A Case Study of Systemic Aspects of Assessment Technologies

Current designs and classroom uses of assessment technology do not adequately reflect or support human practices that produce meaningful information about student learning. We base this argument on findings from a study of the diverse practices making up an assessment system in a fifth-grade mathematics classroom where students have extensive access to personal computing. Videotaped records of classroom activities, reflecting both teachers' and students' perspectives on the classroom, are analyzed with teachers to develop a grounded theoretical framework for describing assessment practices. We present the framework, use it to compare different examples of assessment activities, and propose new criteria for designing systemically valid assessments as kinds of technology that support and extend existing classroom practices.