How To Make Periodic Assessment A Positive Experience for Kids
Learning is a journey. In this journey, even amongst kids in the same class, we won’t find every child in the same place. For this reason, periodic assessments have become a regular feature of the academic program in many schools.
Periodic assessments help to achieve an optimal teaching adventure for kids. With just a few questions, teachers can determine how far down the road each child has gone and where to meet them with a helping hand. However, only a positive periodic assessment experience can achieve what’s best for both students and teachers.
How can we make periodic assessments a positive experience?
Let’s find out.
How Do Periodic Assessments Work?
Most periodic assessments are based on written or oral tests. However, there has been a gradual shift from heavy reliance on these methods. Modern-day periodic assessments have taken on a new theme.
Nowadays, schools have adjusted their tests to include classroom participation. This participation could assume several dimensions, such as practical sessions, presentations, and teacher-student discussions. It isn’t out of place for periodic assessment to widen their scope beyond the classroom.
Periodic assessments are usually structured to target specific curriculum areas. These assessments could test students’ progress in Mathematics, English, Social Studies, and Technologies – pretty much as the education administrator deems fit.
Other assessment areas could include health and well-being, expressive arts, religious education, and moral education.
How to Derive Positive Results From Periodic Assessments
Using the results of periodic assessments for academic grades tends to further reinforce the punitive disposition or perception of the school system. A less-punitive outlook tends to produce more positive reactions for parents and students.
To squeeze out only positive outcomes from periodic assessments, there are several qualities to improve upon in designing and deploying these assessments.
Tailor Your Assessments to the Needs of the Child
To get the best results from any assessments, such assessments must cover the specific needs of both teacher and student. Younger children will better demonstrate their learning development in arts and social-based assessments such as painting, drawing, graphic cards, group discussions, and storytelling. Older students, on the other hand, will showcase their growth better with essays, projects, and standardized tests.
Adopt Specific Objectives
Every test should have an objective interwoven into its fabric. When an assessment has a clear aim, it can easily achieve its results.
Some assessments are diagnostic. That is, they are designed to test how solid the foundations of each student are before beginning a new class. Other tests aim to see if the teaching methods are getting the job done, while there are assessments that judge students’ grasp of a lesson.
Communicate Results Properly
The aftermath of an assessment involves communicating the results to the student. What many educationists fail to understand is that communicating results is a crucial step that could be handled incorrectly.
You must get the environment, the forum, and the delivery right. Ideally, one-on-one communications are the most secure and productive approaches to result communication. Let the student feel like they are part of the project and have an important role to play in the process.
Remember to reward impressive performance and encourage students to do better. Join hands with students to chart a new course, a way forward towards improvement. Also, bring their parents and guardians into the picture, as they are crucial allies in the project.
Quality Follow Up
See periodic assessments as a means to an end rather than an end in itself. Providing excellent assessments is important. What is more important, however, are the positive actions and supervision that should follow.
Continue to meet with students to follow up on their progress in implementing positive change.
The Case for Online Testing Platforms
What about online assessment platforms, do they get the job done? Recent years have witnessed the rise of online assessments. However, the initial skepticism has since dissolved to give way to a growing acceptance.
When you subscribe to an excellent online assessment platform, you get well-structured and free tests with rich data analytics. These platforms utilize AI and Machine Learning to generate customized questions and point out students’ strengths and flaws. Explico is one such platform where you can sign your kids up to get monthly progress reports and live teaching/assessment sessions to help them find the missing pieces for a smoother and faster learning journey.
