How often should we test students?
In this short piece, I continue my extended discussion of assessment, one of the most emotive areas of school education. Last time I outlined that most forms of assessment consist of three parts: diagnosis, feedback and remediation.
This time, I will try to give an answer to the question, “How often do we test students?”
Like all simple questions, the answer is complex. In fact, in its present form, the question is unanswerable. We actually assess students’ learning all the time. Some assessment takes the form of clearly defined formal examinations, particularly at ages 16 and 18. The most ubiquitous and effective form of assessment, however, is ephemeral: in-the-moment judgements about understanding, gleaned from a wide range of cues and clues which manifest in student behaviour and response. The judgements and decisions are underpinned by a teacher’s mastery of content, concepts and the relationship with child development, educational psychology and learning. This teacher mastery is typically so embedded through practice that it appears intuitive. (Malcolm Gladwell’s 2005 book “Blink” is an entertaining and accessible introduction to the field of intuitive decision making.)
Following these judgements, decisions are made and adjustments to the lesson take place. The number of such assessment processes is phenomenal. Jackson’s (1990) seminal study showed that a primary school teacher engages in 200-300 interpersonal exchanges with students every hour, most of which are unplanned and unpredictable and call for judgements and decisions to be made and acted upon. This type of assessment is at one end of the assessment scale and formal, high-stakes external examinations at the other end. In between lies a huge range of other activities which fall under the umbrella term “assessment.” How often do we test students? Each teacher does so at least 1500 times every day!
Next time, I’ll discuss one or two types of test and look at the familiar example of the paper test and its impact on learning, on motivation and on time.
References
Jackson, P., 1990, Life in Classrooms, NY: Teachers College Press
Gladwell, M., 2005, Blink, London: Penguin.
Senior A-Level & AP Chemistry teacher, Beijing, China. 10 years + experience in teaching IGCSE & A-level Chemistry.
5 年Formative assessment should be done frequently as this tells the teacher the progress made so far by the students . It also allows teachers to effectively apply individual differences in tackling areas of deficiencies in every child. In my school, if you tell a parent or academic head that a student is doing well or not doing well in your subject without evidence from series of formative assessments , you look stupid, am sorry.
Secondary Coordinator at Sunway International School, Malaysia
6 年I find formative tests more useful as it tells me if the students have understood the concepts. It is also less stressful. I conduct the tests in many different ways so that it is more interesting, interactive and always challenging.
After a long career, I have decided to retire from campus administration/teaching at the end of this academic year and pursue other interests. Please look for more information as the year progresses.
6 年A master teacher tests his/her students a myriad of ways each and every day so I am curious about the question. ?Are you asking about "formalized summative assessments" or "testing" in general? My opinion is that there is too much emphasis placed on 'formalized summative assessments' and all too often the data collected is not used properly, rather it relegates the 'student' to be ranked. ?It has nothing to do with learning ... human by their vary nature are curious and each and every student can learn ... the question should not be on testing but "how often should we allow our students to explore and teach themselves".
Istek Schools in ?stanbul
6 年I agree. Test results are more for teachers than students in the sense that it allows us to examine the problems a students have. I believe in the IB principles of lifelong learning.
Educator, M.A.Ed.
6 年Test results are to some extent confirming us teachers we are doing the job we need to do successfully but there is no need for tests all the time, it undermines the trust that a teacher is capable of teaching and a student capable of learning without many tests. Also it takes away the responsibility of having connections with your students which are far more important and influence the learning outcome more than anything. Students I care for learn better. A good teacher can tell a student has achieved a goal without a test necessary if he/she looks at the work and learning process closely and not only the test in the end of a topic treated. You can test a student without the student even knowing it’s a test. Unfortunately it may not be all written on paper which is scary in case someone questions your ability as a teacher. It needs courage to take those steps and trust from all parties involved.