Link to my Mini-Unit

Online Learning - Diversity

History of Assessment

It was helpful for me to put a discussion of assessment in historical context.  First, I chose was I believe were some seminal moments in the history of assessment in the 20^th and 21^st Centuries.  I began with Binet’s IQ test and ended with Cathy Davidson’s 2009 blog post, “How to Crowdsource Grading”.  I was particularly interested in mapping some of the major touchpoints in assessment mentioned by Professor Davidson against technological development. I placed the Machine Age in the earlier part of the timeline (peaking around 1945) and the Computer Age in the later part of the timeline (beginning in the late 1960s and moving beyond the end of the timeline).

I selected a number of points that were personally significant for me in my own experience of assessment, including the SAT (which I took as a high school junior) and the Iowa Test, which my elementary school administered throughout my years as a student there. 

I added the GRE as a typical graduate school entrance exam (I have taken the Massachusetts Test for Educator Licensure, a similar graduate-level test).  I also included the PARCC and Smarter Balance tests as the “next-generation” in K-12 assessment.

Lastly, I looked at some of the learning theories we have examined over the course of our semester, particularly behaviorism, which I think ties in closely with the ways most students are prepared to take standardized tests. Both of my children experienced the Massachusetts high-stakes tests in their elementary school.  One teacher even gave out Smarties candies to students taking the test, which certainly sounds like the application of behaviorism to me.  I also added the publication of Carl Roger’s book, Freedom to Learn, which was an early influence on experiential learning, as well as Howard Gardner’s book, Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences.  These two learning theories have had a tremendous impact on the tension between “the way we have always done thing” and “the way we could do things”. 

Creating this timeline was a wonderful exercise for me (thank you, Jane, for suggesting it).  It allowed me to frame my understanding in a linear way, but not in a linear process. It is also often helpful for me to put things in an historical context, which enhances my own understanding.  Unfortunately, I had to stop myself from going overboard.  I could have made a much more detailed timeline that I think would more accurately reflect the diversity of thought around educational assessment (I had to leave out Pearson entirely – it was just too complex to bring in).