Testing times: the uses and abuses of assessment

We are undoubtedly in ‘testing times’ for assessment with annual uproar in the UK about national examination results and low satisfaction levels among higher education students recorded almost worldwide. This book reflects the confusion and complexity within assessment which lie alongside the very high expectations of assessment to deliver accurate judgements of students’ achievements, capabilities and potential. Expectations have never been higher and the resultant criticism when assessment is perceived not to deliver these outcomes is often loud and vociferous. This criticism often emanates from those who have a superficial view of the uses and processes of assessment. Such superficiality brings a consequent blindness to the potential abuses that arise from poorly designed assessment that has an ill-defined purpose and from a lack of understanding of the power of the assessment and its effects on learners. The author takes the reader through the historical development of testing, highlighting the blind alleys that have been explored, and even challenging some of the apparently more ‘human’ approaches that move away from numerical measurement to profiling. What is clear from this book is that assessment is only a tool, but one that must be used carefully: it is such a powerful tool that its use can have a dramatic impact on those who are subjected to it, as well as on the educational environment and wider society in which it is used. Stobart focuses on three specific arguments: