LESSON 10 PRACTICE

ASSESSMENT SYSTEM OF SCHOOLS

In the 10 practice we had to make a diagram of an assessment system for a school. In this last practice I learned that evaluation in schools is quite delicate due to their subjectivity, which can lead to conflict. To avoid them, evaluation models and tools to carry them out are proposed.

The educative evaluation is an activity integrated in the educational process that aims to contribute to the improvement of the quality of the service provided by the centre. In addition, it increases transparency and improves school life.

1.-What type of assessment methodology are you going to use?

We have decided that the best way to assess our students is giving them the opportunity to show what they have learnt during the educational process, so we’ve selected the formative assessment. This way, we will give more importance to the process of learning instead of the results. Moreover, a formative methodology, will give us the necessary information to guide and lead the educational process. Considering this fact, it is an important issue to get the contents and abilities that our students are learning and internalizing constantly checked. The main functions of this type of assessment is to diagnose which problems our students are having to acquire the knowledge and try to solve them, as well as having the opportunity to orientate our students if they have to solve any problematic situations.

2. - What areas will be assessed and why?

We will be assessing the educational system, so that we can assess the level of quality, fairness, transparency, compliance with agreements during the school year. The objects of evaluation will be the students, teachers, educational processes, management function and educational administration.

We have also decided to assess the centres school organisation to assess the various aspects such as  psycho didactic (timetables, spaces, groupings...), structural (management and management team, leadership... ), institutional (relationships with the environment and the community), and relational (climate, participation, meetings...). It is evaluated through the collaborative analysis and reflection of the center's projects, and through quality management models

Moreover, we are going to assess the teaching and learning process to assess the function of guiding and controlling the quality of educational actions. It values both the students and the teaching processes carried out by the teacher.

Furthermore, we are going to assess the teaching practice to know the evaluation that serves to adjust the teaching actions in the E-A process based on the results that students obtain.

Finally, we will be assessing the elements of the teaching process such as the PCC, PEC, classroom programming, curricular materials, educational activities, extracurricular activities, educational services (dining room, transport...) to understand if the process that teachers follow is being exceeded properly.

3.- What system of indicators will be used?

We have decided to use both types of indicators which are the perception indicators,  to measure the degree of satisfaction of students and teachers. By this way, we will give them some tests and surveys every month to know if they agree with the methodology that it has been used and know how to improve the areas that have not worked, giving importance to the issues that they have faced. Moreover, we will try to know more specifically which obstacles have prevented them to do their work as teachers or in the case of students, which has been the main reason why they didn’t like the methodology implemented. We would also like to know what students and teachers have liked to try to improve also the best part.

On the other hand, we will use the performance indicators to see the results obtained after the implementation of an improvement. Furthermore, we’ll see if after reading and using the information provided by the perception indicators, we have raised the knowledge and quality of education in our school.

Finally, we want to say that we wanted to use both as we think it is necessary to see what the outcome has been after being improved or needing to be improved and how people reacted to the process.

4. - What legislative regulations will be applied?

Over the last twenty years we have had different laws that refer to assessment. In  LOGSE (1990), assessment is understood as a continuous and formative process that addresses quantitative and qualitative aspects, as one of the principles of educational activity and as a factor of quality. However, we will use the current law on education LOMCE (2013) where assessment is a fundamental element for improving education and a way to improve the transparency of the education system. This will be easily implemented following the results that we get from the surveys of perception and performance. We will also take into account the different articles that talk about innovation giving enough importance to the implementation of plans that involve educational innovation (Article 105) and following the performance indicators, we will pay attention to the conditions in which teachers develop their work and need to be improved (Article 104).

5. - How could the system be applied in the school where you have been?

We have decided to use as an example the public school that Holly used to attend which used to be called C.E.I.P. Paternina but is now called C.E.I.P. Mediterrani.

In her school they used de summative method to analyse the end result. She thinks that if they changed it to a formative one they would have a better visual as to the development and be able to see the progress of problems to be able to fix them early on in the process. She believes that if they see the results at the end that it could be too late to solve a problem if they had seen it earlier on by using the formative method.

The main functions of this type of assessment is to diagnose which problems our students are having to acquire the knowledge and try to solve them, as well as having the opportunity to orientate our students if they have to solve any problematic situations. If we sort these problems out earlier than school would run a lot smoother, where as if we wait until the end, we are giving a whole year for this problem to carry one. Something which should be unacceptable.

Finally, here is the diagram: