Principles Of Good Assessment Practice

Principles of good assessment practice

The findings of the various research studies concerning the characteristics of good learning assessment practice have been summarized here.

Assessment of student learning begins with educational values

• Assessment is not an end of learning, but it is a means for educational improvement. Educational values should drive not only what we choose to assess, but also how we do so. Good assessment practice gives more importance of how things are learned rather than what are learned.

Assessment should be based on an understanding of how students learn

• Learning is a complex process. It involves knowledge abilities along with values, attitudes, and habits of mind which affect both the academic success and performance beyond the classroom.

• So a good assessment practice should reflect these understanding by employing a diverse array of methods. Thus assessment is most effective when it reflects an understanding of learning as multidimensional, integrated and revealed in performance overtime

Assessment should be an integral component of course design

• When a course or program is designed, apart from teaching and learning elements, assessment of learning should also be stated clearly and explicitly. When program purpose lacks specificity, assessment as a process gives clarity about where to aim and what standards to apply.

Assessment should provide useful information to report credibly to parents on student learning achievement

• A variety of assessment methods provide teachers with evidence of what students know and can do, and their particular strength and weakness. Teachers can then report to parents on how far their child has progressed during the year, wheather they are as compared to the relevant standards and what the student, parent and teacher need to do to improve the student’s performance.

Good assessment requires clarity of purpose, goals, standards and criteria

•  Assessment works best when it is based on

- clearly stated purpose and goals of the course,

- the standards which students are expected to achieve

- the criteria against which success is to be measured.

• Assessment criteria need to be understandable and explicit so that students know what is expected of them from each assessment they undergo.

• Students, parents and community should all be able to know the need for assessment and the reason for selecting each individual form of assessment in its particular context.

Good assessment requires a variety of measures

• A single instrument will not tell us all we need to know about student achievement and how it can be improved. Hence the teacher needs to be familiar with variety of assessment tools and their uses so that they can make use of most appropriate tools or method of assessment according to the kind of information sought.

Assessment methods used should be valid, reliable and objective

• Assessment instruments and processes which directly measure what we intend to measure should be chosen. A good assessment system is one which provides for moderation between the assessment measures of different teacher as well as objectivity in measurement.

Assessment requires attention to outcomes and processes

• Information about the learning achievement of students though very important, to know the level of proficiency attained by each student in the class, it is also equally important to know about their learning experience along the way and the efforts taken to acquire them.

Assessment works best when it is ongoing rather than episodic

• When learning assessment of student is undertaken continuously, it proves to be more effective. If the various learning related activities of students are monitored and assessed over a period of time, continuous learning improvement takes place on the course goals are achieved; students learning achievement too rise to the expected level of standard.

Assessment foster wider improvement when representatives from across the educational community are involved

• Student learning is a campus wide responsibility and assessment is a way of enacting that responsibility. It involves individuals from beyond the campus like alumni, trustees, employers whose experience can enrich the sense of appropriate aims and standards for learning. 

Assessment for improve performance involves feedback on reflection

• All assessment methods and process should provide for students to receive feedback on their learning and performance i.e assessment should serve as a developmental activity, enhancing student learning. Assessment should also provide students and teacher with opportunities to reflect on their practice efforts and learning achievement.

Conclusion

Thus Clear, shared, implementable goals are the cornerstone for assessment that is focused and useful. Assessment requires attention to outcomes but also and equally to the experiences that lead to those outcomes. Information about outcomes is of high importance; where students "end up" matters greatly