Reflect on Assessment

REFLECT ON ASSESSMENT: 

HOW CAN YOU IMPROVE ASSESSMENT IN YOUR CLASSROOM? 

       Assessment is the measurement of learning. The purposes of carrying out assessments in the classroom are many. The most general purpose of assessment is to measure how much a student has learned  in the classroom. Classroom assessment is a complex undertaking that means something different to different audiences and in different situations. Assessment has many purposes that sometimes support one another and sometimes compete or conflict with one another.(Earl,1948).

     There are three approaches to assessment. They are Assessment of learning, Assessment for learning and Assessment as learning. Assessment of learning is done at the end of  a unit, a course, a grade or a key stage in which the teacher is the key assessor and the other students are the main or important points of reference. This approach to assessment will place a particular student where s/he stands in the class. Such assessments take the form of tests or examinations where questions are set from the material they have studied. Teachers maintain a record book in which the grades of the students are maintained. Based on their performance, students are awarded ranks and certificates. Assessment of learning emphasises on formative  assessment and not on summative assessment. In assessment of learning teachers use a number of innovative ideas in the collection of materials that could be useful for the students, The students will answer questions in the middle of the class. This will help the teacher understand that the students have understood the topic at hand and will move on to another topic. The teacher could also start the class by posing a few questions to the students based on previous knowledge of the students. Here the teacher assesses the students' work and keep a record of their performance to see who are the students who  need more help, what are their weak points and what are those strong points. Assessment as learning lays more emphasis on the students as they are the links. They are active, engaged and play a critical role in almost every aspect of the learning process. They monitor their own learning and gives feedback to one another in order to improve on what they feel they need to make an improvement in.

                    Since there are three approaches to assessment it would be difficult to ascertain which of the    approaches will work best. Therefore it is necessary for the teachers to accommodate all the three approaches so that every aspect of the learning process is being assessed. Since the students are the learners it is important that any type of assessment must reflect that learning is taking place. Any effort made by the teachers in assessment should be able to bring about the students' progress and development in learning. Hence teachers should make a judicious use of all the three approaches to assessment. It really does not depend on what one uses to assess but on how one wants to assess.

            As teachers we should make use of any material which we think will promote learning in the classroom. Any activity could be used in the classroom. Teachers should create an environment in which the students could learn and have fun in the classroom. They should be motivated to lean. Just as motivation is important in learning, teachers should assess the students in such a way that it will help the students to learn and be motivated by it. Assessment which demotivates the students should be avoided so that the number of school dropouts could be reduced. It  is a fact here in Shillong that most of the students drop out of school because they are unable to cope with the lessons that they found difficult to understand. At the end of the year the number of school dropouts is increasing thereby reducing the literacy rate. The effort of trying to give every child an opportunity to learn and receive education  and the practice of "education for all "will be put to waste if assessing them will demotivate and not  motivate them to learn.

                      Moreover, if one wants to reduce the number of dropouts, The teacher should assess the students on a daily basis and not at the end of a course or a unit. This kind of assessment will no doubt be taxing  for  the teacher but this will prove to be the only way to know whether or not the weak students have understood the lesson. In this way the teacher will be able to address them and clear their doubts. As of now there is a very few number of schools which have started adopting CCE or Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation. Assessing the students on a daily basis will motivate the students to participate actively in classroom activities which  promotes learning.

                     Assessment should be able to bring about some visible changes in the learner. This kind of change can be reflected through education. When a child is educated, s/he will exhibit a change in behaviour. Motivation will help the child to be active and to be a part of all the learning activities. Therefore assessment should be relevant, that is, assessment should meet the needs and requirement of a particular students. Sometimes, the teacher could go outside the syllabus in order to meet those needs which have not been specified in the syllabus. With the use of an analytic syllabus the teacher will no doubt be able to help and meet the particular needs of a  particular student.

                  Therefore it is time we do away  with the traditional type of assessment and try to incorporate new types of assessments in the classroom. This requires for a change to take place . Unless teachers are opened to changes the need to overhaul the old system of assessment in our classroom will never take place. Teachers should not only be receptive to what they do , they should also believe in what they do so that other teachers can learn from them.

                  To conclude, I would like to say that learning is an essential part of life and assessment is an essential part of learning. Therefore  we could only conclude that assessment is an essential part of life . Teachers should understand that assessing students does not only reflect how educated they are but it also reflects how well a student could do in life because of the education s/he has received.