Assessment for learning as against assessment of learning has gained wider acceptance, necessitating the need for formative assessment.
Most premier educational institutions enthused by the National Education Policy (NEP 2020) and Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM) were lit in tricolour to celebrate the 75th Independence Day. Prime Minister Narendra Modi invoked the NEP to play an essential role in making India a fully developed nation by the time it reaches its 100th Independence Day, as he spoke from the ramparts of the Red Fort.
All necessary spadework is under way; the policy is set to hit the ground running with the release of the National Curriculum Framework, for which feverish nationwide consultations are on. The NEP 2020—drawing from the world’s best educational models, India’s knowledge system, the country’s aspirations and international benchmarking—has suggested far-reaching reforms in curriculum, pedagogy and assessment.
Assessment reform in the country has had a roller-coaster ride in the previous decades. Summative external examinations testing memory, recall and textual reproduction have a fair share of criticism, but not much was done to alter the situation. The continuous and comprehensive evaluation system introduced in 2010 had a concise shelf life, and we slid back to old habits in less than five years. Some other attempts at assessment reform, such as the introduction of open-book tests, value-based questions, higher-order thinking skills and, more recently, concept/competency-based questions, were made. However, at best, these attempts were half-hearted, ill-prepared, disjointed plug-ins not aligned with pedagogy and learning outcomes.
Meanwhile, the world has moved on. Assessment for learning as against assessment of learning has gained wider acceptance, necessitating the need for formative assessment. A good mix of school-based assessment and externally administered tests, embracing self and peer assessment, exploring a multidimensional approach to testing and monitoring the learning progress that addresses the unique competencies of the learner are the well-recognised components of a holistic assessment.
The NEP 2020 has rightly acknowledged the need for assessment reform by envisioning the National Assessment Centre PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic development), which would set standards and prescribe norms to improve the educational system. The government has invited global consultants to help set up the centre. It is expected to revolutionise education rooted in research, theory and practice.
The word PARAKH—as many people would know in Hindi—is a description encompassing recognition, discovery, exploration, testing for the suitability, identifying virtues and perhaps more. Given the context, educational institutions will have to shift from the traditional mindset of a ceremonial, paper-pen test to one based on a love for learning as against academic rigour, grace before grading, and an attitude of identifying what the child knows and not what she doesn’t. An inventory of pedagogical tools must have a matching repertoire of assessment tools.
For PARAKH to fulfil its promises, many innovations in assessment will have to be embedded into the system. Concept maps—a visual representation of the connections between the concepts learned—are, for example, an exciting way of assessing the concepts learned. The teacher can share an incomplete concept map for children to complete. Students can store and organise artefacts such as written assignments, images and videos in e-portfolios to reflect on their learning experiences, which can be another innovation.
We can encourage students to create a podcast or vlog project and submit their analyses, reports and diagrams as evidence of their learning. Done collaboratively, it has the potential to foster peer-to-peer learning and students taking an interest in each other’s development. Media is now a significant influencer, and we notice even young children imitating news reporters. They are naturally exhibiting talking, reporting and interviewing skills. This is a clue as to how traditional classroom presentation can be replaced by a talk show performance—as a more authentic version of embodied learning.
The NEP 2020 proposes a multitude of sample and population tests to identify learning gaps. These will be school-based, board-administered and externally surveyed. However, examination on demand, assessment tools as the learner’s choice, examination to bring the best out of the learner, and examination as a feedback loop to improve teaching and learning remain at the core of any assessment reform. Will PARAKH live up to its expectations?
The article first published in Financial Express; https://www.financialexpress.com/education-2/assessment-reform-the-right-way-to-assess-parakh/2647670/ , on Aug 2022.
