Week 3 51586

300 words 2 responses
Should academic achievement be the main criterion for assessing student outcomes? Defend your answer.
Pro

1. Academic achievement standards provide an objective means for evaluating student

outcomes.

2. Achievement measures can be used to group students for instructional purposes or as

objective criteria for college admission.

3. Measures of achievement provide feedback to teachers about effectiveness of their

instruction.

4. Academic achievement measures let students know how well they are doing in school

and can serve as a motivator to do good work.

5. The essence of schooling boils down to academic excellence.

 
Con

1. Alternative forms of assessment provide a more comprehensive view of how well

students are performing in school.

2. Teachers become locked into presenting content that they anticipate will be assessed

by tests; subsequently, achievement tests drive the curriculum.

3. Pressures of instructional assessment constrain the teachers’ creativity and lead to

trivialization of learning.

4. Students need different kinds of feedback and should receive praise for quality work in

cognitive as well as in noncognitive domains.

5. Schools should address the cognitive, social, personal, and moral domains of learners.