Assessments can have positive and negative effects,
something known as the washback effect. The intended effects of assessment,
such as pupils studying more, or high-quality feedback for learning, are known
as positive washback. The unintended negative effects from assessment – such as
unmanageable workload, teaching to the test, decreased time for other
activities – are the negative washback effects.
In many ways, effective assessment is learning how to
maximise positive washback and minimise negative washback. The main way in
which we approach this is to create strong and explicit links between
curriculum, pedagogy and assessment.
Ultimately, pupils should be able to “experience success and
failure not as reward and punishment but as information” (On Knowing: Essays forthe Left Hand by J S Bruner 1979); it is information derived from
well-designed, purposeful, planned assessments which bridges the gap between
teaching and learning.
Better information can inform better decisions, and better
decisions can lead to better learning. And if that’s not the most valuable
outcome, what is?
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