Assessment Gaze, Refraction, and Blur

Abstract

This chapter addresses assessment (testing) with an emphasis on the 100-year period since the American Education Research Association was formed. The authors start with definitions and explanations of contemporary tests. They then look backward into the 19th century to significant work by Horace Mann and Herbert Spencer, who engendered two parallel purposes for assessment: evaluating effects of education and identifying individual differences. The authors consider the interplay of these orientations over the years. After discussing policy impacts on assessment, they discuss the evolution of the concept of validity as it relates to changing rationales for testing. To enrich the reader’s comprehension, the authors also discuss perspectives on innovation in technology and in quantitative analysis. They conclude with questions that summarize current concerns with assessment. Finally, they consider future prospects for assessment. They foresee the continued convergence of assessment purposes, innovative learning technology, and new psychometric challenges.

Synergy and Tension between Large‐Scale and Classroom Assessment: International Trends

“…Given pacing that restricts flexible instructional time, teachers' own predilections and skills, and limited access to high-quality support materials, the ideals of classroom assessment and their synergy with larger scale assessments will likely remain distant goals. On the other hand, large-scale assessment can occur with sparse sampling of content and rare validity studies relative to the policy uses intended (Baker, 2016). As a result, these exams may neither give full descriptions nor provide comprehensive guidance for specific policy options, but their regular use may convince the authorities that they are upholding managerial principles of guidance, evidence, and accountability.…”

“…A second reason for the lack of integration derives from how tests are conceived, designed, and developed. As noted in country profiles, and in the previous research, most nationalor state-/provincial-level large-scale assessments are created and used largely for one purpose these days-accountability (Baker, 2016;Stobart, 2008). However, while accountability is a core feature of national or state/provincial assessments across nearly all systems discussed in this paper (Finland is the exception), the assessment practices, responses, and relative "stake" for students, teachers, and schools ascribed to accountability mandates differ substantially.…”

“…Certainly, recent cross-cultural research suggests that national assessment systems-such as those in Germany and Canada-are increasingly being modeling to align with PISA (Volante, 2018). This convergence of assessment purposes (and models) has largely characterized standards-based reform contexts for the last century (Baker, 2016). Thus, we are left with the prospect that an expansion of tested subject matter and domains may expand teacher's and schools' priorities-albeit in predictable the ways that produce persistent washback effects.…”

Teaching reform of moral education based on the concept of output oriented education

“…It is still guided by the subject, and student's mastery and application of knowledge points are limited, which is not conducive to the improvement of student's comprehensive ability and quality. 16,17 2. The textbook is not practical At present, the main content of moral education curriculum selection is to introduce the formation of national policies and regulations, as well as the specific content introduction.…”

Online Assessment in Higher Education: A Systematic Review

“…In this article, online assessment is defined as a systematic method of gathering information or artifacts about a learner and learning processes to draw inferences about the person's dispositions using information and communication technology (Baker et al, 2016). We argue that the future of assessment faces major challenges including, perhaps most importantly, the extent to which assessments, when realized in online environments, can serve simultaneously the needs of learners and those of teachers as well as the educational organization.…”