Disadvantages Of Classroom Based Assessment

No one can deny the role that assessment plays in any language learning situation. The same is true for the special practice of assessment as an integral part of learning in class known as classroom-based assessment (CBA) which has gained an unprecedented place in recent years. CBA has been defined as “encompassing all those activities undertaken by teachers and or by their students, which provide information to be used as feedback to modify the teaching and learning activities in which they are engaged” (Black and Wiliam, 1998, p.7). According to this definition, the prime purpose of CBA is to provide teachers with in-depth information to make sound decisions in their moment-by-moment teaching. Airsian (1991, p.15) believes that CBA “occupies

Even the individualized nature of CBA deserves it more credit as CBAs are administered individually so they reduce the risk of cultural bias which is a crucial factor in administering nation-wide standardized tests (Chamberlain & Medinos-Landurand, 1991). They have even been claimed to have the added benefit of helping teachers to find weaknesses and strengths of their teaching practices and encouraging them to search for ways to rectify any shortcomings (Shepard, 1995). Furthermore, it has also been claimed that these strategies have more credibility to provide instruction with appropriate feedback and identify learners` individualized needs (Resnick& Resnick, 1992). Considering these benefits warrants studying these strategies more deeply as in the last two decades or more considerable efforts have been made to formalize the procedures of classroom-based assessment, make its methods more efficient and justify and develop its utility (Darling-Hammond & Goodwin, 1993; García & Pearson, 1994; Resnick & Resnick, 1992; Short, 1993; Stiggins, 1999; Wiggins,

A look at the general education literature shows that the assessment practices used by teachers has received much attention (Rogers, 1991; Wilson, 1998; 2000) unlike the paucity of research in the case of English language teachers. But before embarking on the analysis of CBA strategies, a sound definition should be taken into consideration as there is a belief in the literature that CBA has not received an agreed-upon definition (Black & Wiliam, 1998; Brookhart, 2004). The definition by McNamara may help bridge this gap as he defines CBA as “any deliberate, sustained and explicit reflection by teachers on the qualities of a learner’s work’ and the use of this information, for example, ‘as an aid to the formulation of learning goals…” (2001, p. 343). This definition has some advantages. First the quality of learner`s work is taken into consideration because it involves the teacher`s “deliberate, sustained and explicit reflection” and second the resulting data are used to formulate learning goals. Taken this definition into account, different purposes for this kind of assessment can be envisaged. These purposes range from providing information to outside agencies, satisfying