ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING IN THE CONTEXT OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM

(Summary of Text: Current concepts on the School Learning Assessment for NB3, To
ward an Educational Assessment, learn to assess and evaluate learning, Erica Him
mel K, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Volume I, 1999, Santiago. P.15-
44 )
Introduction: Through the content included in this unit are: * will present a re
trospective analysis and evaluation of the concept * analyze different types of
assessment relating to student learning * highlight relevant aspects of assessme
nt practices led by teachers classroom level, both in the near past and present
* highlight the demands of the Education Reform and the potential development of
a good education evaluation process. It is intended that the teacher (a) work w
ith this material: * internalize a new concept of evaluation * analyze their pra
ctices in light of it * raises the characteristics that should present the evalu
ation of learning in students * detect obstacles, opportunities that the environ
ment is, the possible consequences of the development of an assessment of learni
ng in students, and * be able to outline a plan for assessment of learning, with
particular emphasis on the role and responsibilities that he himself is both (a
) as students.
1. Towards a concept of evaluation: a retrospective, current and projective. Typ
es of Evaluation
There are several criteria that allow the classification of the assessments of s
tudent learning. Among other highlights: a., b. Intent-Time-Extension c. d. e. E
valuator-agent-Referring to stand comparison or contrast. a. "According to his I
ntention:
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Diagnostic intent: to explore, monitor the status of the students in terms of pr
ior knowledge, attitudes, expectations, when you start an educational experience
.
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Formative intentionality: evidence have continued to regulate, guide and correct
the educational process, improve it and have a better chance. Detects achieveme
nts, progress, difficulties in practice, feedback, benefits the learning process
, and points out obstacles preventing progress.
This feedback can be: * Confirm which states only if it is okay or not the answe
r for him. Remedy, if also is wrong to tell you point out the correct answer. *
Guidance, when you instruct the student why he is right or wrong answer. * Diagn
ostic, if you identify the source of the mistake if it is incorrect. * To develo
p, where further information is expanded to expand their knowledge. - Intention
Summative: applies to processes and finished products, one of them is at the end
of a learning experience or an important stage of it., Verify the effectiveness
of teaching-learning process and delivers light to the planning of future inter
ventions. b. "In the Moment:
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Home: takes place at the beginning and enable identification of the situation. D
ecide where to start and then establish the true performance and progress of stu
dents attributing their participation in a teaching experience of formal learnin
g. Procedural: whether the prosecution or assessment is made on the basis of a c
ontinuous and systematic process of functioning and progress of what is going to
judge .. is essential if one wants to take appropriate and Opportunities decion
es conducive to improving the outcomes for students. Goal: to determine the lear
ning at the end of the period were expected to develop a course or unit with whi
ch students should achieve certain goals.
c. "According to the Agent Evaluator:
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Internal: by persons directly participating in the educational experience. They
are: * Assessment: the student corresponds to the fundamental role it is he who
should conduct the evaluation process. * Hetero: Professor outlines, plans, impl
ements and applies the evaluation process, the student only responds to what is
asked (most used) * co-evaluation: is carried out together, either by some of it
s members or the group whole. External: those who prepare and develop assessment
s are people outside the educational center.
d. "According to his Extension:
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Global Assessment: includes all the capabilities expressed in the general object
ives and unity, as well as the evaluation criteria of the various sub-sectors or
areas. Partial Evaluation: focuses part of learning that are expected to meet t
he students.
e. "According to the reference or standard of comparison:
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Rules: There are some comparison group previously established. Defined standards
or standards to compare with each student for a course, applying the procedure
to detect learning provided for one unit.
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Criterion: the desired pattern is established, judge the answers given by the pu
pil if they meet or exceed the established pattern, with respect to itself. It i
s independent of the achievements of other students.
Other types of evaluation processes Assessment Personalized: Takes into account
student characteristics, social circumstances, its possibilities and limitations
. This assessment can be developed as an educational experience involving an ent
ire course. Differentiated Assessment: That is necessary for cases in which the
student is having difficulty such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, motor pr
oblems, etc.. If you meet the customized assessments are undoubtedly serve such
needs and demands. Cooperative Assessment Authentic Assessment Assessment Compre
hensive Assessment Participatory Education Evaluation Collaborative Evaluation E
valuation Evaluation Evaluation Project Proactive Ethics
Assessment of learning in students of today
2. Assessment of learning yesterday and today: why and what
Even when it was presented as general intent that education seeks the integral d
evelopment and social integration of people, in practice it has paid increasing
attention to the acquisition of knowledge by students. The evaluations have been
used to approve or disapprove the students through grades to be placed as and w
hen the number of right or wrong answers that students give an oral or written t
est. Today the situation is different, there are new discoveries, contributions,
advances and new demands. Today is important to note, among others, the followi
ng: • • • • • • • Man is a developing being constituted by the sides of necessit
y and freedom society is dynamic, changing by deliberate action or not, the same
man There are numerous scientific, technological, with implications for the wor
ld There are new or unknown organisms that cause serious harm the man there new
stimuli and capture that impact children, youth and adults are modern methods th
at allow a "communication" multiple of several people, located at great distance
s, to minimize or cancel out the potential for distorted or biased interpretatio
n of an event that new technology is available that allows re-watching, as often
as necessary, the same process, event, item, or following a different path, the
which allows different interpretations of the same at different times and with
unequal rates, as required has been incorporated robotics industry developments
have occurred that have led to changes in various fields such as natural product
ion in the forms of food, in the forms of life.
• •
Today mind learning to question reality, questioning the reality and consequence
s of changes, especially at the personal and social development matters scientif
ic capacity in the service of humanity. "It is becoming increasingly necessary t
hat each person internalize transcendent values, achieve a harmonious balance wi
th himself and his environment, a positive and effective communication with othe
rs, social engagement, a high level of creativity and leadership, a vast knowled
ge Dela human nature in its greatness and weaknesses, in its reality and its pos
sibilities, an ability to problematize and solve problems, an ability to build s
olidarity "(Olivares, 1996). All this leads to Remiro the teaching and learning
assessment processes. It will be important to maintain the good and necessary, b
ut also make changes to build on the progress, to respond to the needs and deman
ds of people in these times.
Today is raised at official level, the most fundamental purposes of education ar
e "to contribute to the full personal development of each of the Chileans, maxim
izing their freedom and their capacity for creativity, initiative and critical",
first and secondly, "to contribute to equitable development, sustainable and ef
ficient country." Both converge in order to "contribute to the integral developm
ent and free Dela person in a social and economic context, the level of developm
ent, the potential power of this freedom, creativity, initiative and critical" (
Ministry of Education, Official Journal Republic of Chile, 1996).€This in itself
is a demand for making modifications to the traditional assessment of learning
processes in students. Also today, the anthropological concept and values held o
fficially considers that "human beings are born free and equal in dignity and ri
ghts. The inherent perfectibility of human nature is revealed as a force for per
sonal affirmation and ongoing search for transcendence that allows make sense of
personal and collective existence. The freedom that makes each individual perso
n and subject of rights and duties implies the ability to reason, discern and ap
preciate and makes possible the moral and responsible behavior "(Ministry of Edu
cation, Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile, 1996) This should be remember
ed especially in the formal education process and thus in the evaluation process
es carried out therein. Moreover, the National Commission for the Modernization
has raised the need to address ethical principles. These "must be open to all bo
ys and young men and women, the opportunity to develop as free, conscious of the
ir own dignity and as subjects of rights. They should help build in them the mor
al character driven by love, solidarity, tolerance, truth, justice, beauty, sens
e of nationality and the desire for transcendence "(Ministry of Education, Offic
ial Gazette of the Republic of Chile, 1996) All the above is meaning more clearl
y the necessity and urgency of carrying out a review of our processes of teachin
g and in particular the assessment of learning processes. What learning is detec
ted? How? Why? From the answers given to these questions, perhaps the most is su
bject to the points made in the preceding paragraphs is the How. Depending on ho
w to fill out the assessment of learning processes, may be contributing more or
less, to achieve the needs and the demands.
