All assessments have embedded societal values. For example, a socially constructed response to what constitutes a "smart" person and what a society prioritizes (Broadfoot, 2011). Because schools must choose some form of assessment, whether it is standardized tests, teacher assessments, or other forms of assessment, it creates a perception of students’ futures which has an impact on them. If we analyze these social values and consider other forms of assessment, such as portfolios, we can create a more equitable educational system.

Standardized testing rests on the assumption that intelligence is easily quantifiable and can be universally compared. It assumes that all children can achieve the same test and assess the same educational materials (Gipps, 2012). For better, this creates a uniformity that allows for identifying educational gaps that are disparate among communities. For worse, low resource communities, underserved by schools, are rendered as failures, resulting in heightened anxiety. Teacher-based assessments, on the other hand, assume that learning is unique to the individual. For better, this enhanced the perception of safety in testing and fairness in what is finally assessed and taught (Popham, 2018). For worse, students are subjected to the biases of a particular teacher, and that teacher can also be in a particular mood. Educators use alternative assessments to address certain issues. One type of alternative assessment is a student portfolio. These student collections of work help educators assess progress throughout the semester. Student portfolios operate on the social assumption that intelligence is complicated and develops through practice, opposed to the notion that intelligence is a measurable, fixed trait that can be captured with a single assessment.

A primary benefit of portfolios is the motivation they create. Students are able to select their best work, analyze their errors, and visualize their progress. This process creates a work of pride and enhances critical thinking abilities (Brookhart & Nitko, 2014). The primary disadvantage, however, is the burden placed on teachers to assess the portfolios of each student. Portfolios lack the time efficiency of multiple-choice assessment and require extensive rubrics in order to maintain grading objectivity.

The methods of student assessments extend beyond the assignment of letter grades. These methods reveal societal values to students. Standardized tests create a numerical value to student achievement in a time-efficient manner, but in doing so can create a disadvantage for some learners. Teacher-generated tests can create an alignment between testing and classroom activities, but they can also be subjective. Portfolios, as an alternative assessment, offer a system in which schools create an assessment method that privileges student achievement through the use of creativity. In order to help their students, school systems must carefully integrate each of these assessment methods so students are able to escape the confines of discriminatory labels rather than be entrapped by them.

References

Broadfoot, P. (2011). An introduction to assessment. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Brookhart, S. M., & Nitko, A. J. (2014). Educational assessment of students (7th ed.). Pearson.
Gipps, C. V. (2012). Beyond testing: Towards a theory of educational assessment. Routledge.
Popham, W. J. (2018). Classroom assessment: What teachers need to know (8th ed.). Pearson.

How Testing Changes How We See Ourselves and Others