Educational Assessment in the 21st Century: Connecting Theory and Practice

319 Pages·2009·4.939 MB·English

by  J. Joy Cumming, Claire Wyatt-Smith (auth.), Prof. Claire Wyatt-Smith, Prof. J. Joy Cumming (eds.)

Educational Assessment in the 21st Century
·
Claire Wyatt-Smith J. Joy Cumming
Editor
Educational Assessment
in the 21st Century
Connecting Theory and Practice
123
Editors
Prof.ClaireWyatt-Smith Prof.J.JoyCumming
FacultyofEducation FacultyofEducation
MtGravattCampus MtGravattCampus
GriffithUniversity GriffithUniversity
176MessinesRidgeRoad 176MessinesRidgeRoad
MtGravattQLD4122 MtGravattQLD4122
Australia Australia
c.wyatt-smith@griffith.edu.au j.cumming@griffith.edu.au
ISBN:978-1-4020-9963-2 e-ISBN:978-1-4020-9964-9
DOI10.1007/978-1-4020-9964-9
SpringerDordrechtHeidelbergLondonNewYork
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2009920277
(cid:2)c SpringerScience+BusinessMediaB.V.2009
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Foreword
Signs of Change: Assessment Past, Present and Future
AnotherTime,AnotherPlace...Examinations
ThenandNow
In the Temple of Literature in Hanoi, Vietnam, a series of stone stelae records the
names of the handful of illustrious examination candidates who, in each century,
passedthenationalexaminationtobecomeaDoctorofLiterature.Beginninginthe
11thcentury,theexamswereconductedpersonallybysuccessivekingswhopursued
Confucianidealsthatfoundexpressionintheenormousvalueplacedonthepursuit
ofwisdomandlearning.
Inthe21stcenturywearebothpuzzledandimpressedbythistradition.Puzzled
by such an explicit commitment to a meritocracy in an essentially feudal society;
impressedbythisenthusiasmforlearningandthepursuitofwisdomatthehighest
levelofsociety.
Yet, there are also important similarities between the 11th and 21st centuries.
Then, as now, assessment was associated with excellence, high standards, pres-
tigeandcompetition—successforthechosenfew;disappointmentforthemajority.
Then, as now, the pursuit of excellence was embedded in a social context that
favouredtheeliteanddeterminedsuccessintermsofthepredilectionsofthepow-
erful.Then,asnow,thepurposeoftheassessment,thewayitwasconductedandits
impactonsocietyallreflectedthesocialandeconomicprioritiesoftheday.
However,whereexaminationsintheformthatwewouldrecognisetodayexisted
in pre-modern societies, they were typically of a consistent pattern. They were
extremelyhierarchicalinorganisation,inthatonlyatinyminoritycouldbesuccess-
ful.Theyweretypicallyoralorwritteninmode.Theircontentnormallyconcerned
themasteryofdesignatedclassicaltexts,andtheywereconductedprimarilyforthe
purposeofselection.
In the 21st century, examinations and other forms of assessment serve a much
wider range of purposes and take a greater variety of forms. They are also com-
monly used for the certification of competence, to monitor educational standards
andtoprovidelearnerswithfeedback,aswellascontinuingasinpreviouserasto
serveanimportantsocialfunctioninprovidingforselection.Ineachcase,however,
thesamefourdimensionsofvariabilitymaybeidentified.Thesearepurpose,mode,
v
vi Foreword
content and organisation. This fourfold characterisation may usefully be used to
compare key aspects of examination systems that have existed in different times
and places in order to explore their link to the social context in which they are
embedded.Theuseofthefourthemesofpurpose,mode,contentandorganisation
for analysis of assessment practices provides a framework within which to under-
stand the particular challenges for assessment in the 21st century and how these
might differ from the formal assessment systems that began to be widely used in
the West during the 19th century. Central to any such analysis is a recognition of
the different assumptions shaping educational practices in pre-modern, traditional
societies,sincethesedifferencesinturnshapethewayinwhichthepurpose,mode,
contentandorganisationofassessmentaredetermined.
AssessmentasaModernistProject
Although, as suggested above, the use of examinations to determine relative merit
andcompetencehasalonghistoryinhumansociety,itwasreallyonlywiththepost-
Enlightenment emergence of ‘modern’ society in the West that such use became
widespread and, eventually, defining within educational provision. The emphasis
onindividualrightsandresponsibility,rationalityandscientificprogressthatchar-
acterised Western societies, atleast during this period, provided fertilesoilfor the
growthofexaminationssinceexaminationsprovidedapowerfultoolfortheappli-
cation of these principles in the organisation of educational provision and social
opportunity. Initially, at least, these ‘modern’ examinations were similar in many
respects to those that had long been used in other parts of the world and in other
contexts.Thedominantpurposecontinuedtobetheprovisionoffaircompetitionby
meansofwhichthe‘best’candidatescouldbechosen.Asbefore,too,practicalities
would dictate that the principal mode for conducting such competitions would be
either oral or written interrogation. In terms of content, the ability to demonstrate
masteryofclassictextsonlyverygraduallycametobecomplementedbythenew
disciplines being created by the development of scientific research and associated
discoveries.
However,therewasalsoaverysignificantdifferencefromtheexaminationschar-
acteristicofpre-modernsocieties.Thisdifferenceconcernedthewidespreaddevel-
opment of bureaucratic systems for their delivery. National examination boards,
universityexaminationsyndicatesandothersimilarorganisationsbegantoemerge
in order to make possible the systematic and rigorous administration of examina-
tions to many hundreds of candidates, rather than to an elite few. Gradually, these
systems necessarily also came to control the content of the examination, the way
itwasconductedandthedesignationoftheassociatedqualification.Disseminated
around the world during the colonial era, examinations and the organisations that
ranthemthusbegantobeabletoexerciseanunprecedenteddegreeofinternational
influence on both the shape of educational provision and the regulation of social
opportunityandstatusincountriesacrosstheworld.Thestrengthandscopeofthis
Foreword vii
influence grew steadily during the 19th and 20th centuries, with the advent of the
21st century witnessing examinations and assessment being used ubiquitously to
provideforselection,forcertification,foraccountabilityandforinternationalcom-
parisonsofeducationalstandards.Theadventofthe21stcenturyalsoheraldedthe
early stages of a movement to promote the use of assessment as a tool to support
learningitself.
AssessmentasaPost-modernProject
Although the new century is less than a decade old, it is already apparent that the
belief in the power of science to solve the world’s problems that so characterised
the post-Enlightenment era is being rapidly eroded. ‘Post-modernism’, instead, is
recognising the increasingly fractured nature of society and the limitations of sci-
encetoprovidesolutionstothegreatissuesofourtime,suchasthesustainabilityof
theplanet,povertyandsocialcohesion.Formany,thecertaintiesofmodernismhave
beenreplacedbypost-moderndoubtsaboutthepossibilityofprogress.Recognition
of the fallibilities of science has brought with it an increased recognition of the
importanceofdiversityandsubjectivity.Changesinthenatureofwork,globalisa-
tion,theinformationrevolutionandtheincreasinglysocialnatureofcontemporary
challengesalsosuggestdifferentprioritiesforeducationsystems.Thesewillinturn
requiredifferentprioritiesforassessmentpractices.
Withtheerosionoffaithinthesearchforcertaintythroughsciencehascomethe
associated recognition that the assessment of educational performance cannot be
anexactscienceeither;thattheinvolvementofhumanbeingsineveryaspectofits
design,executionandusemakesitirrevocablyasocialprojectandthussubjecttoall
thevagariesthatanykindofhumanactivityimplies.Thishasledtothebeginnings
ofamorehumanisticapproachtoassessment.Bycontrastwiththepursuitofmaxi-
mumaccuracyineducationalmeasurement,whichlargelydefinedthe20th-century
approachtoexaminations,testingandassessment,theagendaforassessmentinthe
21stcenturyshowssignsofagrowingpreoccupationwith‘fitnessforpurpose’and
impactonlearning.Duringthe20thcentury,researchanddevelopmentinexamina-
tions and assessment tended to focus overwhelmingly on issues of ‘mode’—how
to test better—more accurately, more equitably, more efficiently and even more
humanely. By the same token, comparatively little consideration has been given
to how to make the other three dimensions of purpose, context and organisation
morefitforpurpose,despitethefactthatthelatterarefundamentalinshapingthe
prioritiesthatdecisionsaboutmodemustaddress.
Perhapsitisforthisreasonthat,despiteagrowingrecognitionofthelimitations
of a scientific approach to assessment, the 21st century is nevertheless finding it
hard to escape from the assessment thinking and practices that were characteristic
ofthe20thcentury.Asaconsequencethepurpose,mode,contentandorganisation
ofexaminationandassessmentpracticesaroundtheworldtodayremainstrikingly
similartothosethatprevailedacenturyormoreago,despitethescaleofthechanges
viii Foreword
thathavetakenplaceinsocietyduringthattime.Therecanbeveryfewtechnologies
indeed that have developed conceptually so little over the course of the past 100
years.Itwouldappearthattheexaminationsystemsthatevolvedwiththemodernist
erahaveprovedtobejustasenduringastheirprecursorsinpre-moderntimes.
