Prospective report on the future of assessment in primary and secondary education (original) (raw)

Redefining assessment? The first ten years ofassessment in education

Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 2004

The completion of the first ten years of this journal is an occasion for review and reflection. The main issues that have been addressed over the ten years are summarized in four main sections: Purposes, International Trends, Quality Concerns and Assessment for Learning. Each of these illustrates the underlying significance of the themes of principles, policy and practice, which the journal highlights in its subtitle. The many contributions to these themes that the journal has published illustrate the diversity and complex interactions of the issues. They also illustrate that, across the world, political and public pressures have had the effect of enhancing the dominance of assessment so that the decade has seen a hardening, rather than any resolution, of its many negative effects on society. A closing section looks ahead, arguing that there is a move to rethink more radically the practices and priorities of assessment if it is to respond to human needs rather than to frustrate them.

Assessment in education—from early childhood to higher education

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability

Assessment is a daily business in education and exists in different forms, for different purposes and on different levels. Generally, assessment implies observing the outcomes of something and assigning a value to what is observed (Stake 1991). Consequently, assessments do not provide objective data, but through the course of assessment, aspects without value become systematically divided from the aspects considered to have great value (Scriven 1991). In this process, policy makers, educators and other important stakeholders are provided with opportunities to give 'interpretations in an operational way' (cf. Lundgren 1990, p. 35), which means the information can be used for specific purposes to guide and improve certain aspects of education. This can also lead to a situation where other aspects may be concealed, or at least receive less attention.

The role of educational assessment in England and France

The Tocqueville Review, 1999

The title of this conference Evaluation et concurrence dans les systèmes scolaires européens is very much a reflection of current developments in education policy. Even 20 years ago it would have been hard to conceive of such a topic. Its choice as a focus for this collection of papers reflects the now key role of evaluation in the governance of education systems. In order to understand the significance of this development, it is pertinent to examine the factors which had led up to the current situation.

Key assessment issues for the future

Educating: …, 2004

ver the last decade, assessment and accountability have emerged as areas of significance in future educational practice. On the one hand, educators are focusing on implementation of agendas to improve practical knowledge and application of assessment through policies and projects such as Assessment for Learning and development of an assessment culture among teachers from Preparatory Year to Year 12. On the other hand, policy-makers are strengthening the role of externally-mandated and reported assessment for accountability purposes. In this paper, we identify and discuss seven issues that present opportunity and challenge emerging from such a focus on assessment and its role in education. The issues are by no means exhaustive but are illustrative of the challenges that assessment must consider to be effective in new times.

The future of assessment: five principles, five targets for 2025

Background to the report Contributors • Amber Thomas, head of academic technologies, University of Warwick • Nicole Stewart, cyber security degree apprentice • Geoff Stoakes, special adviser (degree standards), Advance HE • Carmen Tomas, assessment adviser, University of Nottingham • James Trueman, academic lead-assessment, Anglia Ruskin University • Martyn Ware, head of assessment futures, SQA • Richard Walker, head of the programme design and learning technology, University of York Jisc contributors • Paul Bailey, senior co-design manager • Lisa Charnock, research analyst • Louisa Dale, director of insight • Lisa Gray, senior co-design manager • Sarah Knight, head of change-student experience

Assessment and development: Some theoretical and practical issues

International Journal of Educational Development, 1982

The study of educational assessment procedures has been traditionally largely the concern of psychometricians and educational administrators. Little attention has typically been given to trying to understand the social origins of particular procedures and their implications for individual pupils and the society as a whole. This article explores the strength of the hold of assessment procedures on education systems and some of the more noticeable international trends in educational assessment at the present time. The article suggests that although these trends tend to be more visible in developed countries, the pressure for reform is more urgent in developing countries where the likelihood of realisation is most problematic.

Values, uses and problems of assessment

1991

This paper is intended to raise questions and identify some of the problems posed by assessment within an educational setting. The principal aim is to offer a springboard for discussion, rather than to propose a specific plan of action. It is also worth stressing that assessment designates more than just examinations (public or otherwise). As teachers and educators, we are constantly making assessments of our students, passing official, unofficial, conscious and unconscious judgements. These are judgements which inevitably influence our attitudes to our jobs, our performance and our teaching or administrative styles. They also have wide-ranging repercussions on the attitudes, performances and future of our students. They are judgements based on a complex series of assumptions which we habitually make about, for instance, what education involves, the nature of schooling, school structures and their aims, the learning process as it relates to human development. What follows is largely inspired by a desire to identify and scrutinize some of the most recurrent of these assumptions.