Standards-based Assessment
This article talks mainly about
Standards-based assessment which is a type of assessment or a test and its
information and criteria is based on contents that students have been taught or
are expected to learn. Then, it is different to achievement tests which examine
more generalized knowledge as I mention in the previous session. Standards-based
assessment lets students know against which criteria teacher will judge their
work, and the standards attached to each of these criteria. It tells students
what performance is required and allows you to make comparisons between students
based on their achievement of the standards.
Here in Colombia there are some standards-based
tests such as ICFES and Saber-Pro. I had to take the first one, because in
Colombia is really important to get high score in that one if you want to enter
to a public institution. It was like 12 years ago; but I wanted to enter to a
public university, so I had to take it again due to the fact that the first one
wasn’t be really good. The point is that I studied in a small town located to
the North of Colombia and I never received any training before taking that test.
We never had told what this test consisted of, how long it was, and so on.
So, for those reasons I would say that
here in Colombia for public education those kinds of assessments are not
achieving the established standards, so they need to be improved every day in
schools by engaging, fostering, and training nor only students but also
teachers in order to fulfill the main objective proposed in the Colombia Education System.
Malby, what you said is right. While some schools devote so much time to prepare students for the ICFES exam some other schools don't give so many instructions to the students or they don't give any training to them.
ResponderEliminarIt would be good for students in public schools receive a good preparation for the mentioned exam given by the teachers.
Hello Malby
ResponderEliminarI also agree with you. I think that what students do in the classroom doesn't match to what they are asked to answer in the ICFES exam, and this really causes problem at the moment of placing them in a certain level, such as B1,for example.
I think that the idea of teachers and students should not be to pass the exam, or get a high score, but to learn the necessary things in order to be useful in the globalized world.
I think the Colombian Educational system should prepare both teachers and students more to live and understand all the information than is given and to do something with it apart from passing those standard exams -such as Icfes-. We all should be prepared to do something and be something more than a number in an exam.
Hi all,
ResponderEliminarI do agree that it is unfair that some students morea and better training for the ICFES exam. But I also think that it is not a good idea to spend a lot of time preparing the students for a test. This kind of teaching does not result in long-lasting learning, which is what we are actually looking for. So, how do we deal with the challenge of having to facilitate students' learning and, at the same time, doing everything we can to make sure our students get a high score in these high-stake tests? Shouldn't the latter be a consequence of the former?
Hello guys, all of you are right, I think that Colombian Education needs something beyond that, it is not good idea to spend a lot of time trainig students to take those tests, but probably training teachers how to make it easier for the students or perhaps meaningful for them. There are many things to learn...
ResponderEliminar