Page 185 - @ccess 2 Teacher´s Book

Assessment

The main aim of assessment is to provide information about the degree of progress each student
achieves at different stages of the teaching and learning process. This enables the teacher to help
students identify what they have learned after a given period of time (month, term, year, and cycle).
It also helps them to consider how teaching situations, classroom working modes, use of materials,
and the kind of help or guidance provided are aimed at the achievement of key learnings.

Assessment is a core syllabus element because it can influence teaching and learning
processes, as well as their outcomes. In other words, what is assessed becomes the main focus of
attention for teacher, students and parents, and it affects the interaction between students, and
between them and the teacher in the classroom.

The aim of formative assessment is to develop “actions with the aim of gathering information
about the students’ performance so as to intervene in different moments (before, during, after) of
1
the learning process.” (Vargas, M.R y Ban, A.R 2001)

The purpose of assessment is to observe and monitor what students feel, know and do in
the process of learning English, and to suggest precise ways of improving their performance in
different moments. A successful formative assessment:

• gives students insight into what it is expected of them from the beginning.
• provides access to good models of the tasks students are expected to carry out.
• provides many opportunities to give and receive constant feedback about their strengths and
areas to review regarding their progress in English learning.

The levels of mastery and proficiency in English, as well as their descriptors, were created to
determine the extent and amplitude of the curricula. They constitute the grounds for exploring the
role of language and other means of communication in the youngsters’ cultural and social life as
they progress through the education system towards attaining knowledge about the world.

In order to monitor your students’ progress, it is important to take the following into account:
the level of mastery and proficiency in English, its descriptor, as well as the social language
practice and the Key Learnings for 2nd grade of secondary school.

Cycle 4 purposes

The purposes established in the English Syllabus show links to the four pillars of education, as set
forth in the report Learning: The treasure within (Delors, 1995). Thus, it is crucial to monitor and
register the students’ progress in their classwork. With the objective of helping you in this task,
we crafted an instrument to register said progress on 3 separate occasions throughout the school
year. You can access it in full on the CD.

1 Vargas, M.R. y Ban, R.A. (2011). Paso a paso con el PNIEB en las aulas. Latin American Educational Services, Inc. Ciudad de México.

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