Curriculum evaluation practices and roles in educational assessment

Curriculum Evaluation

Ornstein & Hunkins (2003) define two states for curriculum assessment, formative and summative. Summative assessments provide information on the outcome and its effectiveness in meeting curriculum goals. A summative evaluation is usually quantitative and uses grades, scores, scales and other numeric ratings. A summative assessment has the fully operational curriculum as its main focus. In contrast, a formative assessment focuses on the improvement of a curriculum as it is being developed. Emphasis is placed on determining how the curriculum and its component parts may be improved during the development process

Traditional curriculum assessments have relied primarily on summative information which is of concern to some educators. Although "quality summative information can... shape how teachers organize their course, shape how teachers organize their courses or what schools offer their students" (NCFOT, 1999, cited by Swearingen, 2002), there is evidence that summative assessments, such as standardized exams, can adversely affect students (Phi Delta Kappan, October 1998, cited by Swearingen, 2002). Still, others assert that, "the exclusionary use of standardized testing and resultant student achievement provides insufficient project effectiveness information to stakeholders" (Thiel & Feeny)

Still few suggest abandoning traditional summative assessments. Many believe that, "Significant tensions are created when the same assessments are required to serve multiple functions, and few believe that a single system can function adequately to serve both functions" (Shavelson, Dylan, & Coffey).

Given that summative assessments are focused on outcomes and that formative assessments are focused on processes, this statement seems to accurately reflect the need for both types of tools. Instead of replacing one with the other, the more beneficial effort would be improving links between the two stages.

Teachers are currently assigned to various roles for curriculum assessment. Some are devoted to defining the vision of curriculum and curriculum assessment. Others work on instruction in general and how to link it to desired standards and measurements. Still other teachers focus on developing classroom assessment measures and how they should be monitored. and, some teachers focus mainly on staff development issues related to changes in curriculum, measures and/or desired outcomes.

Of these various roles, I am most interested in how to change instruction so that it can meet desired standards and measurements. Ultimately, I believe that this is what makes the real difference in being able to achieve outcomes, particularly with the growing need for differentiated teaching strategies to achieve the same results for students with unique learning needs.