Thursday, June 11, 2009

High Stakes Testing

I found this article very interesting and a timely reminder of how important it is to constantly communicate with our parents and explain why we do things the way we do them.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8088940.stm

Korean students are no strangers to high stakes testing and having their future being dependent on the results of a single test. I am sure that many of our parents also went through a system that culminated with a final test (or tests) that would determine their future.

It is important for our parents and students to understand that at GSIS we view assessment as an opportunity for students to demonstrate understanding - it is part of the learning process. That is why we gather a scrapbook of assessment evidence over a period of time as opposed to a one off snapshot piece of assessment that may not provide an accurate or valid picture of the level of student understanding.

We are very interested in taking in the sights during the journey as well as what we will see when we arrive at our destination.