THE ISSUES OF EDUCATION
¹1 (1) 2015
Мақалада оқушылардың білімін бағалау сынақтарының маңызы мен
олардың оқушы өміріндегі рөлі туралы баяндалады. Автор АҚШ,
Ұлыбритания оқу орындарындағы, Назарбаев Интеллектуалды
мектебіндегі оқушылардың білімін бағалау сынақтарынан мысалдар
келе отырып, қорытынды сынақты тиімді өткізу мәселелері туралы
сөз қозғайды.
В статье рассматривается вопрос о необходимости и роли
итоговых экзаменов для студентов в будущем. Автор приводит
собственные доводы, а также примеры оценивания студентов в США,
Великобритании и Назарбаев Интеллектуальной школы.
BRIAN O'HARA
Nazarbayev Intellectual school of
Physics and Mathematics in Semey
USA National, lives in Thailand
Subject: English Teacher and Global
Perspective Teacher
25 years experience
The article deals with the issue about necessity and role of assessment
for students in the future. The author gives his own opinion, also gives ex-
amples of assessment in the USA, the UK and Nazarbayev Intellectual
School.
HOW MUCH ASSESSMENT IS NEEDED TO
PREPARE STUDENTS FOR THE FUTURE?
For over twenty years I have been teaching at schools in
Asia, and have been fortunate to have had the opportunity
to have taught an array of curricula. The dilemma through-
out all systems is what is the best way to assess, and how
often is assessment necessary. Maybe the place to start is,
"W hat constitutes assessment?"
Ask teachers from an assortment of backgrounds, and
you will get an assortment of opinions. The Middle Years
Programme, a part of the International Baccalaureate
Programme, focuses on criteria based assessment, and
formal examinations on a regular basis are non-existent.
Students are assessed according to individual achievement.
Every task has a learning objective and when these objec-
tives are reached or not, the strengths and weaknesses of
the student are identified. Teaching the student takes pre-
cedent over levels set by administrators who need to bal-
ance budgets and are not working with students on a daily
basis. Some people are fanatical about this system, while
others feel the true understanding of just where a student
lies compared to others is more important.
In the British National Curriculum, the ongoing assess-
ment is more traditional in the form of examinations at the
end of terms. This leads to a very formal IGCSE or GCSE
examination in all subjects taken at the end of Year 11. This
means that students take a variety of subjects up until Year
9, then take a group of core subjects, such as English and
Maths, and then are able to choose other subjects they are
interested in. Depending on the results of these examina-
tions, the students are then able to continue in their educa-
tion or in many cases not allowed to. This much more rigid
examination based system is unappealing to many students,
and they 'turn off' school at an early age. Many subjects
have very little relevance to the children's lives and the idea
of studying to just pass an exam pushes many away from
attending school at all.
The international Baccalaureate's Diploma Programme
combines a holistic approach where students take core and
elective courses, but also take part in community service
and Theory of Knowledge. At the end of the two year pro-
gram they sit examinations and have to submit a TOK Es-
say of around 1500 words and an Extended Essay of 4000
28
words. The combination of points results in an overall point
system, whereby they need a certain score to receive their
diploma. The exams are very stressful, as in the case of
any system, but the world's colleges are quickly recogniz-
ing these scores and are allowing entrance to students from
the IB system.
In the American system many students are judged by the
Grade Point Average(GPA) and then combine that with the
results of their SAT or ACT examination scores. Here there
is less stress on standardized testing throughout high school,
but a standardized examination coupled with the overall
record of the students through high school.
At an even more extreme level is the Nazarbayev Intel-
lectual School, where assessment is on a regular basis,
and there are times all learning shuts down to accommo-
date these exams. More pressure is put on the teachers
and students to score high marks, and this makes it diffi-
cult to cover everything in a curriculum that may be too big
to cover sufficiently anyway. More testing means less time
in the classroom, and this translates to less time to learn
the material thoroughly enough to perform well on the ex-
ams. This catch-22 system leaves one to wonder if a crite-
ria based assessment policy might not be a better strategy.
Whatever the system, someone is going to differ in the
administering of assessment. Numerous studies show the
results of various learning styles, but still there is no una-
nimity. The world is changing rapidly and students need
to be taught much differently to the previous generations.
Skills in collaboration, critical thinking, creativity and com-
municatio n might better be stressed than exam practice,
as future employment rarely if at all tests their employ-
ees, except for possible drug use. Change is occurring at
a pace not seen before, and students need to be ready,
not just for the changes, but ready to be a part of imple-
menting and creating the change. W hether a rigorous ex-
amination process has any relevance to the preparation
of students for the future or not, will be argued for years to
come. W hich system better to ready one for the future,
will be questioned repeatedly. Maybe the question to be
answered is, "Do all these tests teach our students about
life?"