Assessment and Evaluation trends and issues in twenty century

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RECENT TRENDS AND ISSUES IN ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION
We use the terms like measurement, assessment and evaluation interchangeably.
Although, these terms are closely related, yet, communicate different meanings.
ASSESSMENT
It refers to act to the act of judging the progress of an ongoing activity and answers the
question 'how well?' However, in this process also numerals are assigned to activity being
assessed so as to represent the level of progress at particular point of time. It may be seen here
that there is very thin line of demarcation between the meanings of measurement and assessment
(Gaikwad, 2012).
EVALUATION
“Evaluation may be defined as a systematic process of placing value judgment on
available information are data with reference to pre-determined standard or criterion for the
purpose of making significant decisions about individuals”( Gaikwad,2012).
TRENDS IN ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION
To cover all the new trends on Assessment & Evaluation. Educational Assessment &
Evaluation is essential to improve quality of learning, programmers and the education system
from a global perspective (Saiz, Olmas &Ibanez, 2017).These trends in assessment and
evaluation are as follows:

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Put Students At The Centre
The fundamental purpose of evaluation and assessment is to improve student learning,
students should be placed at the centre. They should be fully engaged with their learning and
empowered to assess their own progress (which is also a key skill for lifelong learning). It is
important, too, to monitor broader learning outcomes, including the development of critical
thinking, social competencies, engagement with learning and overall well-being. These are not
amenable to easy measurement, which is also true of the wide range of factors that shape student
learning outcomes. Thus, performance measures should be broad, not narrow, drawing on both
quantitative and qualitative data as well as high-quality analysis.
Build Capacity At All Levels
Creating an effective evaluation and assessment framework requires capacity
development at all levels of the education system. For example, teachers may need training in the
use of formative assessment, school officials may need to upgrade their skills in managing data,
and principals – who often focus mainly on administrative tasks – may need to reinforce their
pedagogical leadership skills. In addition, a centralized effort may be needed to develop a
knowledge base, tools and guidelines to assist evaluation and assessment activities.
Manage Local Needs
Evaluation and assessment frameworks need to find the right balance between
consistently implementing central education goals and adapting to the particular needs of
regions, districts and schools. This can involve setting down national parameters, but allowing
flexible approaches within these to meet local needs.

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Expansion Of Educational Evaluation In School Systems
It is apparent that education policy is increasingly conferring a central strategic role to
evaluation and assessment as indispensable tools for improvement, accountability, educational
planning and policy development. In the last two decades, most countries have introduced a wide
range of measures intended to improve evaluation and assessment at all levels from the student
to the school system itself. These have done much to stimulate public awareness of evaluation
and assessment and to develop an evaluation culture within school systems.
Greater Variety Of Assessment And Evaluation Activities
The expansion of educational evaluation was accompanied by considerable
diversification of evaluation and assessment activities. Although educational evaluation within
school systems is not a recent concern, it has traditionally focused mostly on the assessment of
students. In recent years, countries are increasingly developing more comprehensive evaluation
and assessment frameworks with more resources devoted to evaluation components other than
student assessment (OECD,2013).
Assessment And E-Learning: Future Trends
Different ways in which digital technology can be used for language learning. It then
identifies some key trends connecting assessment and technology in language learning and
higher education: the use of automated systems to enhance traditional assessment practices; the
use of Web 2.0 tools to facilitate new assessment practices; and, the increase in new skills and
content areas in language learning which are a consequence of the rise in the use of technology.
These are especially important in the creation of collaborative digital projects. In linking
technology and assessment it appears that there are, at least, two main challenges facing

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language teachers. The first is that teachers need to learn ‘technology fluency’ (Godwin-Jones,
2015, p.11) in order to use digital tools for assessment in general; and the second challenge is
that the use of technology in language learning is leading to a number of new skills and
knowledge areas, such as digital collaboration, that need to be assessed.
In order to shed light on these three areas challenges:
1. The use of technology for language learning.
2. The use of technology for traditional language assessment and for new forms of assessment.
3. New skills and knowledge resulting from the use of technology in higher education.
The increasing number of digital tools available for assessment; changes in pedagogical
approaches to make use of these tools; and, pressure on teachers to adapt and change their role in
response to the spread of technology. We finish with an advisory note that language teachers
need to be wary and critical in adapting technology into their teaching practice (Cowie &
Sakui,2015).
Greater Technological Sophistication
The expansion of assessment, particularly the spreading out of standardized student
assessment, as well as the management of the data it generates has greatly benefited from greater
capacity of information and communication technologies. Improvements include more
individualized assessment approaches, better assessment of cognitive skills such as problem
solving, capacity for rapidly marking large-scale assessments, reliability in marking and reduced
cost to administer student assessment (OECD,2013).