3. Requirements in the light of the Education Reform
a) Assessment: The current situation present condition of the Chilean formal edu
cation, is determined by tradition and inertia in some practices, but also by th
e implementation of proposals newest product of research in the field of educati
on and experience a successful and not so much other, experienced by the teacher
s, too, is determined by the social demand for a range of expected changes, espe
cially within the
teaching-learning process, and within that, the assessment could not be excluded
. This is because the "assessment is inseparable from the teaching-learning proc
ess" (Vargas, 1998). Current assessments of student learning have a lot of tradi
tion, but every day more numerous experiences trying to go according to the prog
ress and demands of the time. It is true that the educational evaluation in our
country, Chile, is conditioned by a series of laws, which are contained in offic
ial documents, including the Constitutional Organic Law N ° 18 962 Education, Ed
ucation Supreme Decree No. 40, Order Evaluation and Promotion School No. 511. Th
ese laws are added approaches embedded in every educational project that support
the different communities that are educational and not only demand, but a commi
tment to be fulfilled by those involved in its implementation and development. H
owever, these provisions, while providing aspects that set "minimum" does not cl
ose, or limit the best, top or maximum to be achieved. The latter depends on the
people who participate in educational and evaluative processes. b) Further cons
iderations of the Assessment Reform New considerations, requirements or demands
faced by the educational evaluation at present, due to new educational context c
an be inferred or deduced from the official documents mentioned above, but mainl
y , from the LOCE prewritten and Decree 40. LOCE: General Organic Law of Educati
on Sets the minimum requirements to be met by levels of primary and secondary ed
ucation, and regulates the duty of the State as to ensure compliance, and also r
egulates the process of official recognition of educational institutions. LOCE i
mportant articles: Article 10: Explicit general objectives to be achieved in bas
ic education. Among them, understand reality, developing the potential physical,
emotional and intellectual, creative thinking, thoughtful, critical, act respon
sibly,€participate in the life of the community aware of their rights and duties
, to pursue studies according to their abilities and expectations. Article 11 co
ntains the fundamental objectives contained mandatory minimum vertical and order
ed in a matrix which provides basic curriculum articulation points between the s
tructure of knowledge and learning rates achieved during the progression of cour
ses. Article 18: among others, says that "establishments are free to set plans a
nd programs to fulfill those objectives and content year mandatory minimum and c
omplementary set each of them."
Article 19: among others, that the Ministry of Education will have to define the
periodic use of an evaluation system to develop statistics and publish their re
sults. To formulate the fundamental objectives Transverse General Basic Educatio
n established the following guiding principle: "The Chilean education seeks to e
ncourage the full development of all people, promote the diversity meeting, and
on this basis, both in stock form them which are the ethical meaning of human ex
istence, as in the willingness to participate and contribute according to their
age and maturity, in a coexistence governed by truth, justice and peace "(Minist
ry of Education, Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile , 1996). An evaluatio
n to some extent responsive to the educational policy referred to must be consis
tent with what is included in the table below: LOCE DECREE 40 * Focused on the m
oral, intellectual, artistic * Calls to monitor the formation of a subject and s
piritual. for the modernization of the country. * Caution to the social integrat
ion of * allows the full development of the student. * subject oriented toward d
eveloping skills * emphasizes the formation of a free and responsible person
* Fostered the continuation of the 'demand compliance with the study to the next
level. Fundamental objectives and minimum contents. * Focuses on achieving mini
mum levels * Promotes the educational work that focuses on the student. * Consid
er the encouragement of * Calls to the completion of work knowledge and apprecia
tion of heritage and cooperative group among the students. cultural history. * D
emand that promotes thinking * Promotes the manifestations of the reflective, cr
itical and free. ethical values and city dwellers. Today the evaluation of learn
ing should be done differently than it was yesteryear and today, you can not lea
ve out the process itself, motor skills, social attitudes, etc.. Of the students
, now please note the individual and cultural characteristics of the students, t
he heterogeneity of the groups if you really want to achieve significant learnin
g. Today we must foster the development of processes and higher order skills (de
sign, system thinking, problem solving, etc.) and therefore must change the trad
itional evaluation. Today is directed assessing inter alia to: - Understand the
achievements and progress that each student has in relation to the proposed obje
ctives;
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Know the procedures used by children to learn, the kind of mistakes they make an
d how to leverage a better understanding of the topics of learning, identify the
educational needs of students so that we can take timely action to promote teac
hing that all children learn, allow students to know their own performance, unde
rstand the complexity of the tasks undertaken and identify in their own abilitie
s, ways to strengthen, improve or consolidate learning (Ministry of Education, A
ssessment Regulation, 1997.)
4. Viewing an assessment consistent with education reform: rationale, purpose, t
ypes, characteristics, effects.
