XN000022-1995-09-05 — Page 16

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"User friendliness is our major principle in preparing these documents. Teachers will find that all these suggestions are easy to use," the spokesman said.

"In TOC, the purpose of assessment is to give recognition to what students have learnt. In the process, students gain a sense of achievement and are motivated to learn. Teachers, parents and curriculum developers at large obtain feedback on what students have learnt and how to improve their learning, and in doing so help students to make further progress.

"Teachers look for evidence of student learning in their daily performance, identify weaknesses and strengths to arrive at a profile of student learning.

"TOC assessment is a means to enhance learning and is not an end by itself."

Therefore, the most important thing in TOC assessment is "What's next?" After each assessment students should know what their next learning target is and how to learn it. Teachers should know what the next teaching strategy is and parents should know what they can do next to support their child's learning.

Compared with the general assessment practice conventionally in use, TOC assessment requires a more systematic approach, for example, assessment plan, assessment method and formats of recording and reporting.

The spokesman said: "Standardised formats have been proposed but schools and teachers are not expected to make all the changes overnight. They can develop and modify their own assessment system gradually at their own pace and according to their own situation and needs.

"The Education Department will continue to develop documents to support the implementation of TOC assessment, especially in the professional development of teachers, in the form of assessment resource kits.

"We are aware that some teachers are more interested in understanding the concepts and theories of TOC assessment in order to develop their own assessment mechanism."

It was the department's long-term goal that every school should be able to develop their own mechanism in assessment, the spokesman said.

End/Tuesday, September 5, 1995