Student assessment vs system assurance

Too often we confuse student assessment with system assurance. In other words, assessment is a tool for students and teachers to use while they are engaged in real learning; and yet for accountability purposes, some governments hijack assessment as a tool to meet their needs.

If we are collecting information about student learning for parents then the teacher is in the best position to provide such information. A teacher who has spent months with a child is going to be able to provide far more authentic information than a test that sat in front of a child for an hour.

Teachers should be able to give a good account of a student's learning but that's not a test score, nor is it a grade.