The current educational reform presented as desirable and possible for students
to achieve higher capacities among which are: "abstraction and elaboration of kn
owledge, systems thinking, experimenting, learning to learn, communicate and wor
k collaboratively, problem solving, managing uncertainty and adapting to change
"(Rodríguez, 1999) Currently, the protagonist in the process of teaching and lea
rning should be student-centered. This and the above, require changes not only i
n forms of education but also in the evaluation. Rodriguez stands out among the
following features for a learning process that would best meet the demands of ex
isting plans and programs of study. There are no standard students. Each one is
unique and therefore the teaching and evaluation should be individualized and va
ried. Use a variety of procedures including,€among others, observation, projects
and student work, the folders you create and maintain student, pencil and paper
tests, show a more comprehensive picture of student progress. The boundaries be
tween curriculum and assessment are confused: the evaluation occurs in and throu
gh the curriculum and daily practice. The human factor, ie those committed to th
e students: teachers, parents, their peers, are key for a more accurate assessme
nt process. The main purpose of education is to train people capable of learning
throughout life and contributes to this assessment. When designing an evaluatio
n procedure, mainly imported the benefits it can have on student learning, that
is, its consequential validity. The teaching and learning should focus on the pr
ocess of learning, developing thinking skills and understanding of the dynamic r
elationship between curriculum and real life.
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A successful teaching prepares students to live effectively for life, therefore,
focuses on teaching to transfer the learning beyond the classroom to everyday l
ife.
Based on the foregoing, you may see some significant changes in the assessment,
consistent with the demands of the Reformation and modern times, these are: - In
crease the range of abilities, skills and attitudes that are assessed. - It exte
nds the repertoire of procedures and assessment tools. - The importance of feedb
ack, the assessment can give the training process. - We accept the participation
of other actors-in addition to teacher-in evaluation, the site of the student a
nd his partners (self-evaluation, peer evaluation, etc.).. - The teacher goes to
take a more active role, in the sense that their assessments planned pedagogica
l orientation regulations; agreed with the students about evaluation procedures
and forms to apply, within less rigid regulations; serves individual needs and i
nterests ; training criteria applied flexibly. - The evaluation occurs naturally
as part of daily and is not considered an annoying interruption of the learning
process. Evaluative processes that are developed must have an educational purpo
se consistent with what each student needs, and enables society demands and what
has undertaken the current reform. The main purposes of the evaluation processe
s will: identify achievements and enable new learning result in students, shed l
ight on the causal variables and walking tracks for the next, so as to increase
the effectiveness and efficiency of the teaching formal learning. Evaluation pro
cesses can be of different types and take on different characteristics. The purp
oses are being pursued to be borne in mind when choosing.
Authentic Educational Collaborative
Cooperative
Projective
Participatory
Learning Assessment
Proactive
Integral
Auto and co-evaluation
Ethics
Each of these types of evaluations included in the scheme has the opposite is po
ssible to distinguish between a gradient. In any case, are not mutually exclusiv
e, the same process may be one or more features of all those that have been pres
ented in the previous scheme.
5. Stages of an evaluation process of learning
The assessment of learning in students and will remain necessary, but some time
in the educational field has diversified its field widely. It must evaluate diff
erent "objects" among which we find processes, components, achievements, and fur
thermore should be assessed at different times in different areas, in each and e
very one of those involved. The assessment of learning should be designed from t
he outset as an educational process itself, in addition to other functions that
need to be determined from the beginning of the process. Evaluating a teaching-l
earning process involves judging planned and committed what has been done and ac
hieved. The steps to follow in a process of formal assessment of learning are: 1
.Delineamiento: It establishes the need and purpose of the evaluation, values an
d demands technical grounds, moments, mode, participants. Before moving to the n
ext stage is important to appreciate the feasibility of carrying out in the time
available. 2.Planificación: stage that demands more time and thought. It must e
xplain the what, why, what will be assessed the significance of the foundation t
hat illuminate and condition the assessment process€pose the questions to answer
at the end of the process, procedures and instruments, sources of information,
mechanisms for evaluation analysis, the references in contrast to be used, audie
nces, types of reports to build, any suggestions for making decisions. 3.Impleme
ntación: involves the selection or construction of materials, tools, implements
necessary as planned, all duly validated. 4. Application: means the development
of the actions set by the previous stages, ie the use of tools and implements ge
nerated to collect the information needed. 5. Analysis of results and projection
s: use the information to better understand the object under study, the comparis
on with those regarding the contrast that will broadcast the trial, and also the
identification of variables that may have influenced the results and in one way
or another give light to guide decision making, particularly in states with act
ions to take immediate and mediate, especially in cases where the results of
impact on learning have identified the following stages of the process of teachi
ng and learning. Each stage should be evaluated in a manner to make timely adjus
tments as necessary, this means that it is essential to make a Meta-Evaluation.