However, if the design and application of these social phenomena have proved
remarkably resistant to change, their influence has continued to spread. The com-
bination of bureaucratic administration, widespread social penetration and global
dispersal which the 20th-century development of examinations and assessments
of all kinds produced, had produced a megalith so deeply rooted in public con-
sciousness and so powerful in its influence that alternatives are almost literally
inconceivable.Thus,asaresult,thedawnofthe21stcenturyheraldsasituationin
which,whilethereisincreasinglybroadrecognitionamongassessmentprofession-
als,teachers,researchersandevenpolicymakersthatthereisaneedforsubstantial
change of approach to assessment, any significant re-balancing in the way we use
assessments,inthewayweconductthem,inthecontentthatisincludedandinthe
wayinwhichassessmentsareorganised,remainselusive.
However,therearehopefulsignsthatthehistoricalpreoccupationwiththeuseof
assessmentintheformofexaminationsandteststomanagecompetitionforscarce
opportunities is likely to be re-balanced in favour of an emphasis on certification.
Assessment procedures are needed that are capable of determining achievement
across a very wide range of content and skills, in many different contexts and at
a great variety of levels. Assessment procedures need to be able to engage stu-
dents with diverse cultural and personal backgrounds, to provide a fair means of
judging students with disabilities and other kinds of special needs. For this and
for many other reasons, there is increasing interest in the potential of assessment
procedures that can be delivered electronically and so save both time and money
whileprovidingpersonalisedfeedback.
Newareasofcompetencesuchasplanningandmanagingone’sownlearningand
meta-cognitionaregrowingrapidlyinimportance,bycontrastwithmoretraditional
formsofknowledgeandunderstanding.Inthemuch-bruited‘knowledgeeconomy’,
thefosteringofcreativityandthedevelopmentoftransferableskills,suchasanal-
ysis, team work and problem solving, are already a central concern. To the extent
that this is so, assessment in the 21st century seems likely to be characterised by
a much more radical departure from tradition than in the previous two centuries,
as written tests give way to the accreditation of real-life practice, and occasional
‘big-bang’ examination events are replaced by ‘just-in-time’ online assessments
and on-demand, personalised ‘micro assessments’. This is not just a question of
developments within a paradigm; it concerns the evolution of a fundamentally
newone.
Central to the emergence of such a new assessment paradigm and the element
uponwhichalltheotherchangesarelikelytodepend,islikelytobethedimension
of organisation and the development of new forms of delivering assessments. It
seems likely that the monolithic, traditional examination systems underpinned by
substantial administrative bureaucracies are likely to evolve into much more dis-
tributedsystems.Intypicallypost-modernstyle,the‘grandnarratives’ofassessment
Foreword ix
and certification characterised by a few main gatekeepers and a limited range of
qualificationsarelikelytobecomefragmentedintosmaller,moreflexibleunitsand
credits that individuals can mix and match. The traditional ‘rites of passage’ of
school-leavinganduniversityentranceexaminations,degreefinalsandprofessional
qualificationsarelikelytobegraduallyreplacedbytheabilitytoaccumulatecredit
atdifferenttimesandlevels.Individualswillbeabletostudyforcreditindifferent
settings such as school, college, university or work, at different times—pre-work,
duringworkandpost-work,duringretirementandthroughdifferentmeanssuchas
e-testsandwork-basedassessmentaswellasthroughmoretraditionalperformance
assessments. The credits obtained will accumulate into a personal portfolio—a
record of achievement that provides a unique and self-managed narrative on each
individual’slife-longlearning.
Ifthisseemsaratherfancifulscenariointhefaceoftheapparentlyunquenchable
international obsession with traditional examinations and tests, it is important to
recognisethattherearealreadysignificantstrawsinthewindthattestifytotheemer-
gence of a more 21st-century version of educational assessment. Tertiary students
can already accumulate credits as well as whole qualifications. Qualifications are
becoming cumulative and expressed in terms of national qualification frameworks
with levels that stretch from school through to the highest reaches of university
study.Experienceatworkcanbeaccreditedascontributingtowardsacademicqual-
ifications through the accreditation of prior learning. The increasingly wide range
and scope of available accreditation are breaking down the traditional qualifica-
tion‘highways’.Theavailabilityofnewtypesofqualificationandnewaccrediting
bodies is both testimony to, and supportive of, this trend. In the United Kingdom,
for example, commercial companies like McDonald’s can now award their own
qualifications within a nationally recognised framework of levels of achievement
andcredit.
Perhapsmostfundamentalofallisthetransformativepotentialofe-assessment.
On the one hand, it can help both to guide and to motivate learning by providing
rapid, individualised and constructive feedback. On the other hand, through simu-
lated authentic tasks, it can provide convenient and flexible access to all kinds of
academicandprofessionalaccreditation.
