The term ‘assessment for learning’ has become commonly used and widely accepted in Singapore, but is it always understood and used for all learners? After all, one of the intended purposes of assessment is to discriminate between learners, and inferring from their demonstrated learning what learners are good for.
However, this does not always align with the educational imperative of wanting and helping all our students to learn and succeed. At times, some of our assessment policies and practices may in fact deter or disempower our students from learning!
Assessment should be fit for its intended purpose, but what if the primary purpose of assessment is to be fit for all learners? What if we challenge ourselves to ensure that every single learner under our care benefits adequately from assessment? What if we were to rethink and enact assessment to help the least, the last, and the lost amongst our learners?
Previously, we had named this bulletin as the “CTL Assessment Bulletin” to signal the important relationship between Curriculum and Assessment, and underscore the dialectic relationship between assessment and teaching. Organisationally, the Curriculum, Teaching and Learning (CTL) academic group in NIE has been restructured, and the assessment team is now posited in the Learning Sciences and Assessment academic group.
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| The AFAL team |
More importantly, the assessment bulletin is now headlined as a mission and a motive – Assessment For All Learners (AFAL). We hope that the expertise, experiences, and ideas of the bulletin will address your (assessment) learning needs, and help you ensure that your assessment practices are for all learners under your care. And because you are a learner as well, that your own love and desire for learning will be refreshed in the process.
Motivating Learners through Classroom Assessment
Ms Lin Rongchan delivered a keynote address titled Motivating Learners and Promoting Learning through Classroom Assessment at Manjusri Secondary School Staff Learning Festival on 3 September 2019. Teachers from both Manjusri Secondary School and Maha Bodhi School attended the event.
In her address, Ms. Lin first defined classroom assessment and emphasized the role of classroom assessment in student motivation. Subsequently, she illustrated how teachers could motivate learners and promote learning through meaningful assessment practices such as employing patchwork texts in assessment. She also prompted participants to examine different scoring practices and their impact on student motivation and learning. Finally, the participants engaged in a discussion and explored the possibilities of integrating the relevant assessment frameworks into their curriculum. The discussion was facilitated by Mr. Stanley Yang from Manjusri Secondary School.