This booklet seeks to explain the principles of classroom assessment as
outlined in Section One of the English Curriculum: Principles and Standards
for Learning English as a Foreign Language for All Grades (Ministry of
Education, 2001, pp. 19-20). It focuses on a performance-based approach to
education in general and classroom assessment in particular, and is closely
connected to the Curriculum’s underlying principles.
Traditional assessment methods (such as tests) give teachers limited
information on pupils’ abilities, insufficiently assessing the complex and
integrated skills specified in the Curriculum. While traditional testing asks, “Do
you know the information?” performance-based assessment queries, “How
well can you use what you know?”
As stated in the Curriculum, the focus of both instruction and assessment is
on the pupils’ ability to apply their language to practical situations; in other
words, can pupils apply the language skills they have acquired? Thus, by
adopting a performance-based approach to instruction and assessment,
teachers will allow pupils to demonstrate their newly acquired skills.
Furthermore, through their performances, teachers will be able to assess the
success of their teaching goals and the curriculum standards.
We hope this booklet will help teachers understand the value and principles of
performance-based teaching, while providing useful information and
resources for implementing assessment principles outlined in the Curriculum.
Overview
Section I reviews the principles of classroom assessment in the Curriculum
and provides explanations and examples to illustrate and clarify each
principle. Included in the section is the document “Standards and benchmarks
for the domain of assessment” from Core Requirements for Teachers of
English: Knowledge and Performance.
Section II explains performance-based education and assessment and its link
to the Curriculum. It then describes the characteristics of performance tasks,
and provides guidelines for designing performance tasks and tools for
assessment such as rubrics. The implementation of performance-based
teaching and assessment is discussed.
Formats for reporting pupils’ progress and achievements, compatible with a
performance-based approach, are proposed.
Section III presents examples of performance tasks and projects designed by
teachers in the field and implemented in their classrooms.
Two examples of portfolios – which exemplify the performance-based
approach – and a number of alternative formats for reporting pupils’ progress
have been included.
The booklet concludes with a glossary of the most common terms related to
performance-based education and assessment.
Principles of Classroom Assessment
As stated in the Curriculum (pp. 19-20), classroom assessment is viewed as
an integral part of the teaching-learning process, where the teaching goals,
instruction and assessment procedures are planned in advance and
integrated into a whole. Teachers and pupils should be involved in monitoring
the learning process as well as evaluating outcomes.
Effective classroom assessment involves various assessment methods and
evidence of learning over a period of time.
Classroom assessment can be divided into two categories:


Formative assessment monitors pupils’ progress providing meaningful
feedback on their performance, enabling them to advance their
learning in line with Curriculum standards. The information obtained
from formative assessment is also used for planning further instruction,
and serves as the basis for an on-going teacher-pupil dialogue on the
pupil’s progress.
Summative assessment provides information on the quality of pupils’
performance, and assesses the pupils’ achievement of benchmarks
and standards
Both assessments are implemented through various methods. Since every
assessment tool has its strengths and weaknesses, none should be used
exclusively, but rather as one of several components in the assessment
process.
Following are the principles outlined in the Curriculum for assessing pupils,
with explanations and applications.