The 32-page report, “Assessment in schools: Fit for purpose? A commentary by the Teaching and Learning Research Programme,” recently published in England, is accessible on-line at http://www.tlrp.org/pub/documents/assessment.pdf.
The report, authored by members of the Assessment Reform Group, is a strong challenge to the over-use and mis-use of large-scale standardized tests. The report outlines three widely-held ‘misunderstandings’ about assessment:
* That test scores can be completely accurate (with claims that 30% of English students were placed on wrong levels in the Year 2000 national curriculum tests)
* That short tests can validly capture multi-faceted areas such as writing