background and literature review - unesco
TRANSCRIPT
Overview1. Whatisthecultureoftesting?2. Theeffectsoftesting3. Whyisthereanemphasisonexaminations4. Examinationsasselection5. Highstakesassessmentassupportingpolicy6. Reliabilityofexternalassessments7. Simplifyingthenotionoflearning8. SocialandCulturalfactors9. Familystructure10. Students’attitudes11. Teacherpedagogy12. Narrowingofthecurriculum13. Educationequality- shadoweducation14. Riseoftestingmisconduct15. Reducingtheimpactoftesting16. Whatarewetryingtofindout?
Whyisthereanemphasisonexaminations?
Purposeofexaminations• Selection- Controllingaccesstodifferentlevels(generally
secondary)ofschoolingandtertiaryinstitutions.
• Certifying- Obtainingfurtherknowledgeandreportingonwhatastudenthasachieved.
• Accountability - Evaluatingtheeffectivenessofinstructionand/orschools.
UNESCO.2013.Asia- PacificSecondaryEducationSystemReviewSeriesNo.1:ExaminationSystems,unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001878/187826e.pdf
Examinations- Selection
Entrytosecondary
Endoflower
secondary
Endofupper
secondary
UNESCO.2013.Asia- PacificSecondaryEducationSystemReviewSeriesNo.1:ExaminationSystems,unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001878/187826e.pdf
High- stakesassessment-supportingpolicy
• Attachingahighstaketoanexaminationforcesteachersand
schoolstoadjusttheirteachingtoensureoptimalresultsin
thecontentbeingexamined.
• Testingmaybefuelledbycountries’effortstoreformtheir
educationsystems toreachso-called“international
standards”.
Reliabilityandefficiencyofexternalassessment
• Externalhigh-stakesexaminationsareoftenseenasanobjectiveandequitablemechanismforassessinglearning(Kennedy,2016;Vaardingerbroek&Taylor,2009andTikoduadua,2014).
• Publicmistrustplacedonthereliabilityofteachers’judgment toassessstudent’sabilityaccurately(Chang,2004;Hau,2004citedinUNESCO,2013b;MadausandRussell,2010;IBM,2003,).
SocialandCulturalfactorsCulturalheritagewithinAsia-Pacific•Confucianheritagecultures•ImperialChinesetraditionof‘Keju’
“…abelief,generallymorewidespreadthanmightbethecaseinothersocieties,thatsuccessdependsmoreoneffortthanon
innatecapacity,andhencethateveryonecansucceed,providedthatheorsheworkshardenough…” (Mason,2014,p.2)
Understandingofculture
• GeerteHofstede’sstudy(1980)ondefiningculture.
“thecollectiveprogrammingofthemindthatdistinguishesthe
membersofonegrouporcategoryofpeoplefromothers.”
• ‘Collectivistapproach’&filialpiety
• Individualachievement=familyachievement
• LimitedresearchoncultureandtestinginthePacific
Familystructure• Parentalexpectations– expansionofshadoweducation
• Chanceofsocialmobility- thewantformorefortheirchildren’sfuture,beyondthe‘factoryofthefarm’(Larmer,2014).
• ‘Tigerparenting’(Chua,2011).
EffectsofacultureoftestingStudents’attitudes•Resultsofstudentexaminationshavebeenseenasundermining
studenthappiness(UNESCO,2016).
• Achievementwasdeterminantoftheirpersonalworthand
value(Wang&Brown,2014).
•Students’understandingofeducationisthefacilitatorfor
excellinginexaminations,ratherthanviceversa.
Teachingtothetest
andareturntoteacher-centeredinstruction (Barret,2009;Polesel,Dulfer,&Turnbull,2012).
Narrowingofthecurriculum• Internationalleaguestable- maynotbetheproblembutdoesinfluencepolicymakers.(Robinson&Aronica,2015).
• “ifyoutreasureit,measureit.Ifschoolsdonotmeasurethewell-beingoftheirchildrenbutdomeasuretheirintellectualdevelopment,thelatterwillalwaystakeprecedence” (Layard&Hagell,2015)
EducationEquality- ShadowEducation
• Supplementaryeducationortutoringthatisprovidedoutsidetheparametersofschoolasabusinessenterprise(BrayandLykins,2012).
• Unfairadvantageforthosestudentswhocanaffordshadoweducation.(Bray,2007&Lee,2006)
• Undermining thevalidityandconfidencewithinmainstreamschooling(Bray,2009).
Riseoftestingmisconduct• Integrity andpurposeofexaminationscanbecompromisedwhenthestakesarehighenough.
Reducingtheimpactofhigh-stakestesting
• Movingtowardsauniversityadmissionsystemthatevaluatestheapplicantsinwaysthatarenotcapturedontertiaryentranceexams (NewYorkTimesEditorialBoard,2013).
• Adiagnosticassessmentsystemthatisdesignedtounderstandwhyastudentmakesaparticularselectionand howteacherscanremedythesemisconceptions(O’Dwyer&Miranda,2009citedinMadaus&Russell,2010).