DIFFERENCES IN PERCEPTIONS OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT: DO THEY EXIST AND WHY?
Standing
Graduate (PhD)
Type of Proposal
Oral Research Presentation
Challenges Theme
Open Challenge
Your Location
Toronto
Faculty
Faculty of Education
Faculty Sponsor
None
Proposal
Assessment is an integral part of learning. It provides a meaningful insight to educators and teachers about where students are in their learning process (Earl, 2003). For the purposes of effectively assessing students learning, the Ministry of Education (2009) prescribes ‘Differentiated Assessment’. The three types of assessment under such are diagnostic assessments (i.e.) the assessment before instruction, formative assessment (AfL, AaL) (the assessment during the instruction) and summative assessment (AoL) (the assessment that occurs after the instruction). The summative assessment is also referred to as ‘Evaluation’ by the Ministry. The Ministry’s document places special emphasis on the importance of formative assessments as a tool to monitor students’ progress as it is an effective tool to guide further instruction for the benefit of the student’s understanding. There exists substantial proof that recognizes formative assessments as the best kind of evaluation for improving students' learning. (Black and William 1998), (Assessment Reform Group, 2002) (Black , Harrison, Lee, Marshall, & William, 2003). However, there is also a case for differentiated assessments and according to (Chapman & King, 2005), managing an assortment of evaluations before learning reveals the student's earlier information and experiences, to decide the person's preparation level and to distinguish the fitting section point for guidance. Nevertheless, the importance of formative assessments continues to be reinstated in all educational reform and policy documents.
According to Hargreaves (2005), , the phrase ‘assessment for learning’ gained a lot of allegiance the classroom instructor , in middle as well as elementary school in England in the past few years.
Even though, there is huge emphasis on the importance of formative assessment for learning, it might not be used as an effective tool for assessing the students’ knowledge of a subject often as the teachers might rely only on summative assessments for assessing students’ understanding. Even the students might usually not take formative assessments seriously as they know that these assessments are not going to be marked and thus would not affect their final grades for a particular course. As a result, sometimes the teachers might have to deceive the students about marking these assessments in order to take them seriously so that they can use it to decipher students’ grasp of a concept during the instruction delivery. Thus, there might be varying perceptions in the minds of not only educators but also students as regrades to the formative assessment. (Hargreaves, 2005) This papers aims to throw light on these differences while also exploring the reasons of the existence of these differences about formative assessments in order to inform the education practice about the opinions/ misconceptions regarding formative assessments in the minds of all the stakeholders of education. This paper will serve as a useful insight for putting further reforms in place for the Ministry of Education in the K-12 system while administering assessments effectively.
Bibliography
Assessment Reform Group. (2002). Assessment for learning: 10 principles. London: Assessment Reform Group.
Black , P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B., & William, D. (2003). Assesment for learning Putting It Into Practice.Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Black, P., & William, D. (1998). Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment. London: King's College.
Chapman, C., & King, R. (2005). Differentiated Assessment Strategies: One Tool Doesn't Fit All. Thousand oaks: Corwin Press.
Earl, L. (2003). Assessment as Learning: Using Classroom Assessment to Maximise Student Learning. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.
Hargreaves, E. (2005, June). Assessment for learning? Thinking outside the (black) box. Cambridge Journal of Education, 35(2), 213-224.
Ministry of Education. (2009). Differentiated Instruction Educator’s Package Facilitator’s Guide – assessment For learning Getting to the core of teaching and learning. Retrieved from Edugains: http://www.edugains.ca/resourcesDI/D.I.%20Enhancement%20Package/Assessment%20for%20Learning/DI_Assessment_Gde_2009.pdf
DIFFERENCES IN PERCEPTIONS OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT: DO THEY EXIST AND WHY?
Assessment is an integral part of learning. It provides a meaningful insight to educators and teachers about where students are in their learning process (Earl, 2003). For the purposes of effectively assessing students learning, the Ministry of Education (2009) prescribes ‘Differentiated Assessment’. The three types of assessment under such are diagnostic assessments (i.e.) the assessment before instruction, formative assessment (AfL, AaL) (the assessment during the instruction) and summative assessment (AoL) (the assessment that occurs after the instruction). The summative assessment is also referred to as ‘Evaluation’ by the Ministry. The Ministry’s document places special emphasis on the importance of formative assessments as a tool to monitor students’ progress as it is an effective tool to guide further instruction for the benefit of the student’s understanding. There exists substantial proof that recognizes formative assessments as the best kind of evaluation for improving students' learning. (Black and William 1998), (Assessment Reform Group, 2002) (Black , Harrison, Lee, Marshall, & William, 2003). However, there is also a case for differentiated assessments and according to (Chapman & King, 2005), managing an assortment of evaluations before learning reveals the student's earlier information and experiences, to decide the person's preparation level and to distinguish the fitting section point for guidance. Nevertheless, the importance of formative assessments continues to be reinstated in all educational reform and policy documents.
According to Hargreaves (2005), , the phrase ‘assessment for learning’ gained a lot of allegiance the classroom instructor , in middle as well as elementary school in England in the past few years.
Even though, there is huge emphasis on the importance of formative assessment for learning, it might not be used as an effective tool for assessing the students’ knowledge of a subject often as the teachers might rely only on summative assessments for assessing students’ understanding. Even the students might usually not take formative assessments seriously as they know that these assessments are not going to be marked and thus would not affect their final grades for a particular course. As a result, sometimes the teachers might have to deceive the students about marking these assessments in order to take them seriously so that they can use it to decipher students’ grasp of a concept during the instruction delivery. Thus, there might be varying perceptions in the minds of not only educators but also students as regrades to the formative assessment. (Hargreaves, 2005) This papers aims to throw light on these differences while also exploring the reasons of the existence of these differences about formative assessments in order to inform the education practice about the opinions/ misconceptions regarding formative assessments in the minds of all the stakeholders of education. This paper will serve as a useful insight for putting further reforms in place for the Ministry of Education in the K-12 system while administering assessments effectively.
Bibliography
Assessment Reform Group. (2002). Assessment for learning: 10 principles. London: Assessment Reform Group.
Black , P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B., & William, D. (2003). Assesment for learning Putting It Into Practice.Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Black, P., & William, D. (1998). Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment. London: King's College.
Chapman, C., & King, R. (2005). Differentiated Assessment Strategies: One Tool Doesn't Fit All. Thousand oaks: Corwin Press.
Earl, L. (2003). Assessment as Learning: Using Classroom Assessment to Maximise Student Learning. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.
Hargreaves, E. (2005, June). Assessment for learning? Thinking outside the (black) box. Cambridge Journal of Education, 35(2), 213-224.
Ministry of Education. (2009). Differentiated Instruction Educator’s Package Facilitator’s Guide – assessment For learning Getting to the core of teaching and learning. Retrieved from Edugains: http://www.edugains.ca/resourcesDI/D.I.%20Enhancement%20Package/Assessment%20for%20Learning/DI_Assessment_Gde_2009.pdf