The concept of assessment in education refers to any of the methods used to evaluate, measure, and document the academic readiness, learning progress, and skill acquisition of students. Assessment works at many levels, gaining data to advocate for the individual as well as using the collective data of many to paint a picture of an entire system. This data is then used to position schools, systems, and nations in comparison to one another. Increasingly assessment seems to be more concerned with the political agenda of education, and less so with the needs of the students it serves.
It is clear that assessments no longer stay in the class or school in which they occur. Where assessment once existed to help inform teacher planning and practice, now they play a more significant role in the development of education policy. They help to hold schools and systems accountable for improving student learning, and serving the socio-political climate that they exist within. But to what end?
Assessments have far reaching influence, having the potential to affect the political, economical, and cultural factors that surround education. Many theorists herald education as the catalyst for major social change, and increasingly assessment monitors this. It seeks to ensure that education is acting on behalf of the society that it is working for, by showing what each student within each school is able to achieve, or in some cases what they are unable to achieve.
It is through this examination of the influence that assessment has on the Australian education system, that we seek to understand the changing landscape of education, and how it is being shaped by assessment. It is almost universally agreed that assessment forms an integral part of an effective education system. However, there is increasing debate about what role assessment should play within a school, and whether or not current policies and practices truly benefit students.
It is clear that assessments no longer stay in the class or school in which they occur. Where assessment once existed to help inform teacher planning and practice, now they play a more significant role in the development of education policy. They help to hold schools and systems accountable for improving student learning, and serving the socio-political climate that they exist within. But to what end?
Assessments have far reaching influence, having the potential to affect the political, economical, and cultural factors that surround education. Many theorists herald education as the catalyst for major social change, and increasingly assessment monitors this. It seeks to ensure that education is acting on behalf of the society that it is working for, by showing what each student within each school is able to achieve, or in some cases what they are unable to achieve.
It is through this examination of the influence that assessment has on the Australian education system, that we seek to understand the changing landscape of education, and how it is being shaped by assessment. It is almost universally agreed that assessment forms an integral part of an effective education system. However, there is increasing debate about what role assessment should play within a school, and whether or not current policies and practices truly benefit students.