3. Assessment in Education Must Serve The Purpose of Supporting Learning

Assessment must be aimed at supporting learning. It should allow us to understand our students´ needs and help them progress. However, many teachers tend to rely on summative assessment, that is, they mostly employ written examinations and emphasize the importance of achieving high grades. Relying heavily on this type of assessment can result in “rote learning” as students only care or start focusing on “passing exams”. Formative assessment, on the other hand, offers greater possibilities since it provides teachers a way to improve the teaching-learning process, enforcing meaningful learning.

Students are not numbers but whole persons; teachers cannot measure their success in terms of their students´ grades, nor they can say that grades help us determine whether learning has taken place or not. Teachers cannot avoid asking themselves these fundamental questions like: “Am I shaping independent and reflective learners?” Shaping independent learners, for instance, is a true reflection of effective teaching and meaningful learning. It is worrying to see how many teachers only think in terms of grades, making students feel unmotivated or frustrated with this system. How is this system supposed to help prepare students for life? - which is what education is all about. On the contrary, the necessity of a real “assessment for learning” cannot be overlooked.

Our purpose as teachers must be helping students empower their skills, and develop their potential. In order to achieve this, we need to learn more about our students. Assessment for learning leads to an understanding of each one of our learners´ needs so that we can work according to them. As a result, students become more involved in the learning process; they feel encouraged and committed. Essentially, assessment must help students learn more about themselves and their learning experience. With our guidance, students can learn to recognize their strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, students must learn to determine how to improve and grow, always looking for their progress.