Thursday 16 October 2014

Drowning in a sea of admin........

Uploading assessment data seems to be taking up sooo much time as the year is closing but has it REALLY measured what my students have learnt in 2014?

My feeling is no not really........of course marking students work against specific success criteria gives some type of benchmark to measure student performance. And the marks awarded are currently the key the students require to unlock spaces at tertiary institutions.

Has the present system provided opportunity to measure added value ie. How far have students progressed from their start point? Did all students start at the same place?

Has the present system provided opportunity to measure how students apply  new knowledge or skills in a different context?

Has the present system provided opportunity to measure how students  work collaboratively?

What about effort? Resilience?  Problem "solving" or problem "finding" skills?

And are the results of such assessments the motivator for students or are they motivated by wanting to make a difference in the world?

All big ideas to ponder.......

But most importantly the focus should be on identifying the learning (preferably in collaboration with students) based on what knowledge and skills students need by the time they leave school. Only then should we be finding assessments that fit the learning rather than the assessments or achievement standards dictate the programme of learning. I  need to thank Gary O'Sullivan, lecturer at Massey for emphasizing this when I trained 5 years ago. It has always underpinned my planning and for this  I am very grateful.