Research Review for School Leaders by Wraga William G. Hlebowitsh Peter S

Author:Wraga, William G.,Hlebowitsh, Peter S.
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-135-66095-6
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

PART IV

Classroom Assessment

TO ASSESS THE SCHOOL EXPERI-ence is to problematize it, to ask questions, and to gather evidence about the nature of the experience as it relates to the professed mission and goals of the school. Assessment, in this sense, is a vital part of a school’s curriculum development strategy. It demands the collection and representation of a body of evidence that speaks for or against the attainment of any number of essential educational purposes. Any one particular method of assessment has value only to the extent that it makes a contribution to understanding whether a particular objective (or set of objectives) has been attained. Generally speaking, educators believe that certain standardized measurements are helpful in gauging achievement in reading, writing, language arts, and mathematics. Also, achievement measures may be taken in more discipline-centered areas, such as science and social studies. But the act of assessment is also carried out in very important ways in the world of the classroom. Using observations, interviews, questionnaires, the representation of student products, various self-made exams, and any number of other methods, teachers assess the skills, attitudes, values, and competencies of schoolchildren virtually on a daily basis.

In 1929, Tyler coined the term evaluation (Madaus & Stujflebeam, 1989). The use of this term represented an important turn for those interested in the appraisal of school education. Wanting to focus attention away from pencil-and-paper tests that contained largely restricted-response items, Tyler argued that evaluation should aim to find and demonstrate the things of value that students might be deriving from their education. Thus, to think about evaluation meant to open up the appraisal process and to get serious about determining how teachers might demonstrate whether educational objectives related to thinking skills, communication skills, inquiry skills, study skills, and various sociopersonal and sociocivic values were actually being met. This meant that the very notion of appraisal had to be widened to include the place of various locally devised appraisal methods specifically attuned to local learning and teaching priorities.

This is precisely the flavor of the chapters in this section. Focusing largely on classroom assessment issues, these chapters collectively represent a kind of conceptual landscape of views that school leaders might reflect in their own professional lives. The role of high stakes testing, the place of reflective portfolio assessment, the vast range of assessment activities that principals can encourage, and the increasing role of computer assessment mechanisms in the curriculum all make their way into the discussion. The section emphasizes the idea of evaluation, as Tyler originally constructed it, by making it clear that assessment can examine a wide assemblage of values, attitudes, skills, and behaviors. This is important because, in the end, decisions on what and how to assess will be decisions that will say a lot about what is valued in the school experience.

REFERENCE

Madaus, G. F.,& Stufflebeam, D. (Eds.). (1989). Educational evaluation: Classic works of Ralph Tyler. Boston: Kluwer.

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