most of these policies are multipurpose as reiterated above, for instance, improving the welfare of the learning community and society in general which is the main cutting edge and beautifying national image. Ideally, these policies direct that assessment be conducted in conjunction with other direct and usual measures of learning outcomes, indirect measures of institutional support for learning, and other indicators that are important to the community and the public policy altogether (Klein & Benjamin 2006). This effortful involvement of the government justifies the necessity of conducting educational assessment. In the times before the end of 19th century, instructions in education and in other industrial work places were not based on exactly founded and well defined paradigms. According to Shepard (2000), people followed instructions as a culture. The general paradigm was that subjecting individuals to uniform instructions was a measure between the capable and the incapacitated in a particular field. If one was unable to achieve as previously hypothesized, he or she was considered a failure. The tone of slavery was still in the air that unrightfully led to the allegedly misguided conclusiveness in comparison to the latest paradigms. Shepard (2000) says that across the 20th century and beyond, experts started recognizing that, as important as it is, there existed differences in the capabilities and areas of potential for each individual learner or worker. Gradually then, the 20th Century Dominant Paradigm slowly dissolved, in realization of the named sociological differences, and there was introduction of carefully crafted instructions to replace the old paradigm of ‘failure once you cannot follow or comprehend various instructions’ (Shepard 2000). In this growth of the process of integrating instructions in academia and labour, the community as well as the experts realized that when one lacked ability in particular field, he or she ability in another. Therefore, intellectual assessments became sociologically important among communities especially in a fight to establish individual niches rather than using collective approaches. Beyond 1980, the Emergent Paradigm thus has been in use and it is involves a comprehensive model characterized by reformed vision of curricula, cognitive and constructivist learning theories, and classroom assessments (Shepard 2000). The belief thereof is that close cognitive and professional interaction between instructors and individual learners is a sure way of enhancing one’s awareness of his or her capability limits and areas of potential. While many scholars find the normative process of assessment (assessment for learning) as fruitful, there have had risen questions on the requirements for an effective modification of this approach. To this end, various reforms have been concerned with the quality of the practices, principles and policies. While confirming the necessity of this approach, Shepard (2000) feeds the minds of respective experts and authorities with bits of wits that are importantly associated with effectiveness of the assessment process in that: effective learning is as a result of professionally accumulating necessary bits of knowledge; learning is a tightly sequenced and hierarchical process; knowledge transfer process is extremely limited and thus every objective must be explicitly taught; tests are extremely important and should be used frequently to ensure masterly before proceeding to the next objective; tests are exactly isomorphic with learning; and that motivation is vital, external and based on positive reinforcement of many small steps. The behavioural dynamics of a learner, complex to approach and to understand as they are, Shepard (2000) underpins that proper policy reviews and reforms suit pursuit of academic and social aspects quality. Suskie (2007) states that the effectiveness of assessment for learning in largely determined by the directions included in a particular policy, the cognitive quality and ability of direct enforcer and his or her personal ethics (personal drive) in the actual practice. Suskie states that many institutionalized policies involve a sequential detailed approach that first identifies student learning goals for academic offerings adding that offerings are to display appropriate academic content, rigor and coherence including considerations of motivational extracurricular entries. While instructors’ role is to understand and classify different learners’ abilities, individual learners become aware of their potential areas of strength as well as their weaknesses. For instance, what with proper guidance as per ability of an individual learner, students become quite conversant with their potential career choice and become socially moulded such that they ably express their views about their destinies amidst complex mixtures of different potential professions. As a learner, I have personally been able to establish close interaction with tutors who understand my abilities. I can safely second Suskie’s views that with proper practices in student assessment for learning, a learner easily develops cognitive skills in locating his or her potentials and pursuing them in one accord. As reiterated above, educational assessments are not only beneficial to learners, but also to various institutions and governments. The intension is to create a virtue by which quality of personalities can be classified across various institutions and countries. Abulencia (2011) finds several more purposes including: to validate existing knowledge and acting as a passport to further learning opportunities as regards the learners; screening for different vocational pathways that largely correspond to professional occupational and trade schemes; gaining access to some schools and not others; guiding employers in qualitative hiring or firing decisions; and generating performance information about various schools and hence classifying them such that remedial strategies formulation processes are made easier. I personally, as an example, find it hard for an ex-learner to lack employment offers and tactics to face interviews and so on. Specifically, tests are meant to make students emerge as qualified, specialized through guided choice and thus able to express themselves with ultimate clarity and confidence to the external society. Assessment for learning is a process, if well-crafted and delivered, can lead to self-awareness and cognitive development of students and/or any other learners. The parents and the teaching fraternity have emphasized not only the use of the approach on students, but they have also incessantly fought for review of related reforms. The society thus believes that academic excellence can only prevail where guidance and close teacher-learner interaction prevails. The sociological importance of educational assessment as indicated here is to improve first, interaction between teachers and students and later, the ability of the students to follow given instructions. From a similar allegation, professionals argue that this is the basis that determines ability of ‘ex-student’ adults to interact and observes that imbalance between individuals previously subject to assessment regimes either at school or at military or any other similar scenarios, and those who have not causes differences in the way the public or the societies handle different matters. Most of these policies are multipurpose as reiterated above, for instance, improving the welfare of the learning community and society in general which is the main cutting edge and beautifying national image. Ideally, these policies direct that assessment be conducted in conjunction with other direct and usual measures of learning outcomes, indirect measures of institutional support for learning, and other indicators that are important to the community and the public policy altogether. List of References Abulencia, A.S. 2011. The Social Purposes of Learning Assessment. ATIKAN, 1:1, pp105-120. Klein, S. & Benjamin, R. 2006. The Collegiate Learning Assessment. Evaluation Review, pp.2-21. Pellegrino, J.W. 1999. The Evolution of Educational Assessment: Considering the Past and Imagining the Future. Educational Testing Service, 6th Annual. Pp.3-18. Shepard, L.A. 2000. The Role of Assessment in a Learning Culture. Educational Researcher, 27:1, pp4-14. Shute, V.J. & Hansen, E.G. 2007. System Called ACED: Designing for Learning Effectiveness and Accessibility. Research & Development, Educational Testing Service, pp.1-30. Suskie, C. 2007. Student Learning Assessment: Options and Resources. Middle States Commission on Higher Education, pp.1-94. Read More