Influences of High-stakes Testing
26
2.
Learning is knowledge-dependent
. It is not merely an act of receiving, but one of interpreting information through earlier learning. the role of prior
knowledge and experience is given special attention, for what a student learns on a given occasion is dependent on what has been already learned. It
is much easier for individuals to learn more areas of their expertise than it is for them to learn about other topics outside their experiences.
3.
Learning is situated in a context
Biggs, 1992, 1993, 1995; Resnick, 1989; Resnick Resnick, 1992. Knowledge is not independent of the context in
which it develops. Learning not only occurs in a context but also is social. Learning cannot be separated from the context in which it occurs Gergen,
1995. Cheng, 2005, p. 36-37
The perspective above proposes that effective instruction must connect with
how students think. Cheng 2005 says that the direct instruction from behaviorism does not match with how students learn. Cognitive-constructivist teaching and
learning view is likely to be more holistic, integrated, long-term, discovery-based, and social. Hence, Cheng further states that cognitive-constructivism see
performance assessment or testing as parallel to the above belief of how students learn and how they should be taught. Gipps 1994 states that teachers will use
previously acquired knowledge to measure learne rs’ ability in solving novel
problems or completing specifics tasks. In performance assessment, a qualified judge uses real life or simulated assessment exercises to elicit original responses
that are directly observed and rated. Furthermore, Cheng 2005 states that the proponents of performance
assessment believe that what is assess is what is taught. In the same sense of this belief, Resnick and Resnick 1992, p. 59 states that 1 you get what you assess,
2 you do not get what you do not assess, and 3 you should build assessments towards how you wants educators to teach. Cheng 2005 says that high-stakes
27 testing can drive reform if it follows better psychology and pedagogy and employ
more appropriate measurement forms –the performance assessments.
In addition, one important assumption related to high-stakes testing or public examination, as mentioned before, is that the deleterious impacts
associated with performance-based assessments closely linked to curriculum framework. The argument is instruction directed towards preparation for a
performance-based assessment promotes better instructional practice Cheng, 2005. She argues that better test will produce better results. Performance-based
assessment can be designed to be closely linked to the goals of instruction as to be almost indistinguishable from them. In spite of being a negative consequence, as it
is now with some high-stakes uses of existing standardized tets, teching to these proposed performance assessment, accepted by schoalars as inevitable and teachers
as necessary, become a virtue, according to this line of thinking Noble Smith, 1994b.
Cheng 2004 concludes that measurement can drive instruction in positive a positive way. However, it will happen in a condition if measurement is properly
conceptualized, or in the above namely performance-based assessment.