10/4/17 - Student Assessment in Light of the Fall of No Child Left Behind

Assessment has gotten a pretty bad rap lately. With the poor implementation of No Child Left Behind and its heavy-handed focus on standardized tests, it’s no wonder that many feel this way about the program, but why have tests as a whole been under attack? Testing and general assessment has always been around in schools and always will be. There will always be a need to determine whether or not students are learning the material they are being taught. The disagreement, then, should not be on whether or not we assess students, but rather on how we assess our students.

As Beach & the other authors of Teaching Literature to Adolescents state, there are two main areas to focus on for assessment – through knowledge of what is written and whether or not our students can apply said knowledge. Both types are necessary in learning and understanding literature. Yet it is often the first style that receives most of the attention. It’s easy to teach, easy to grade, and it works if all we are looking for in our students is a base level understanding of how literature works. But the issue is that we want more from our students. Students need that initial layer of understanding so they can move forward to applying that knowledge toward putting in critical thinking about whatever piece of literature they are reading.

If these are the ways we focus on assessment, then what are the standards by which we assess? The answer is a simple rubric which both the students and the teach hold to. Regardless of what subject is being taught, the rubric needs to be easy to understand and fair to all students, with clear definitions of what consists of above-average work, average work, and sub-standard work. As we have discussed previously in class, holding a student to a high standard does not require standardized tests or sacrificing critical thinking skills. In fact, high standards will inevitably support a student’s academic growth.