Assessing children helps to determine how a child is progressing in certain areas. Also, assessments can diagnose if a child have any learning and developmental problems. Teachers need to know how to serve each child needs. Assessing children will help teachers to recognize how and what to plan, and how to adjust the curriculum to meet the needs of all children.
In Northern Europe the school systems use the same curriculum for all children. The children living in Northern Europe do not start school until the age of 7. Finland uses very little standardized testing to assess students. Teachers assess students in Finland by using an open-ended assessment at the end of second and ninth grades. The feedback to the students from the assessment is in narrative form, explaining descriptions of their learning progress and area of growth. The open-ended assessment evaluates a child's problem-solving skills, analysis, and writing skills.
I would like to share with the readers of my blog, to always remember that all children are not "good" test-takers when using test to assess children. As educators, we need to be created prior to assessing children using test, maybe we can have a test taking workshop for the students and parents or share some test taking tips with the students prior to testing them.
P. Sahlberg, 2009, Educational Change in Finland, in A. Hargreaves, M. Fullan, A. Lieberman, and D. Hopkins (Eds.), International Handbook of Educational Change
