Assessment from an
Educator’s Perspective

Over the years the CEA has dealt with various educators whose views on assessment have been generalized below. These profiles are brief but as accurate as experience allows. There will be exceptions to these profiles.

The Oversight Agency: There has been and continues to be public pressure for accredited education institutions that acquire, implement, and use quantitative techniques to improve education methods. Unfortunately the oversight agencies have had a great deal of difficulty encouraging even the simplest of assessment practices. It is difficult for accrediting bodies to enforce an element of education improvement that they do not understand well.

The Administrator: Education administrators find themselves in a defensive position. The last thing many administrators want is data that shows there is room for improvement. Why investigate how well students are learning when it may show that a poor process is in place? This could be viewed as a bad reflection upon them and their institution.

The Dean (or Principal): The Dean has many pressing demands on their time. Most of them view assessment as a requirement for accreditation. Once the accreditation hurdle has been cleared assessment is placed on the back burner, if it is addressed at all.

The Assessment Coordinator: If a vendor has had success with other educators they will become the basis for assessment credibility. Assessment authority is off-loaded to these vendors without the recognition that the institution retains responsibility for education assessment.

The Teacher: The teacher is stuck with implementing decisions made at administrative levels. These decisions are often grounded in political realities as opposed to being the result of thoughtful decisions based upon the assessment of facts over time.