Classroom Assessment Of Opportunity To Learn Science Through Inquiry

Assessment has a profound impact on the learning that occurs in classrooms and standardized student achievement testing has considerable impact on what goes on in schools (Stake and Theo bold, 1991). Wilson & Corbett (1991) report that increasing the consequences of assessments at the state level results in refocusing educational efforts away from improving curriculum and instruction to improving test scores by emphasizing basic content and skills. According to Ferrara, Willihoft, Seburn, Slaughter and Stevenson (1991), another effect of state assessment systems is the development of local assessment systems that are parallel to that of the state. They describe several benefits and drawbacks to these local assessment systems that use the state assessment frameworks as organizing principles. Benefits include teachers’ and administrators’ perceived belief in assistance with targeting instruction for particular students and groups, in improving classroom assessment practices and in decreasing anxiety about the targets of the tests. However, these benefits come at some cost including a decreased focus on learning objectives outside those of basic skills, loss of instructional time to administration of more assessments, and inappropriate classroom teaching and testing practices. The effect of assessment as testing on the practices of classroom teachers is difficult to measure though O’Sullivan (1991) provides evidence that teachers identify increasingly negative effects as the stakes of the testing increase.