Assessing Academic Development in Children
Assessment of children’s academic development has always been considered to show whether or not the children have achieved good mastery of content to set a specific standard. The evaluations also aim to provide a way to monitor the learner’s academic progress, leading to the improvement of their performance. As we know, assessment is required to show the practicability of the concepts that learners gain in the classrooms, i.e., when they involve themselves in carrying out the activities which demonstrate what they study in classes. The above expectations are not met due to the societal, economic as well as political backgrounds from which the learners come. For instance, it’s not easy for a learner from a lower social class to show practically the skills learned due to lack of resources, on the other hand, that learner from a well able social class will have the opportunity to put into practice the skill he or she has acquired from the classroom.
Due to the difference in societal plus political beliefs, it has not been comfortable setting a specific standard by assessing assessment. For example, learners coming from different societies with different cultural practices can not be subjected to the same assessment programs. It has not been possible for the schools to provide the same set up because of the difference in political, societal, and political backgrounds. With all these controversies, the first question that should ring in our minds is whether the assessment program aims to bring out a reliable measure of the learner’s academic progress. The answer to this question is NO, as elaborated in the above discussion.