The chapters in this book illustrate many of these trends. Some explore the
rapidly developing potential of e-assessment. Others address the way in which
the breaking down of uni-dimensional forms of assessment will help to foster
greatequalityofopportunity.Stillothersconsiderthe‘data-environment’andhow
the skilful use of available information can be used by teachers better to guide
interventionsinrelationtoaparticularindividual’slearning.
TheWayForward...?
History is a good teacher. It allows us to marvel at what seem to us to be the
rather quaint idiosyncrasies of another era. History strips reality of the subjective,
oftheemotions,whilelayingbarethegrandnarrativesthatinformedthechoiceof
x Foreword
particular policies and practices. The present is a poor pedagogue by comparison.
The clutter of social debris accumulated since the inception of mass education, in
particular,makesitdifficulttoachieveagenuinelycontemporaryperspectiveonthe
utilityofcurrentassessmentpractices.Butthetitleofthisbookchallengesustodo
this,tounderstand thechanging exigencies thatshapeeducation fortoday’sworld
and,hence,theapproachestoassessmentthatthesecallforth.
What will the world in 2100 or even 2200 make of the education policies and
practicesof2010?Thegrandnarrativesoftodaysuggest,atbest,adifficultfuturefor
theworld,characterisedbytheimpactofglobalwarming,foodandwatershortages
andthepressuresofanever-expandingpopulation.Theseinturnarelikelytoleadto
anincreaseinviolenceandterrorism,inter-ethnicstrifeandacontinuallywidening
disparitybetweenrichandpoor,NorthandSouth.Itisapessimisticfuture,afuture
inwhichthecloseassociationbetweenlevelsofeducationandnationalprosperity
has become overlaid by other priorities. The priorities for education systems are
thuslikelytochange.
As this book makes clear, the challenge for assessment in the 21st century will
be to reflect these newly emerging educational priorities. Assessment procedures
will be needed that support the preparation of the next generation with the skills
and values that they will need to manage the emerging global challenges. For if,
asiswidelyrecognised,assessmentthatdrivesindividualeffortandaspiration;that
communicatessystemprioritiesandthatprovidesthecurrencyofsocialopportunity,
foreducationtobegintoaddresschangingglobalpriorities,theassessmentsystems
thatshapeitwillneedtochangealso.
This book presents evidence of the overwhelming need for a fresh appraisal of
currentpracticesinthisrespect,whethertheseconcerntheassessmentofindividual
student achievement, teacher and school accountability or education system man-
agement. It suggests that there is a need to reconsider current assumptions and
practices with regard to all four of the assessment dimensions identified earlier—
purpose, mode, content and organisation. If contemporary educational assessment
practicesareoneofthemostpowerfulinstitutionsoftoday’ssociety,thenthebur-
den of this book is that they cannot be allowed to operate without the closest of
criticalscrutinyconcerningtheirfitnessforpurpose.Atwhateverlevelassessment
decisionsaremade,whetherthisisintheclassroomoratthatofnationalpolicy,it
is essential to ensure that the approaches being used are the most fruitful that can
possiblybeachievedwithintheconstraintsofwhatispracticallyandtechnologically
possibleatanygiventime.Sadly,thelackofanyrealchangeinassessmentthinking
andpracticeinrecentdecadessuggeststhat,sofar,thishasnotbeenthecase;that
traditionandpoliticalexpediencyratherthanfitnessforpurposehavebeenthemain
influencesonassessmentpractice.
The purpose of assessment during the 20th century has been overwhelmingly
the generation of summative data. The content addressed has concerned primarily
cognitive tasks. The mode has been the largely traditional vehicle of paper-and-
pencil tests and the organisation through large testing and assessment providers.
Could it really be the case that stubborn persistence of this out-moded thinking
and the technologies of a bygone age are now finally to change? This book offers
Foreword xi
hope. It suggests that after more than a century of modernist-inspired educational
assessmentpracticesinwhichthepursuitofscientificallydefensiblemeasurement
hassubstantiallyeclipsedissuesofutility,fairness,flexibilityandrelevance,wemay
wellbestandingatthethresholdofsignificantchange.Coulditbe,finally,thatthe
grand narratives of intelligence and ability, which were regarded as the key to the
determination of life chances, are beginning to yield to a more practical discourse
ofmultipleexperiences,skills,knowledgeanddispositions?
Thisbookdescribessomeofthestartingpointsforthisjourneyandhelpstopoint
theway.Itsuggeststhatintime,theassessmentproceduresofthe21stcenturywill
be as fitting to the needs of the contemporary world as those of pre-modern Asia
weretotheirs.Perhapsthentherewillbenoneedforanyonetogotothetempleto
prayforsuccess.
Gloucestershire,UK PatriciaBroadfoot