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Internationalization Of Assessment
The growing availability of internationally comparable data on student performance has,
in important ways, influenced national discussions about education and fostered education policy
reforms in countries. International comparative data put countries under pressure to attain higher
levels of performance building on policies identified as potentially effective in high-performing
countries. A wide range of education reforms are triggered in OECD countries by student results
in international assessments (OECD,2013).
Holistic Measurement
Many aspects of “big picture” student performance aren’t easily captured by traditional
testing, like high-order thinking, interpersonal development, problem-solving abilities and deep
learning. To address this, we’re already starting to change the way we ask questions, pose
problems, assign projects and evaluate the outcomes to allow students the freedom to find a
solution in different ways. Open-ended demonstration or project-based learning are just two
examples of that, where students can take ownership of their work and show their learning in
ways that interest them.
Shifts In Scoring
Some micro-schools, particularly in New York and Silicon Valley, are experimenting
with alternatives to number or letter grades. As they shift student work towards demonstration
and project-based learning, they’re also replacing traditional methods of evaluation with rubrics
that define a set number of criteria all focused on quality. Some are also focusing on feedback
over grades so students understand how they can make their work better (Chalk, 2019).

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ISSUES INASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION
There are several challenges to sound learning assessment and program evaluation.
Issues In The Use Of Technology For The Assessment
In the domains of digital technology, education, and second and foreign language learning
identifies three current issues in the use of technology for the assessment of language learning: 1)
there are many software tools that teachers can use to enhance traditional forms of assessment
and ones that widen the possibilities of collecting evidence to show learning; 2) the spread of
digital technology has resulted in new knowledge areas and skills that teachers need 280 The jalt
call Journal 2015: Forum to be aware of and will need to learn how to assess. Digital technology
seems especially suited to pedagogies which focus on collaborative projects and teachers need to
be aware of concomitant issues of digital literacy such as privacy and plagiarism; and, 3)
language teacher roles are changing and there may be great pressure for teachers to become more
technologically fluent in the future but it is vital for them to carefully examine claims made for
technology, learning and assessment (Cowie & Sakui,2015).
Assessment Of Learning And Its Policy
The assessment of learning and its policy consequences constitute a clear case in point.
The key issue here is not that assessments are “expensive” or not. Rather, the issue is what a
ministry (or funding agency) will receive in return for its investments (Wagner,Babson &
Murphy,2011).

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Reliable, Valid And Appropriate Learning Assessment Methods And Tools
Constructive alignment of learning assessment methods with course learning objectives
presupposes that clear and relevant learning objectives have been specified for each course. This
is not always the case in engineering programs. Moreover, appropriate learning assessment
methods may not exist for some specific learning objectives. Instructors are beginning to create
and adapt appropriate learning assessment methods that align with their course learning
objectives. One of the major goals of the CDIO Initiative is to support instructors and programs
in the creation and implementation of new learning assessment methods(CDIO).

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REFRENCES
CDIO. Assessment: Challenges. Retrieved from: http://www.cdio.org/implementing-cdio-your-
institution/implementation-kit/assessment/challenges
Chalk (2019). 5 Trends to Watch for in the Future of Assessment. Retrieved from:
https://www.chalk.com/resources/five-trends-to-watch-for-in-the-future-of-assessments/
Cowie, N., & Sakui, K. (2015). Assessment and e-learning: Current issues and future
trends. JALT CALL Journal, 11(3), 271-281.Retrieved from:
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1107954
Gaikwad,D.D.,(2012).A New Trend In Educational Evaluation : Review Of Research.2(1)
Retrievedfrom:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.300.6229&rep=
rep1&type=pdf
OECD (2013). “Trends in evaluation and assessment”, in Synergies for Better Learning: An
International Perspective on Evaluation and Assessment, OECD Publishing, Paris. DOI:
10.1787/9789264190658-5
Saiz,S.M.,Olmas,S.,&Ibanez,C.J.(2017).Trends and challenges of educational assessment and
evaluation in the digital society. Proceedings of the 5th International Conference
Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality TEEM 2017. (Article No. 17).
New York, NY: Association for Computing Machinery-ACM. doi:
10.1145/3144826.3145364
Wagner, D. A., Babson, A., & Murphy, K. M. (2011). How much is learning measurement
worth? Assessment costs in low-income countries.Current Issues in Comparative

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Education (CICE), 14(1), 3.Retrieved from:
https://repository.upenn.edu/literacyorg_articles/2