Educational Assessment in the 21st Century

Signs of Change: Assessment Past, Present and Future Another Time, Another Place...Examinations Then and Now In the Temple of Literature in Hanoi, Vietnam, a series of stone stelae records the names of the handful of illustrious examination candidates who, in each century, passed the national examination to become a Doctor of Literature. Beginning in the 11thcentury,theexamswereconductedpersonallybysuccessivekingswhopursued Confucian ideals that found expression in the enormous value placed on the pursuit of wisdom and learning. In the 21st century we are both puzzled and impressed by this tradition. Puzzled by such an explicit commitment to a meritocracy in an essentially feudal society; impressed by this enthusiasm for learning and the pursuit of wisdom at the highest level of society. Yet, there are also important similarities between the 11th and 21st centuries. Then, as now, assessment was associated with excellence, high standards, pr- tige and competition―success for the chosen few; disappointment for the majority. Then, as now, the pursuit of excellence was embedded in a social context that favoured the elite and determined success in terms of the predilections of the p- erful. Then, as now, the purpose of the assessment, the way it was conducted and its impact on society all re ected the social and economic priorities of the day.

Even in the white heat of the ever-present education debate, assessment is one of the hottest and most contested topics. While teachers develop practical methodologies such as Assessment for Learning, that aim to bring positive benefits to learners, governments and policy-makers strengthen the role of externally mandated assessment for accountability purposes.

With the field of assessment a key focus for research the world over, the traditional issues of the topic, such as validity and reliability, have been joined by a host of other issues all pressing for attention. These include: the value of testing for international benchmarking and public reporting; taking account of cultural and social diversity; new modes of testing and assessment; technological innovation; the issue of what counts as authentic assessment; and inclusion and disability issues in assessment.

In their preface, the editors argue that in a post-modern world changes in the nature of work, globalization, the information revolution and today’s social challenges will all impact on educational priorities, and thus will require new modes of assessment. As our faith in the sciences to solve our problems erodes, we also recognize that the educational assessment cannot be an exact science either; that the involvement of human beings in every aspect of its design, execution and use makes it irrevocably a social project and thus subject to all the vagaries that any kind of human activity implies. This has led to the beginnings of a more humanistic approach to assessment.

As this book makes clear, the challenge for assessment in the 21^st century will be to reflect these newly emerging educational priorities. Assessment procedures will be needed that support the next generation in acquiring the skills and values they will need to manage emerging global challenges, skills such as teamwork, problem-solving and the ability to manage one’s own learning. The contributors here offer hope, suggesting that after more than a century of modernist-inspired educational assessment practices inimical to the issues of utility, fairness, flexibility and relevance, we may well be standing at the threshold of significant change.