(This is the process of judging each item or evaluation process, so as to ensure
that the information collected, the analysis will be made to the explanation of
a proper trial and will produce positive effects on participants.)
6. Role and responsibilities of the teacher as evaluator
It is necessary to bear in mind who evaluates and what it does. Traditionally, i
t is the teacher who has evaluated their students with the aim of controlling an
d detecting achievements, has been attributed the ability to assess, and only he
has assumed the responsibility for deciding the criteria, implement the process
, interpret data and information and decide. This centrality is still valid, tho
ugh not to be understood in terms of exclusivity. This is lost in this context o
f reforms and changes, as the agents and their involvement has expanded sufficie
ntly, the level of thinking agents such as parents and students .. Today, in the
assessment of learning, the role of educator and responsibilities should be dif
ferent, among others, mainly reflecting the various demands and changes that hav
e been referred. The issue of educational accountability today should not be uni
directional. Assuming the assessment as an educational process itself, then it b
ecomes an instance of participation and dialogue, to which you can add the condi
tion of being a process of negotiation. Each day emphasizes the need to develop
strategies that enable a real participation of students, active learning is post
ulated significant. While there are many who carry out processes to evaluate the
student, in order to know them better, determine the achievement of goals, diag
nose learning problems, guide and enhance learning, there are others, but to a l
esser extent, which develop process to evaluate the teacher. Those who recognize
that carried out these assessments help to identify ways of enhancing skills, h
elp to further planning and professional development, to identify human potentia
l, enhance professional deficits. Some teachers assume as agents of their self-a
ssessment is certainly important to this process by educators, but focusing the
scope of the assessment of learning should be noted that the teacher will:-Lead
reflective and formative bodies give way to reorient their assessment practices
intraula. Critically review their procedures, assess and manage relevant changes
in response to current demands.
Add gradually, their pedagogical, evaluative new forms that include attitudinal
and value aspects. "Rescue or generate collaborative type assessments, including
promoting interdisciplinary detection level of achievement of objectives of the
mainstream. -Promote in students' daily practices self-assessment, creative way
to incorporate them in their process of self-learning. -Reorient their evaluati
on processes to higher order skills such as problem solving and systematic think
ing or holistic, used in everyday life. -Promote new evaluation procedures that
demonstrate more explicitly conscious progress of students individually and in g
roups.
7.Role and responsibilities of students in an assessment of their learning
In the assessment of learning processes traditionally have been payable to stude
nts with a responsive role, they have had to answer or simply do what the teache
r asked them, usually in decontextualized situations from real life, including "
stopping" the teaching process learning by these bodies whose primary purpose wa
s the control. Today the situation is different, there is a greater possibility
of meeting the demand for educational evaluation processes, processes that not o
nly do everything possible to have evidence of the effectiveness of the processe
s of formal education, but media are constituted to permit the construction part
of them students, significant learning for themselves and others. The role of s
tudents, the assessment is comprehensive and is considered necessary for it to a
ssume the character real training. In a good teaching-learning process, we have
the ratings that the school makes the process of teaching and learning. A vital
and complex task, such as assessment can no longer be made unilaterally by the t
eacher and less, if it is to play a formative purpose, it is necessary that the
student can, get involved, take their responsibility to their activities. It is
important and are responsibilities to be assumed by the students include the fol
lowing: Develop the ability to reflect critically address their own learning. Le
arning to perform self-sustained processes throughout their educational experien
ces. Explicit constructive critical judgments about the productivity achieved in
cooperative learning.
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Titrate with specific and explicit regarding the individual performances and gro
up experiences involving allocation of responsibilities, especially in collabora
tive or cooperative work. Participate actively, positively, constructively and p
roject evaluation processes raised by teachers, by peers or by itself. Take effe
ctive actions in the light of trials that they are raised for their achievements
. Expanding the field as assessed beyond knowledge and know-how, ie integrate as
pects are related to personal attributes such as attitudes, values, and social,
that is, interpersonal relationships. They not only products but also the proces
ses involved.