“Hope, Efficacy and Achievement”

Erkens et al (2017) details how assessment is an evolving process. The goal is to reach a level of equilibrium where assessment isn’t just about measuring but is also about supporting learning (p. 16).

It all begins with an idea. One of hope. Hope is one of the strongest human desires which helps to propel us through learning and as a result growth. Erkens et al (2017) states that “quality classroom assessment practices can redyce acheivement gaps, dramatically improve student achievement, consistently increase graduation rates, and successfully prepare learners to be career or college ready (p. 17). I want to expand on that and say it doesn’t only prepare learners for a career or college/university, it prepares learners for participating in a global society.

Education accompanied by quality assessment also according to Erkens, provides students with hope. Erkens et al quotes Valerie Calderon (2015) as stating that hope and engagement are considered “important measures of school effectiveness” by 4 out of 5 adults compared with one in ten that believe standardised tests are effective measurements (p. 17).

So what does this all mean? Now that I have thrown all this information your way. How does this equate to efficacy and achievement? Well, for achievement to be relevant, students must feel like no matter what they are facing, hope is possible. Erkens et al states “efficacy requires both belief [that students have the capacity] and action [that students are willing to take the risks necessary—to try again and again because they see an option to grow their knowledge]” (p. 18). And to accomplish this effective feedback is paramount. Learning a skill, any skill, is dependent on how the instructions are relayed.

A teacher has to acknowledge a student’s level of understanding through formative and summative assessment. However, the assessments whilst they must be challenging, cannot ignore the knowledge level of the students. Formative assessment is the time where the teacher is the guide. Summative assessment is when students take the driver’s seat. As a professor once explained (Thanks Dr. Marian Fushell): Formative assessment in figure skating is the coach giving feedback, correcting errors, being available to work through difficult lifts or landings. Summative is the competition where the figure skater gets to apply all that knowledge they gained with the guidance of the coach.

Achievement comes through the most optimal learning atmosphere as provided by the teacher. All this is to say that, hope, efficacy and achievement begin to develop from the first spark the teacher creates for students on the first day of their initial meeting. When emotions are high, students are eager and the teacher is fresh and motivated to carry students with her on a journey of learning meant to take them through school and beyond.