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Why Do We Assess Students Learning?

(Taken from Evaluating Your Students by Andy Baxter) There are many groups who have an interest in assessing students abilities: teachers, heads of departments, parents governments and of course, the students themselves. However, we all share the same four main reasons for assessment: To compare students with each other To see if students meet a particular standard To help the students learning To check if the program is doing its job. To compare students with each other If your students want to enter a university to study a popular subject, the university has to select which students it takes. It decides on a comparative basis, e.g. it wants the top 20% of candidates. But there is a problem: consistency. A good year of candidates may be compared with a weak year: this years top 20% may not be as good as last 20%. However, it is still the top 20% that get through that exam. This approach has been called rationing carrots: however well all the candidates perform, only 20% get through. Although this system may appear unfair, it is still often used by governments and parents to judge the quality of a school. To see if students meet a particular standard Large organizations, like state, or international

examining boards, have certain standards of proficiency that students must meet. These standards do not necessarily reflect the teaching program that the students have followed: different schools may use different books or syllabuses. So these large organizations have to set their own standards or criteria, and see if the student can perform at this level. Other smaller organizations, like individual schools, can also set a particular standards based on their own individually-agreed criteria. More frequently, though, schools will base their assessment on their own teaching program. They analyze what the students cover in class, and then assess whether students have learned it, often by giving an achievement test. Testers differ over what an achievement test should actually cover. It could test either: The overall objectives of a syllabus (e.g. in English, the ability to express past time, or the ability to write in a variety of styles), or The individual items on the syllabus (e.g. in English, the past simple, or writing advertisements).

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Another reason for assessment is initial placement. We can analyze the students abilities in order to see where they fit into the system. For example, if the school has restrictions on space in classes, they may be placed according to what percentage they get (e.g. the top 10% go to the top class). Alternatively, there may be certain criteria the students are expected to meet. If one class concentrates on writing while another specializes in grammar revision, the students class will be determined by their success according to these criteria. To help students learning Whether we assess proficiency or achievement, we can analyze the students abilities in a diagnostic way. Instead of using the assessment to grade the student, we use it to see where the students need more help. For example, the student gets an excellent grade in writing an advertisement, but makes may errors in the grammar section, especially in the present simple third person s. We may then decide to give him/her additional help and teaching in this area. To check if the teaching program is doing its job But suppose all the students get excellent grades in writing advertisements, but all make many errors in the present simple third person s. We may then decide to alter the whole teaching program to give all the students additional help and teaching in this area. On a larger scale, if teachers and inspectors identify a common problem across all schools, a government may decide to alter the whole of its education program.

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Next Step
We are pleased to launch our latest series for secondary: Next Step. It is a six-level course in general English that takes students from an elementary level to an intermediate level. By the end of the course students will have surpassed the Threshold (B1 or PET) level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Key Features: The course provides one complete package: book, practice book and interactive CD-Rom It is based on an achievable and comprehensible grammar syllabus Encourages the use of new technology and media in English Includes a variety of texts about relevant topics for teens For more information about this and other series check our website:

www.richmond.com.co

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Richmond Day 2011

The Richmond Day has become a traditional event among English teachers around our country. This years topic was Current Issues in ELT a plenary given by our author Paul Seligson. Paul, who has written for Richmond series such as Can Do and Essential American English, discussed the 15 issues he considers the most relevant in English language teaching. Teachers gained new perspectives and learned practical tips that they can implement in their classes. Along with Pauls presentation, recognized local speakers gave workshops about the implementation of CLIL and the use of technology in the classroom. But not everything was academic! We had a fun afternoon with a Caribbean show where Romaine Bailey, a native English-speaking teacher from Jamaica, shared with us his culture; especially dances and music which, as you can see in the pictures everybody enjoyed. We hope that teachers from Medelln, Bucaramanga, Barranquilla, Bogot, and Eje Cafetero enjoyed the Richmond Day as much as we did!

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Ben Goldstein in Colombia

Last September, 2011 we had the visit of one of our most recognized speakers: Ben Goldstein. Ben is the author of the Framework series and The Big Picture. His areas of interest lie in images and their role in language teaching, English as a Lingua Franca, encouraging intercultural awareness and using video and literary texts. Ben participated as a plenary speaker at the ELT conference with the presentations Going with the Transcultural Flow and The Power of Image. He also visited Universidad de la Salle in Bogot and met with the heads and teachers from the English departments of Universidad Javeriana, Universidad de la Sabana, Universidad Los Libertadores, Universidad INCCA, Universidad Autnoma and the Universidad Libre, among others. We all look forward to Bens next visit to our country!
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Richmond in ASOCOPI 2011

ASOCOPI is one of the oldest and most recognized ELT conferences in Latin America. Richmond was present in this event where more than 1,000 English teachers from the different regions of Colombia participated. Andrs Guerrero, Richmonds academic manager, gave the workshop The Next Step in English Language Teaching and we also took this opportunity to celebrate with teachers from Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, Boyac, Valledupar, Neiva, Manizales and Bogot. It was a night of fun where teachers played bingo, trivia and won wonderful prices!

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