I believe assessments
should come from the teacher. For example if a teacher needs to teach gravity
(science), the Roman Empire (history), and the three basics then a child should
be assessed on that material taught and in a manner that obtains the most
honest feedback. If a teacher can document that a child has met each of the
lessons learning objective by either a test method, observation, report or
other method then I feel like that should suffice. I think the teacher needs to
have the responsibility on them for their children learning the material. I
think this would cause teachers to get creative and teach material in many
different manners.
Looking at how
children are assessed in other countries was interesting. I really wanted to
look more deeply into Italy’s method of assessment. As the birth country of the
Reggio Emilia schools, I was interested in seeing the countries approach, as a
whole, to testing.
I found a very interesting
article that outlined the information I was looking for. The article stated that,
“Most primary schools use a system of assessment
based on teacher observation throughout the school year. Assessments are
recorded on each child’s report card, which is designed to provide a detailed
profile of the pupil’s academic ability and personality. The record card is
passed to a pupil’s next school when he leaves. In the fifth year of primary
school, pupils must usually obtain a primary school leaving certificate to
progress to lower secondary school; those who are unsuccessful may need to
repeat their final year” (primary school in Italy, 2011).
I
personally feel like Italy has the right idea when it comes to assessments. On
the education side as a whole, were young children are concerned, Italy has a
model that I feel the US should look closely at.
Refereces:
Primary School
in Italy. (2011) Just landed. Retrieved April 4, 2012 from http://www.justlanded.com/english/Italy/Italy-Guide/Education/Primary-school-in-Italy
Italy – Secondary education. (2012) Stateuniversity.com. Retrieved April
4, 2012 from http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/718/Italy-SECONDARY-EDUCATION.html
2 comments:
Hi Sharene,
Teacher’s observations are good resources, because teacher is the one who spends more time with children in class. I think this is a good idea because the next teacher can have a better idea about each student, and can work on an individualized plan, depending on the students’ needs. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Sharene,
I want to agree with you about allowing the teacher to be the assessor. But I have some issues because I have seen so many kids do wonderfully in one class and “meeting” all the stated objectives but in the following year, the child was not very successful. This leads me to believe that standardized assessments are objective and are a truer measure of the child’s ability in more cases than not. I love the idea of assessment information following the student. At the beginning of each school year, I read all notes from the previous teacher because this gives me an idea of what I am dealing with. I like Italy’s method of children earning certificates after a completing a cycle. This probably gives the children a great sense of achievement. Thanks for sharing!
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