Assessment Past Present and Future CHANGE?

Assessment Past Present and Future, CHANGE?

My Global competency roll has allowed me to review aspects of learning and skill development that makes me passionate about how students view themselves over grades. Here are my thoughts on the Past Present and Future of assessment. I believe that it is important to understand that students should be held to high expectations of skill attainment and not just a number grade or level. 

• Past: In what tangible ways is tradition and “the way we’ve always done things” influencing your current assessment practices? Exams and the pressure of high school admittance to post secondary schools drive me to create tests and exams with a variety of material that force kids to memorize content. I also teach at a very academically inclined school where parents and teachers support the traditional methods of kill and drill. Many of our academic students thrive in those situations however it is students who are intelligent and are interested in bigger learning topics that suffer. 
• Present: What current assessments do you think are most effective in the present? In my practice as a science teacher I ask students to make a list of their interests and passions. From that we develop a study that they design to help them understand the form, process or idea better. The assessment at the end is of the process and their peer revisions of their final written paper or report.
• Future: How do you think modern contexts will influence the future of assessment in schools? I believe that modern context that drive our business and industry are currently asking for changes in our practices at school. The work force is lacking individuals that can do what robots can not. There is shortages of skilled labour and individuals that are able to transform fixed knowledge into skills, passion and opportunity to thrive.  It is imperative that we help students from emerging ideas, new ways of thinking, disrupt and as educators provide unprecedented learning opportunities.

• Change:  
•  Educators have failed to advocate and communicate better alternatives to the current assessment structures. As an individual teacher I often feel like I am not able to communicate or offer alternatives. The academic and university streamed students depend on their grade generated from traditional tests. Universities haven't diverted from Mark generated acceptance even tough marks are rudimentary and does not reflect competency skills or learning. I believe that once post secondary institutions value learning and achievement of skills over marks there will be a shift in the assessment practices. 
• There are external factors that cause obstacles to reinvent assessments at K-12 levels: 
1. History and Tradition - Society is very reluctant to change. Change is scary. When students aren't threatened with exams and tests then they won't learn. Traditionally students look for marks however it should be about what concepts and skills are lacking. Parents need to value education not only marks. If parents value what is being learned rather than completion and a grade. In this current situation where students are learning at home I find that highly motivated students are attempting tasks to master content. Students who have parents that don't see the value or can't muster the courage to endorse their student's learning fail at trying to work "on-line". Parents feel that if they have a passing grade why force them to learn more. Again society's value of education and learning has to shift. 
2. Politics and Power Structures. Our society has been conditioned to look for marks as how students are doing as a measure of learning instead of asking to show they're learning or asking what they think is important to know. The government needs to be accountable to their voters as to whether the current education system is making a difference in the success of students ability to understand math, reading and writing. Economics and business requires the education system to provide opportunity for students to practice skill, competencies and divert from the traditional knowledge system to build a work force that can adapt to current working conditions and the availability of jobs.
3. High-Stakes Accountability Measures. EQAO math and literacy tests often put undue pressure on students and teachers to divert from their learning to focus on "teaching to the test". In Ontario students are also not able to get a High school diploma if they do not pass the test. There should be electronic ways to to determine if students are able to complete specific tasks instead of providing numbers. This should be in collaboration with teachers to help students master expectations rather than one time, snap shot of what will be on the test.

I often feel very lonely thinking about assessment. Many parents, colleagues and students view multiple test retakes, bump up, revisions as cheating. My students require more confidence when learning and our technology has made it possible to allow students to work on multiple choice or allow students to redo sections on a test. To demonstrate learning of a concept using different methods. I hope more teachers will value students integrity and mental health to develop more ways to help students through learning competency skills that will better reflect them as an individual.