[Expert perspective]
Author: Dong Shengzu (Director, researcher, Institute of Private Education, Shanghai Academy of Educational Sciences)
What kind of evaluation baton there is, what kind of school-running orientation there is. In accordance with the relevant decision-making arrangements of the central government, we must firmly grasp the "source" of education evaluation reform, and the "double reduction" policy can really be effective.
In deepening the reform of educational evaluation methods, the key is to grasp four links.
First of all, strengthen comprehensive evaluation and highlight quality orientation. Basic education, especially compulsory education, must reverse the tendency of exam-oriented education, improve the comprehensive quality evaluation system in education, teaching and even entrance examination, and resolutely correct the wrong practice of labeling students with scores. It is necessary to improve moral education evaluation, strengthen physical education evaluation, improve aesthetic education evaluation and strengthen labor education evaluation, and effectively guide students to strengthen their ideals and beliefs, cultivate patriotic feelings, strengthen moral cultivation, increase their knowledge and knowledge, cultivate their spirit of struggle and enhance their comprehensive quality. When conditions are ripe, we should put the comprehensive quality evaluation and academic test scores on the same score and weight.
Secondly, attach importance to process evaluation and improve teaching effect. It is necessary to strengthen students’ classroom participation and classroom discipline examination. While actively guiding teachers and students to establish a good teaching style and study style, we should establish a communication channel between teachers and students, improve the teaching effect by strengthening classroom observation, improving growth record files, using secondary evaluation and delayed judgment, and improving process assessment methods. All kinds of schools at all levels should effectively strengthen the process evaluation, and better teach students in accordance with their aptitude, so that every student can grow and make progress in effective learning, thus effectively reducing the so-called "make up the difference and cultivate the excellent" demand.
Thirdly, improve examination evaluation to relieve students’ pressure. As far as compulsory education schools are concerned, they are faced with underage students. Apart from the examination for improving their academic level at the beginning, other examinations should mainly play a role in diagnostics, improving and strengthening teaching and evaluating teaching quality, and should not be given the function of screening and selecting. According to the deployment, all local schools should conscientiously implement the "Guidelines for the Evaluation of Compulsory Education Quality", arrange examinations scientifically and reasonably, greatly reduce the number of examinations, standardize the management of examination questions, and make rational use of examination results. In the future, for the examination and evaluation of students in compulsory education, we should further reflect the orientation of quality education, pay attention to the achievement of basic knowledge, basic skills and teaching objectives, avoid off-topic strange questions, reduce mechanical memorization test questions, and prevent the test questions from being too difficult, so as to really reduce the pressure on students to brush the questions repeatedly and overtraining.
Finally, explore value-added evaluation to stimulate learning motivation. Value-added evaluation is to measure the educational efficiency by paying attention to the progress of students on the original basis for a period of time. In the evaluation of basic education, especially compulsory education, we can and should actively introduce value-added evaluation, and explore the establishment of a unique value-added evaluation system and corresponding incentive mechanism in all aspects of school education and social practice, so as to objectively record, comprehensively summarize and praise every progress, every promotion and every leap of students in all aspects, so as to stimulate students’ internal motivation and ignite their lasting enthusiasm to the greatest extent, thus promoting the formation of a healthy and upward learning atmosphere and a lively educational situation.
Guangming Daily (September 14, 2021, 07 edition)