Assessment Pressures

Since the introduction of the Nation Curriculum Standards there has been real pressure put on teachers to make their OTJs defensible. Even though teachers have a licence to make a judgement based on anecdotal observations and notes and student voice the assessment or test still seems to be the dominant part of the equation and teachers aren't prepared to put a student at a level without administering some form of test.

The challenge is that many assessments are administered by the teacher one on one with the student and can be quite time consuming, for example JAM and Running Records. Adding to the challenge is many schools have had to change how they provide CRT and it may not always be available when the teachers most need it.

So what is the answer? The simple response is that perhaps teachers should trust their judgement more but there is still a requirement that a standardised assessment be part of the OTJ process.

The other possibility is that we review the types of assessments we are using. Cullen (2012) questions the validity of some assessments as they are "stand alone" and do relate to the needs of the learner in a classroom environment. Cullen goes on to suggest that some assessments even encourage the wrong types of skills in a learner. Though she was referring to reading assessments I believe this idea can be extended to other learning areas as well. Cullen advocates for 'Rich Tasks' which she describes as "authentic and meaningful" which will allow the teacher to "observe student behaviour and learning in a variety of settings and with various materials."

I plan to explore the idea of 'Rich Tasks' and how they can be used as a part of OTJs. I believe this important because we need to get most accurate and relevant data about student learning and also we need to take the pressure of our teachers.

 

Cullen, T. (2012). Assessment for Better Learning: A closer look at reading assessment. Reading Forum N.Z Vol. 27, No. 3 2012