Performance assessment is a complex psycho-pedagogical process for determining the value of some processes, behaviors, performances, by reporting them to a set of predefined criteria, of „standard” value. Depending on applicability, at the educational-educational level, the evaluation is conceived in the form of the following hypotheses: evaluation of pupils ‘school performance, assessment of teachers’ teaching activity, evaluation of educational programs, evaluation of educational institutions and assessment of the education system.
Of the three components of the spiral of education, teaching-learning-evaluation, the latter is considered a „sensitive subject in any education system” because the effects of evaluative actions are felt not only within the educational system but also outside it, respectively on a cultural, social and political level.
On the other hand, there is a reciprocal intercondition relationship between learning-learning-evaluation, each of which is done in relation to the other. It is not right to evaluate what has not been taught, learned, but it does not make sense to teach, learn, or not.
By trying to define the evaluation in its broad sense, it can be said that evaluation is an activity that takes into account all those processes and products that reflect both the nature and the level of achievements achieved by pupils in learning; highlights the degree of consistency of learning outcomes with the proposed educational objectives; provides the information needed to make the best educational decisions.
The evaluation proves the necessity of at least three perspectives: the didactic teacher responsible for training pupils, pupils and society as beneficiaries of the „products” of the education system.
From the teacher’s point of view, evaluation is a necessity, because through it the didactic teacher obtains information on the quality of his / her teaching performance and has the possibility to adopt measures that will improve the educational style he / she promotes.
From the pupil’s perspective, the evaluation exerts a considerable impact in several plans. Thus, she guides and guides his / her learning activity by helping him to form a learning style; offers the possibility of knowing the degree of fulfillment of the school tasks contributing to the formation of the most accurate self-image; determines positive effects in the plan of thorough knowledge of knowledge, skills and abilities by repeating, systematizing it; produces effects on the student’s relationship with the other members of the school group to which he belongs; influences the psychological development of students in multiple aspects of their personality.
Assessment should be conceived not only as a control of knowledge or as an objective measure, but as a way of improvement, which implies a global strategy of training. The evaluation operation is not an overdated or overlapped stage of the learning process but is an integrated act for pedagogical activity. The evaluation is an opportunity to validate the educational sequences, the components of the didactic process, and a means of fixing, delimiting and intervening on the educational content and objectives.
ALAIN KERLAND considers that the evaluation is based on the following key questions:
-What is the evaluation done for (what are its functions)?
-In relation to what (what is the reference system, what are the evaluation criteria)?
-Who (who are the recipients of the evaluation)?
-What is being evaluated (conduct, results, processes, evolutions)?
-Using which tools and procedures are the evaluation made?
Responding to these questions, the teacher performs a design activity like teaching-learning. In order to achieve an effective design of the evaluation, it is advisable to consider several emphasis mutations, with the consequence of resizing and rethinking the evaluation strategies, according to new requirements:
- Expanding the evaluation action, from the verification and evaluation of the results – the traditional objective – to the evaluation of the process, the strategy that led to certain results; assessment of not only pupils but also of content, methods, objectives, learning situation, evaluation;
- Taking into account other indicators, other than cognitive acquisitions, such as conduct, student personality, attitudes, degree of incorporation of values;
- Diversification of evaluation techniques and increasing their adequacy in concrete didactic situations (extending the use of the doimological test, of the works with a synthesis character);
- The necessity of strengthening and sanctioning as efficiently as possible the results of the evaluation; shortening the feedback, the road from diagnosis to improvement, including by integrating efforts and exploiting-Centering the evaluation of the positive results and permanently non-negating the negative ones;
- Transforming the student into an authentic partner of the teacher in the evaluation by self-evaluation, interreligious evaluation and continuous evaluation.
From the above mentioned, it can easily be concluded that evaluation plays an informative, but rather formative, role in the educational process, that training and education without evaluation, without self-evaluation can not be achieved. The new evaluation methods (referral, investigation, project, portfolio, systematic observation of student behavior and activity, self-evaluation) aim to diversify the control of the school activity with the purpose of forming some competencies and operational capacities in several fields. The evaluation should stimulate pupils to improve their results, highlight progress and not their inability to meet certain school requirements. The finality of the assessment must provide a mirror of the student’s level of education during a schooling period.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1. Constantin Cucoş – Pedagogy, Polirom publishing house, 2006.
2. Cristian Stan – Theory of didactic evaluation, course, 2003-2004.
3. Gheorghe Tomşa – Pre-school and School Psychopedagogy, Bucharest, 2005.