There is a great debate going on right now about accountability in learning.I imagine since the beginning of structured learning, there has been difficulty in the assessment of that learning. You put a kid in the classroom you want to find out how that kid is doing, is she picking up the facts, is she ready to move on, was the teaching method effective, efficient and productive? Very hard questions and extremely difficult to quantify. We don't want to waste time, money and effort on classroom activity that isn't working or could work better. Therefore some form of evaluation is necessary.
In the past, everyone knew who was passing and who was failing. They used to post our marks on the boards in the classrooms! Evaluation appeared straight forward; you told a student something, if they repeated it back - they passed, if they got it wrong, then they stayed in their seat for another year. I imagine even then, the teachers knew this was probably not the best situation but that there wasn't much else to do.
We've evolved, studies have shown us there are drawbacks to holding children back or embarrassing them in the classroom or sequestering them to 'special' classrooms. All children have their own needs, learn at different rates or by different methods. Ideally we would teach each child according to their need and evaluate them based on their individual progress. I can see our teacher's cringing after that last sentence - they barely have enough time to prepare and assess one curriculum let alone twenty!
The pendulum swings;, there are reports of unwritten 'no-fail' policies within school boards and whole provinces. A recent study in Manitoba states: "24.4 per cent of teachers surveyed said they have been pressured to pass or change marks for students who did not deserve to be promoted." Which brings us closer to home...
In March a motion was presented in the Alberta legislature by Genia Leskiw, MLA for Bonnyville-Cold Lake that asked for consideration of a discontinuation of the Provincial Achievement Tests for Grade 3 students in Alberta. The vote to support the motion was settled as 29 'for' and 18 'against'. Our MLA - Mrs. Forsyth voted 'for'.
Mr. Hancock, the Education Minister and MLA for Edmonton-Whitemud, is cautioning against rash changes to a system that was put in place 13 years ago for good reason. He also makes a point that before we change anything about what we are doing now, we need to decide what we will do in the future. All agree, assessment is required in some form. If not PAT's - what next?
On a final note, there are many pundits out there who feel this change is based on cut-backs to education. I would hope that reasoning on something this important isn't displaced by a need to save money.
Further balanced reading: Frontier Centre and the ATA
Excellent points, Shane. You are right... we certainly have evolved. There is a HUGE discrepancy between how we were taught and how kids today are taught. Similarly, there is a significant difference between how we learn (or learned at the time) and how kids today learn. Research into brain development, advances in technology and information, the impact of our "information now" society, "new" (or more varied) family structures, and emerging models of "social networking" all have vast implications for today's child and today's learner. Assessment, in many ways, is playing catch up.
ReplyDeleteMost people want a "measuring stick." Some form of assessment to compare how they (or their child) are doing in comparison to everyone else. PATs often help provide SOME of that measurement, but ideally, they are a small part of a big picture. As many followers of the Blog know, spend a day in a classroom and you'll have just as much (if not more) information about a child's ability and progress than you would looking at a PAT score, yet that PAT score seems to be the more immediate or easily understandable "gauge." Student-led conferences, learning portfolios, formal report cards, GLAR (Grade Level Achievement Reporting), home reading programs, home-school projects, student self-assessments/reflections, and the like, also help fill out the assessment picture, and create that more "personalised" program you were referring to. Interestingly, that personalisation is a major goal of both the CBE and the school.
I have seen kids (and parents) get quite stressed over these tests, and I've witnessed kids get quite excited at the challenge as well. It is expected that there will be some changes to the PATs this year, including the grade three exams. Hopefully Alberta Education will consider all possible changes in light of what is best for students, and how any form of assessment might drive effective teaching and learning. It certainly does make for a great and valuable debate, with significant implications for teaching and learning.
Thanks again for the post.
We're not doing children any favors by letting them pass to another grade when their not ready. Things only get worse as they progress to higher grades and eventually drop out in frustration. We should be focussing on identifying their weaknesses and giving them opportunities to work on them. The earlier, the better.
ReplyDeleteThe grade 3 Achievement Tests are one way of determining an individual's strengths and weaknesses. They also provide clues into teaching success. If a whole class is underperforming in a certain subject, that teacher may need to work on their approach.
The tests aren't perfect, but maybe we should be paying more attention to the results as a tool for educators and parents to use rather than as a "ranking" system. Give parents access to their child's results. If we don't see where the problems are, how can we focus on improving them?
I tend to agree with you Ramona - it seems that the problems surrounding the PAT's aren't as much the tests/stress/veracity but the use of the results themselves. Inappropriate comparisons between students, classrooms, teachers, schools, and boards done by outside groups (like the Frasier Institute) are creating mis-leading emphasis on outcomes for which the tests weren't designed.
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