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Lessons from a disciplined response to COVID 19 disruption to education: Beginning the journey from reliability to resilience
Citation
Tan, K. H. K. (2022). Lessons from a disciplined response to COVID 19 disruption to education: Beginning the journey from reliability to resilience. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969594x.2022.2162480
Abstract
Assessment systems reward certainty and thrive on predictability. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has punished our assessment systems severely for over reliance on controlled premises for our high stakes assessment, and this should compel us to re-examine the reliance on certainty and control in our assessment policies and reforms. Singapore is a useful context to examine such re-examination of assessment imperatives on a national scale. The city-state typically orchestrates its major policy reform with great discipline, standardisation, and detailed co-ordination. However, such qualities may not be ideal for its assessment reform needs in the post-pandemic future. Three recent assessment reforms are examined as examples of pre-pandemic assessment policies predicated on certainty. This paper discusses whether such reforms are fit for post-pandemic purpose(s), and argues for shifting the emphasis of assessment from securing examination reliability to developing learners’ assessment resilience.
Date Issued
2022
Journal
Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice
DOI
10.1080/0969594x.2022.2162480