Through Research, Christopher DeLuca and Scott Hughes, 2014,
were able to conclude that teachers express the importance of creating
assessments based on the individual developmental needs of students in relation
to social, personal and academic dimensions of learning (p.456). Assessment should be based on the individual needs of the
student, having effective assessment strategies in place is essential for
improving learning. Standard 1.5 of the Australian Professional Standards for
Teachers created by The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership
states, that teachers need to be able to ‘differentiate teaching to meet the
specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities’ (p.1). Without
assessment teachers would not be able to determine the different abilities of
students therefore would not be able to extend their learning. Understanding prior
knowledge is the key for planning; using summative assessment techniques allows
the teacher to discover if the learning goal or intention has been reached.
High stakes testing, in particular, NAPLAN has the potential
to create a negative impact on students. According to Wynne Harlen (2010) with
the increase of pressure associated with high stakes testing, teachers are
forced to complete numerous practice tests. Increasing practice tests,
decreases learning time and therefore can have a negative impact on student
learning. Not only may it affect the whole class but those students who need development
more than others will constantly be reminded of this through practice tests, it
can become demoralising and make students become disengaged.
The relationship between teaching, learning and assessment
is the essence of teaching. The teacher is there to guide the students and
offer support, students are there to construct their own inquiry based learning
and assessment should improve learning by putting strategies in place for the individual
for any areas which need development. Henna Asikainen, Anna Parpala, Viivi
Virtanen and Sari Lindblom-Ylanne (2013) argue that the engagement of the
student is influenced by the different assessment methods they experience
(p.211).
Throughout my research, I found interesting, the fact that Finland do not have high stakes testing and they are up there in the top education results in the world. As stated in the comparison of Victoria and Finland assessment systems, The Finnish National Board of Education (2015) state that there are no national high stakes tests that take place continuously throughout the years. In Finland, it is the teachers' responsibility to assess their students learning and development. This fact makes me wonder, what would be the impact on Australia's national results if they abolished high stakes testing?
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