The primary goal of assessment is to help every student understand excellence and improve. Reporting is a secondary goal of an assessment system. Another key element of an authentic assessment system is feedback and its use. Feedback is central to learning, therefore assessment design must optimize feedback and must apply the feedback for learning. Transparency and clear articulation of learning goals are absolutely necessary to have an effective and objective assessment system.
Do your teachers and students know the benchmarks by which they will be assessing and student work product?
Do you provide students and teachers assessment for learning as well as of learning?
Many educators have answered and addressed the above questions but in terms of subject knowledge and not 21st century skills. In the 21st century, knowledge without ability is meaningless. Remember we must assess what we value.
So next time you want your students to learn a specific 21st century skill, ask yourself have you articulated a progression of this skill from a novice all the way to expert proficiency? Have you shared precisely and objectively what criteria you will use to determine their ability to demonstrate that skill?
Ultimately school leaders must not rely on the use of superficial connections or vague mentions of these critical skills in assessments. In order to assess these undeniably crucial skills, educators must create an assessment framework to authentically pre-assess, monitor progress, and provide feedback to all learners. Sounds impossible, it isn’t! We have developed a continuum of core competencies of 21st century skills for school implementation. We encourage every school to reform their assessment system in terms of not only subject knowledge but also 21st century skills as they are often mentioned but rarely assessed and taught in depth.
