The Arts in Schools - Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

Teachers and pupils alike need information on each other'sactivities and perceptions if their work together is to advance.Assessment and evaluation should provide this as a basis forinformed description and intelligent judgement. In discussingassessment and evaluation, therefore, we are considering tworelated processes within the daily activity of education.132 Examin- Examinations are highly structured instruments of assessmentation which are intended to test specific knowledge and abilities atparticular points in pupils' development. An importantfeature of examinations — to which we will return — is thatthey are used often to rate pupils according to a comparativescale of achievement. Although the call for accountability ineducation can only be answered by a rigorous approach inthe schools to assessment and evaluation, examinations neednot be the chief means of this. Accountability and examinabilityare not the same thing.133 What In Chapter 5 we argued the need for schools to have ankind of overall policy related to their catchment area, age range andassessment so on. Both the general and the particular aspects of thatand account- policy should be reflected in the pattern of the curriculumability? and expressed in the work of the various departments. Ifpolicies and principles throughout a school curriculum needto be co-ordinated, they also need to be open to revision andreformation in the face of fresh information, new experienceand changing circumstances. This has implications for themethods of evaluation and assessment. It means that to beuseful, evaluation should be illuminative and responsive;while assessment should be pervasive and informative.134 Illumin- Schools and teachers should look for the actual effects ofative their teaching on children. The emphasis is important.evaluation Evaluation is not simply a matter of checking on whetherpre-specified aims and objectives have been achieved. Thismay well apply to industrial or commercial processes where adirect relationship between aims and outcomes is importantto maintain — and easy to corroborate. Education is ratherdifferent. Although teachers and schools must have clear aimsand objectives, these are often modified as the work progresses.Many social processes follow this principle. Tying a coursetoo closely to pre-specified objectives can stifle the flexibilityand responsiveness on which good teaching depends. Evaluationshould aim to illuminate all aspects of the work.This includes reviewing and reflecting on the original aims andobjectives and possibly reformulating them as the work goeson.83