TLS3003_L7 homework check_Berry (2011)

1. What are the factors obstructing assessment for learning (AfL) in HK?

(i) Cultural - China is culturally an exam-oriented country.

(ii) Political - HK adopted the British 3-tier (primary, secondary and tertiary) education and assessment system, where exam was used as a hurdle to make sure that only elite would enter university.

(iii) Socio-economical – The public exam system provided an opportunity for social mobility allowing talented people to be identified from different social and cultural backgrounds.

(iv) Elite system of schooling – To help students survive this system, teaching was highly exam-oriented.

2. HK govt launched initiatives to foster AfL in the following reforms:

^{(i) TOC (1990s) – assessment was used to collect students’ info during learning}

^{(ii) 2000+ “Learning to Learn” education reform – SBA as AfL has been introduced.}

^{(iii) National Education in 2012 - continuous assessment on students’ patriotic attitude was promoted}

^{(iv) BCA replaced the Academic Aptitude Test in the Secondary School Places Allocation in 2000. It is a low-stakes assessment tool aiming to enhance teaching and learning in English, Chinese & Maths.}

3. Which of the following is/are NOT the main type(s) of school according to the funding sources in Hong Kong nowadays?

(i) government schools

(ii) leftist patriotic schools

(iii) aided [subsidized] schools

(iv) direct subsidy scheme (DSS) schools

(v) private schools

(vi) private international schools

(vii) schools run by the English Schools Foundation (ESF)

4. How could the ‘fine-tuning of Medium of Instruction (MoI) Policy’ (2011) help minimize the highly competing exam culture in HK?

5. What is the criticism regarding govt’s attempts to promote AfL?

(i) TSA/BCA - School personnel believes that it is used for evaluating school performance/a weapon to close down some schools. Thus schools drill their students for the tests.

(ii) SBA – concerns about its reliability, validity and trustworthiness. Teachers complain about the workload collecting & recording the info of daily assessment activities. It turns out might just mean more frequent summative assessments.

(iii) There was limited funding for promoting AfL provided to each school by the government, which hindered its long-term development.