newsletter vol 1 (4)

7/31/2019 Newsletter Vol 1 (4)

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E-ZINEVOL1 2011

Why Do We AssessStudents Learning?

(Taken from Evaluating Your Students by Andy Baxter)

There are many groups who have an interest inassessing students abilities: teachers, heads ofdepartments, parents governments and of course,the students themselves. However, we all share thesame four main reasons for assessment:To compare students with each otherTo see if students meet a particular standardTo help the students learningTo check if the program is doing its job.

To compare students with each otherIf your students want to enter a university to studya popular subject, the university has to select whichstudents it takes. It decides on a comparative basis,e.g. it wants the top 20% of candidates. But there isa problem: consistency. A good year of candidatesmay be compared with a weak year: this years top20% may not be as good as last 20%. However,it is still the top 20% that get through that exam.This approach has been called rationing carrots:however well all the candidates perform, only 20%

get through.

Although this system may appear unfair, it is stilloften used by governments and parents to judgethe quality of a school.

To see if students meet a particular standardLarge organizations, like state, or international

examining boards, have certain standards ofprociency that students must meet. Thesestandards donot necessarily reect the teachingprogram that the students have followed: differentschools may use different books or syllabuses. Sothese large organizations have to set their ownstandards or criteria, and see if the student can

perform at this level.

Other smaller organizations, like individual schools,can also set a particular standards based on theirown individually-agreed criteria.

More frequently, though, schools will base theirassessment on their own teaching program. Theyanalyze what the students cover in class, and thenassess whether students have learned it, often bygiving an achievement test.

Testers differ over what an achievement test shouldactually cover. It could test either:The overall objectives of a syllabus (e.g. in English,

the ability to express past time, or the ability towrite in a variety of styles), or

The individual items on the syllabus (e.g. in English,the past simple, or writing advertisements).

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Another reason for assessment is initial placement.We can analyze the students abilities in order toseewheretheytintothesystem.Forexample,iftheschool has restrictions on space in classes, they may

be placed according to what percentage they get(e.g. the top 10% go to the top class). Alternatively,there may be certain criteria the students areexpected to meet. If one class concentrates onwriting while another specializes in grammarrevision, the students class will be determined bytheir success according to these criteria.

To help students learningWhetherweassessprociencyorachievement,wecan analyze the students abilities in a diagnostic

way. Instead of using the assessment to gradethe student, we use it to see where the studentsneedmorehelp.Forexample,thestudentgetsanexcellent grade in writing an advertisement, butmakes may errors in the grammar section, especiallyin the present simple third person s. We may thendecide to give him/her additional help and teachingin this area.

To check if the teaching program is doing its jobBut suppose all the students get excellent grades in

writing advertisements, but all make many errorsin the present simple third person s. We may thendecide to alter the whole teaching program to give allthe students additional help and teaching in this area.

On a larger scale, if teachers and inspectorsidentify a common problem across all schools, agovernment may decide to alter the whole of itseducation program.

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Next Step

We are pleased to launch our latest series forsecondary: Next Step. It is a six-level course in generalEnglish that takes students from an elementary levelto an intermediate level. By the end of the coursestudents will have surpassed the Threshold (B1 orPET)leveloftheCommonEuropeanFrameworkofReference for Languages.

Key Features:The course provides one complete package: book,

practice book and interactive CD-RomIt is based on an achievable and comprehensible

grammar syllabusEncourages the use of new technology and media

in EnglishIncludes a variety of texts about relevant topics

for teens

Formoreinformationaboutthisandotherseriescheck our website:

www.richmond.com.co

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Richmond Day 2011

The Richmond Day has become a traditional eventamong English teachers around our country. Thisyears topic was Current Issues in ELT a plenarygiven by our author Paul Seligson. Paul, who haswritten for Richmond series such as Can Do andEssential American English, discussed the 15 issueshe considers the most relevant in English languageteaching. Teachers gained new perspectives andlearned practical tips that they can implementin their classes. Along with Pauls presentation,recognized local speakers gave workshops aboutthe implementation of CLIL and the use oftechnology in the classroom. But not everythingwas academic! We had a fun afternoon with aCaribbean show where Romaine Bailey, a nativeEnglish-speaking teacher from Jamaica, sharedwith us his culture; especially dances and musicwhich, as you can see in the pictures everybodyenjoyed. We hope that teachers from Medelln,

Bucaramanga, Barranquilla, Bogot, and EjeCafetero enjoyed the Richmond Day as much aswe did!

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Ben Goldstein in Colombia

Last September, 2011 we had the visit of one ofour most recognized speakers: Ben Goldstein. BenistheauthoroftheFrameworkseriesandTheBig

Picture. His areas of interest lie in images and theirrole in language teaching, English as a LinguaFranca, encouraging intercultural awareness andusing video and literary texts. Ben participatedas a plenary speaker at the ELT conference withthe presentations Going with the TransculturalFlowandThePowerof Image.HealsovisitedUniversidad de la Salle in Bogot and met with theheads and teachers from the English departmentsof Universidad Javeriana, Universidad de la Sabana,Universidad Los Libertadores, Universidad INCCA,Universidad Autnoma and the Universidad Libre,among others. We all look forward to Bens nextvisit to our country!

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Richmond in ASOCOPI 2011

ASOCOPI is one of the oldest and most recognizedELT conferences in Latin America. Richmond waspresent in this event where more than 1,000 Englishteachers from the different regions of Colombiaparticipated. Andrs Guerrero, Richmondsacademic manager, gave the workshop TheNext Step in English Language Teaching andwe also took this opportunity to celebrate withteachers from Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, Boyac,Valledupar, Neiva, Manizales and Bogot. It was

a night of fun where teachers played bingo, triviaand won wonderful prices!

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