Written Assessment In Primary Schools

Typically, young children especially those in primary schools simply do not learn what they are taught unless there is reinforcement. Assessment is used by educators so often to link their teaching to students’ learning (William, 2013). However, if it is done without any sort of feedback, it might not be useful at all. Teachers assess with the purpose of acknowledging strengths and weaknesses in a child in order to formally or informally instruct the child making room for improvement (Mikre, 2010). It is also important for it informs individual learning achievements to students themselves, their parents and education institutes. There are two forms of assessment; formative and summative. Formative assessment is done continuously throughout

Benefits

There are quite a number of benefits for children undergoing written assessment that are not offered by other assessment tools when being compared. First and foremost, written assessment appreciate the individuality of a child because any answer written down by the child is off their own thought process. It also encourage the child to express themselves confidently in a safe environment hence promote an increase in self-esteem (Larsen et al, 2012). Listed are more advantages that Catapano (2016) has found with the usage of written assessment:

Students are independent because everyone has different opinions so they must extend their knowledge and exhibit.

Aside from exploring thoughts, written assessment urge students to be expressive of their thoughts.

Promotes critical thinking. In relation to point 2, whether the child gives the right or wrong answer is not important. However, the way the child argues and defend their answer is. Every answer needs justification.

Time-effective as assessor only need to decide and provide questions they want answers to. Other assessment tool in comparison requires preparation on both question and

“If students produce it, they can assess it; and if they can assess it, they can improve it,” (Andrade, 2007). Despite the need of a longer time to assess each individual in order to give feedbacks it does not affect the benefits it offers to a child. As Jaidin and Sithamparam (2013) stated, the twenty first century requires skills in teaching and learning that are student centred. To conclude, writing is essential for students as they grow older because it help students think clearly of their thoughts and construct words to justify their