The way that assessments are used can vary per school,
state, and country in terms of the implications within their results. In some
cases, assessments and their results can say “everything” about a school. Where I am from, in the US, I regularly hear
stories from friends and family who are teachers about the way standardized
tests have monopolized their teaching. This is far from the way things happen
in the Netherlands, where I teach.
According to one of the Teach Now resources (https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=1)
on comparative international testing, “PISA results are
reported by average scale score (from 0 to 1,000) as well as by the percentage
of students reaching particular proficiency levels.” In the Netherlands, high schools are
categorized by education proficiency levels, and a student has to qualify in
order to get in to that high school. There are standardized tests given at the
primary level, but just this year they stopped being an official indicator of
anything. In other words, they are used only as an additional guideline to the
advice given by the primary school teacher to determine the high school level.
Once a student reaches high school, the only “official” standardized test comes
at the end of school, before graduation.
High-Stakes
Assessments: Dutch vs International Baccalaureate
To provide some context, I will compare and contrast
assessments in my own school (ISH) with those of Het 4e Gymnasium in Amsterdam
where I know a teacher and have interviewed her about assessments. The 4e
Gymnasium (4G) is one of the highest-level Dutch public high schools. My
school, ISH, is an international school whose standards and curriculum are
guided by the International Baccalaureate (IB).
At both schools, there are no single high-stakes assessments
administered at any point during a students’ high school career, with the
exception of one end exam that students take before they graduate. At 4G, this
is a central end exam from the Dutch government which all students take
nationwide for the diploma offered at this high school category. At ISH, the
exam is created by the school for its own students, but using IB-approved
questions and test materials. In both cases, a passing grade is required in
order to complete studies.
The rest of high
school: assessments
At 4G, each year consists of four curriculum blocks. A block
is required to contain at least two major assessments, but may contain more.
Major assessments are all averaged to determine the students’ year grades per
subject. To determine whether a student
passes the year, or advances to the next year level, decision making is done by
a committee of all the students’ teachers as well as their class mentor. A
student with all passing grades automatically advances. One or more very low
level failing grades will automatically indicate being left back or having to
go to a lower level high school, but at 4G this is rare. More often there are
committee discussions about students who fall into a grey area and may need
extra work or discussions to assess whether they can continue.
At ISH, each subject is taught in units, and there are anywhere
from 4 to 10 units per year. Exams and assessments are offered per unit, with
IB calling for between 1-4 different criteria assessed per unit. Also here,
student passing and failing per year level is determined mostly by committee,
but with a minimum adherence to standards according to IB guidelines. The
standards seem to be more strictly used as guiding principles than at 4G, but
there is still a big grey area where pass or fails are concerned. Each student
does have three very important subjects for his or her chosen school path
though, and these need to be passed before a student can complete a year level
or get an IB diploma.
Assessments and
teachers records
Neither 4G nor ISH attaches teacher evaluations to student
outcomes in any official capacity. In fact, the 4G teacher was quite surprised
at the question and surprised to hear that there are schools which do this. At
4G there is a policy that is more than one-third of a class fails any given
assessment, a complaint may be registered with a demand for re-testing. If
accepted, the teacher must create a new test. However, this will only change
the student’s record, not the teacher’s.
At ISH, teachers are only evaluated qualitatively once per
year through classroom observation. There is no indication of assessments or
student outcomes on their record whatsoever, and this includes pass/fails.
Who is accountable
for test results?
At both schools, accountability for the passing and failing
of students during the entire program (as indicated by the final high school
exams) rests 100% on the school, and is therefore a shared responsibility for
all faculty. In principle, is a school has low pass records, it is less likely
to be a popular school to be chosen. There are no postcode-zoned high schools,
schools are chosen and applied for.
In conclusion, testing and assessments appears to be more of
a group effort in the Netherlands than what it appears to be at other schools,
according to what I have read my Teach Now peers reporting. Because the IB
system is international and ISH’s assessment standards are the same across
Europe, it should be safe to assume that the international school system, at
least in Europe, is similarly geared towards flexible assessments within
guidelines, rather than many high-stakes assessments.
Resources:
(n.d.). Retrieved June 24, 2015, from
https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=1
