No matter the age of the child, all learning does require some measure of assessment in order to understand where the child is developmentally. However, all the way through middle school (at least) that measure of assessment should be focused on all developmental domains in some capacity. When we think about a holistic approach to child/student assessment in terms of school age children some areas of measurement could include:
- Language and Effective Communication Skills
- Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
- Social and Emotional Intelligence
- Physical Development and Health
- Diverse Cultural Understanding and Competency
- Approaches to Learning and Systems Thinking Capacity
- Technological Capability
New Zealand once again appears to serve as a model of the hands-on methods of assessment that are focused on a holistic approach. It seems that their assessment of student learning in the primary school years is driven by student learning and teachers have the responsibility to conduct assessments in ways that reflect what and how students learn. In fact, there are apparently no national tests on which students need to perform in pressurized test-taking atmospheres. Below is an overview of New Zealand student assessment procedures based on the findings of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as published in their Reviews of Evaluation and Assessment in Education NEW ZEALAND.
One other idea I would like to note about my own opinion of assessing school age children through a holistic approach relates to the way children are assessed. I feel that the way we assess children in early education programs should be a model for how all learning is assessed. We should be asking teachers to know individual students and to assess their learning (the domains I mentioned above) through observation and collection of evidence- NOT through standardized testing! The focus of rote learning and testing that has swept our nation is not what we should be focusing on. Rather, we need to think outside the traditional box and give students the chance to demonstrate their capacity through hands-on opportunities.
Seems to me the rest of the world needs to get on board with New Zealand. I think students would thrive more if they didn't have the pressures of Standardized State testing to worry about. I enjoyed reading about the hands on and student led learning from New Zealand.
ReplyDeleteI like the New Zealand style of learning. I also agree that assessing children is important for growth and development.
ReplyDeleteWendy,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that there are countries out there, leading the way toward holistic assessment of students! New Zealand has the right idea, and so do you - assessments through middle school should be cumulative and not standardized! If elementary school was run like a preschool room, where each child was truly known by their teacher - observed and assessed in all domains - how different would our education system be? And how much better off would our students be? Someday, maybe through our commitment as scholar-practitioners, we will be able to actualize this in our country!
~Mary Grace
I enjoyed reading your post and find that you have some true facts about assessments and that every child should experience them some point throughout their educational experience.
ReplyDelete