The following is based on a discussion with Dick Streedain, Principal of Hubbard Woods Elementary School in Winnetka, Illinois, before his retirement. We really have become assessment-driven in that sense, in part because of our misunderstanding of what learning is and of how the human mind develops. Right now we're developing alternative strategies like portfolios of children's work over a period of time. Portfolio assessment gives us a richer sense of what a child has interacted with instructionally and ways he or she has grown in skills and knowledge. But assessment strategies such as portfolios are really just a very small part of the direction we need to move in.
Portfolio assessment can become limiting if it is used too exclusively.
We need assessments that look at the environment and the teacher and the materials, as well as the child. We need to look at the concept of uniformity versus diversity. The conversation just evolves in a very intuitive and informal way. And what therefore happens, I think, is that children are exposed to richer thought processes that don't just focus on direct instruction targeted at one developmental level. The point is not just about what I, as a parent or teacher, am trying to teach directly.