Assessment in the Classroom

Assessment plays a crucial role in the education system as it is a process of evaluating or appraising a piece of work in order to determine where a child is at, and what further teaching needs to be delivered. It is about making a judgment and identifying strengths and weaknesses. As assessment involves making a judgment it will almost inevitably include an element of subjectivity by the assessor. However, we should strive to make assessment as objective, fair, reliable and relevant as possible, (Darr, 2005a & 2005b). Assessment of writing needs to focus on particular aspects, as set out in the success criteria, and needs to address the writing itself rather than the author, (Smith & Elley, 1997).

We assess for different purposes, some of which include motivation to learn, creating learning opportunities, to give feedback to both students and staff, to grade, and as a quality assurance mechanism for both internal and external purposes. Assessment can be defined in two categories; being formative assessment and summative assessment. Formative assessment is a range of formal and informal assessment procedures used by teachers during the learning process that help them to modify teaching and learning activities to order improve student achievement. This typically involves quality feedback rather than grades, and focuses on the details of content and performance. Summative assessment determines the achievement of learners at a particular time and is usually delivered at the end of a unit of work. A test may be given that aims to summarize learning up to that point. The results of this test may also be used to identify any weaknesses and then build on that using formative assessment, (Clarke, Timperley & Hattie, 2003).

One form of assessment that is commonly used in classrooms today is the use of a rubric or checklist. Rubrics can be holistic or analytical, general or task specific. Analytical rubrics identify and assess components of a

References: Arter, J. & McTighe, J. (2000). Scoring Rubrics in the Classroom: Using Performance Criteria for Assessing and Improving Student Performance Black, P. & William, D. (1998b). Inside the black box: raising standards through classroom assessment Clarke, S., Timperley, H., & Hattie, J. (2003). Unlocking Formative Assessment: Practical strategies for enhancing student’s learning in the primary and intermediate classroom Darr, C. (2005a). A Hitchhiker’s guide to validity. Set: Research Information for Teachers, 2, 55-56. Darr, C. (2005b). A Hitchhiker’s guide to reliability. Set: Research Information for Teachers, 3, 59-60. Smith, J., & Elley, W. (1997). How children learn to write, (pp. 126-138). New Zealand: Addison Wesley Longman.