Assessing Assessment

Assessment seems to have become a large part of a student's academic career, and so it is important to understand the different ways to use assessment, as well as its place in the classroom. With high stakes testing gaining more and more importance in the classroom, it is often difficult to remember that testing is not the only part of educating students.

The quote above, I believe, is important. Just as we as teachers should not be teaching for a test, students should not be learning simply to receive a good grade. It is when all the focus of both learning and teaching are on test scores that students are more likely to lose their natural curiosity and desire to learn. Students spend about 8 hours, five days a week in their classrooms; their experiences should be positive, as well as encourage them to want to learn more. However, with assessment being as essential as it is for a teacher to properly pace their class or develop teaching methods, it is important to use assessment appropriately. A test should be something used to gauge how a class is progressing and what concepts need to worked on further, rather than something that is constantly worked toward. The problem, in my opinion, on high stakes testing, is the amount of pressure placed on students and teachers alike. Were assessment used appropriately, student progress could be monitored without all the pressure of current Common Core tests.