TY - JOUR
T1 - Testing, drilling and learning
T2 - what purpose does the Grade 3 Territory-wide System Assessment serve?
AU - Lam, Ricky
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding was provided by the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Grant No. HKBU 22400414).
Publisher copyright:
Copyright © 2018, Education Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
PY - 2018/9
Y1 - 2018/9
N2 - In Hong Kong, pupils at Grades 3, 6 and 9 are required to take the Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA). TSA is a low-stakes standardized assessment, tracking pupils’ attainment of the basic competence levels in English, Chinese and Mathematics. By design, TSA does not constitute part of individual pupils’ school results, but generates assessment information which monitors teaching and learning in school as a quality assurance mechanism. Despite its low-stakes nature, key stakeholders remain skeptical about its rationale, purpose and usefulness, especially when it comes to ranking school performance. Because of this, this paper examines the extent to which the Grade 3 TSA could serve its purpose to enhance teaching and learning and promote constructive alignment of assessment and learning. The paper begins with an overview of the international assessment arena, followed by a discussion on the Hong Kong assessment reform landscape. Then, the paper reviews three issues in TSA, namely pedagogical, societal and political concerns. Next, it addresses whether TSA has become a high-stakes test; whether it brings about drilling; and whether it facilitates positive learning. Lastly, three sustained recommendations as to how the Grade 3 TSA could concurrently serve its evaluative, pedagogical and learning purposes are provided.
AB - In Hong Kong, pupils at Grades 3, 6 and 9 are required to take the Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA). TSA is a low-stakes standardized assessment, tracking pupils’ attainment of the basic competence levels in English, Chinese and Mathematics. By design, TSA does not constitute part of individual pupils’ school results, but generates assessment information which monitors teaching and learning in school as a quality assurance mechanism. Despite its low-stakes nature, key stakeholders remain skeptical about its rationale, purpose and usefulness, especially when it comes to ranking school performance. Because of this, this paper examines the extent to which the Grade 3 TSA could serve its purpose to enhance teaching and learning and promote constructive alignment of assessment and learning. The paper begins with an overview of the international assessment arena, followed by a discussion on the Hong Kong assessment reform landscape. Then, the paper reviews three issues in TSA, namely pedagogical, societal and political concerns. Next, it addresses whether TSA has become a high-stakes test; whether it brings about drilling; and whether it facilitates positive learning. Lastly, three sustained recommendations as to how the Grade 3 TSA could concurrently serve its evaluative, pedagogical and learning purposes are provided.
KW - Assessment for learning
KW - Assessment of learning
KW - Assessment purposes
KW - Standardized testing
KW - Territory-wide System Assessment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85045150157&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s12564-018-9523-z
DO - 10.1007/s12564-018-9523-z
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85045150157
SN - 1598-1037
VL - 19
SP - 363
EP - 374
JO - Asia Pacific Education Review
JF - Asia Pacific Education Review
IS - 3
ER -