Should assessment reflect only pupils’ knowledge?

Abstract

In order to realise increasingly complex objectives of compulsory education, it is necessary to have in place appropriate teaching concepts as well as assessment and testing guidelines. The question, however, is what should be assessed: levels of acquired knowledge, skills or attitudes? Should assessment be only a measure of the educational process outcomes, or should it also measure the process of knowledge acquisition itself? How should assessment be carried out in order to respect the principle of fairness and justice? In this paper, we will present results of a research project in which we were interested to find out what teachers would assess if it were up to them to decide. Our survey was conducted on a representative sample of primary school teachers in Slovenia. In spite of clear regulations prescribing that teachers should only assess pupils’ progress in relation to the defined objectives and knowledge standards, teachers underlined the necessity to also consider other aspects of children’s development.

Keywords:

• functions of assessment
• assessment criteria
• cognitive objectives
• conative objectives
• teachers’ attitudes
• primary education

Notes

1. The research was financed by the Slovenian Ministry of Education, Science and Sport.

2. Primary school in Slovenia takes nine years, children start school at the age of 6. School is divided into three three‐year triads: the first three years are taught by class teachers, the last three years by subject teachers and the second triad is taught by a combination of both.