As I am sure you will know, all High School students are approaching an examination period, and this is an important time. However, it’s important to understand that the purpose of exams has somewhat changed from when I, at least, was at school, to view them in the most helpful way and to help our children do the same.
Examinations are ways of assessing students, so let me introduce you to a little educational assessment terminology. Educators talk of summative assessment when we mean an assessment of where a student is at any point in time with the purpose of reporting or showing some final level. Examples might be the grades on IGSCE or DP certificates. We talk of formative assessment, however, when we mean an assessment that is less concerned with absolute level and more concerned with helping students improve and progress to the next level, from wherever they are at the moment. Examples might be the comments from teachers at the end of a homework piece, or a teacher asking all students to answer a particularly revealing question on individual whiteboards and to hold up the answers so that
their understanding (or lack of) becomes clear.
Now both types of assessment provide data, but the difference here, clearly, is that summative data marks the end of something, whereas formative data is used to inform a future conversation about learning and progress. The former is a static snapshot, whereas the latter is aimed at growth and development. Now over recent years there has been a great deal of research and writing about the two types, and there is clear evidence that when used properly, formative assessment data can be a very powerful way of supporting student attainment. Summative, by contrast and by defintion, cannot. We are very mindful of that research.
The issue, then, is that it is very easy to see these exams as summative ‘end of year exams’, with the emphasis very much on the end. So then the exams become a final judgement on the year, and simply a means to a grade that sums up ‘how student X did’ or even worse ‘how good student X is in subject Y’. In that sense, the exams are permanent, and judgemental. And if that’s students see exams, no wonder they are stressful.
But this is a limited way to see any exams, and not a very helpful approach. Internal school exams are assuredly, definitively and emphatically formative. We set the exams to provide us with one more piece of evidence about a student’s capabilities so that we can better help that student move to the next level (in some subjects we do not set exams at all, as an exam is an not appropriate assessment instrument for that subject). So the most most important thing about an exam is the chance for the students to explicitly identify where they did well, to build on that strength, and where they went wrong, to learn how they can do better another time. We do not set exams without proper corrections/discussions afterwards, and so the exam is just another stepping point on the journey – absolutely not an end in itself; and with the long vacation still several weeks away, certainly not the end of the year either! External IGCSE exams are a little different, and do have a clear summative element, undeniably. However, taken in the round, from the perspective of a child’s whole schooling, they are still formative in the sense of learning where strengths and weaknesses lie, which subjects are most enjoyable and worth pursuing in the future, and most importantly, how students can make medium- and long-term plans for themselves. In this sense, at least, external exams provide opportunities for learning, progress and improvement. So again, they are not ends in themselves, but stepping stones. And let me unambiguously state for the record – transition from grade 10 to grade 11 is in no way whatsoever linked to IGCSE performance.
I write at some length about all this as I know that examination periods can be stressful for students and families. As I have argues elsewhere, stress can enhance performance, and so in reasonable measures is not necessarily a bad thing. That said, I hope here I have given another reason not to be too stressed about exams – because as formative pieces, they are simply another way, albeit a rather public one, of helping students get to the next level. That is, they are simply part of the regular educational process, and as such, nothing to be afraid of. Not an easy message for students to absorb, for sure, but we can help them by giving them the same message at school and at home.
