Roles of assessment in secondary education: Participant perspectives

Abstract

Performance pressure at both the institutional and individual level of secondary education has been identified as a pressure that is acknowledged all over Europe and raises questions about the extent to which agents in lower and upper secondary education interpret assessment in terms of either control or learning, or perhaps both. Drawing on empirical findings from two case studies in Denmark, the article focuses on the social roles of educational evaluation and assessment, and discusses the ways in which the local level interpretations of policy demands influence teaching and learning in secondary education. To enable an analysis of the understanding of different agents in the field, the article combines important sociological thinking with the basic distinction between assessment of programmes and assessment of individuals. Presuming that assessment practices bear the traces of the social structure that they both express and reproduce, the aim of this paper is to interrogate how the agents view and interpret such practices.

High stakes testing and student perspectives on teaching and learning in the Republic of Ireland

“…However, a study in one American school found that students had variable knowledge of the potential impact of high stakes tests for them or their school (Weiss 2009). A Danish study based on case-studies of two schools showed the way in which the competition resulting from exam preparation led to a more negative learning climate within the class (Ramussen and Friche 2011). Similarly, research in England (Putwain 2009) points to the pressure and stress associated with taking secondary school qualifications.…”

Η Επαγγελματική Εξέλιξη Των Εκπαιδευτικών Της Πρωτοβάθμιας Εκπαίδευσης Στο Πλαίσιο Της Παιδαγωγικής Ανάπτυξης Ενός Σύγχρονου Σχολείου

“…Από τα αποτελέσματα αυτών των ερευνών, παρά το γεγονός ότι πολλές από τις παραπάνω συσχετίσεις δεν ευδοκίμησαν στις περισσότερες χώρες για διάφορους λόγους (Reezigt et al, 2003), προέκυψε ότι οι εκπαιδευτικοί διαδραματίζουν καίριο ρόλο στην επίτευξη της ποιότητας του περιβάλλοντος μάθησης (Hattie, 2009) και καθορίζουν σε μεγάλο βαθμό την ποιότητα του σχολείου (Marzano, 2011). Από την άποψη αυτή, οι Rasmussen & Friche (2011) αναφέρουν ως σημαντικό γεγονός την πίεση που βιώνουν οι σχολικές μονάδες για να αυξήσουν και να αποδείξουν την ποιότητα της εκπαίδευσης και των εκπαιδευτικών τους μέσω της εφαρμογής συστημάτων αξιολόγησης (Δημητρίου & Κυριακίδης, 2007).…”