CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT AND ITS EVERLASTING IMPACT

1. Recall the time when you were a student and recall a specific ... subject, grade level, teacher, or episode of assessment. Ask yourself these questions. What was the teacher doing? What were students doing? What impression did that assessment episode have on you at the time? Why? Has your impression of that assessment episode changed over the years? Why / Why not? You can easily retrieve from your subconscious memory the exact subject, the name of your teacher and even the episode of your assessment. Usually, we remember two instances, the one which is the best event where you got appreciation from your teacher or too bad. Why? Because the classroom assessment has very deeper and everlasting impact on our learning. Someone can even recall if he was mistreated, ridiculed or insulted in the class. But that kind of experience can spoil the career of students. So we should be very careful as a teacher while assessing our students. The study says that those students who are more successful in their lives perform extremely well in their careers and are appreciated as students in their classes.

2. The word ‘assess’ originates from the Latin verb ‘assidere’ meaning ‘to sit with’. In assessment one is supposed to sit with the student. This infers it is something we do ‘with’ and ‘for’ students and not ‘to’ students. Contrarily, what is our view about assessment? Both teachers and students have an element of fear and fright in their concept of assessment which is wrong. We have to remove this element of fear among students. This will only happen when we as teachers change our own thinking and vision about classroom assessment. James H. McMillan in his book “Classroom Assessment: Principles and Practice that Enhance Student Learning and Motivation” has defined classroom assessment in these words, “… assessment is the gathering, interpretation, and use of information to aid teacher decision-making. Assessment is an umbrella concept that encompasses different techniques, strategies, and uses.” So, assessment must be planned in such a manner to facilitate the teacher and used by the teachers to gather information about the students' achievements and interpret it in the favour of students.

3. There is another misconception associated with classroom assessment is that students are to respond to what they are being taught. Over the period of time the meaning of learning has also changed, students not only learn in a classroom setting but they also learn from their surroundings, people, society, social media platforms, and all More Knowledgeable Others (MKOs). Students’ assessors should keep in mind that students may perform much better than the expectations of their assessors. As the context of teaching and learning is changing with every passing day, similarly the perspective of classroom assessment is no exception.

4. The role of assessment in teaching has increased manyfold, similarly, the scope of assessment has also broadened. Many factors are influencing classroom assessment which includes 21st-century knowledge, skills, and dispositions, Technology, Principles of cognitive and sociocultural learning and motivation, Standards-based education and High-stakes testing. Recent trends such as alternative assessments, assessment integrated with instruction, student self-evaluation, authenticity, public standards and criteria, and sstudent involvement with assessment and formative assessment are also influencing classroom assessment. As the realities of teaching are changing, it has become fast-paced, hectic and complex, on the same lines classroom assessment is also influencing teacher decision-making before instruction, during instruction and after instruction. Research on Learning, Motivation, and Instruction has also improved classroom assessment strategies as Cognitive theories have become more meaningful, self-regulated and active construction. Students’ thinking skills have also changed students’ perceptions of assessment. The motivation of the students has also become dependent upon constructive feedback.

Reference

McMillan, 2004, p. 5