Page 71 - Jurnal Kurikulum BPK 2018

In order to generate holistic student outcome, changes must be done in teaching approaches,
strategies and types of assessment. In implementing these changes, it is suggested:
 Educators including school administrators must willingly learn to accept changes despite
encountering obstacles and challenges. Educators should adopt teaching methods such as
inquiry-oriented teaching and learning. In order to assess students effectively, educators
must acquire substantial knowledge on types of assessments and decide on a suitable
assessment related to their students and learning objectives. As Hall & Hord (2011)
reiterated, “Change is learning. Learning enabled teacher to change her practices and to
use the improved and more effective program with students” (p. 7).
 Educators and all members in the education fraternity must realize that change is a
process, it is not an event which will be accomplished by a one-time announcement or by
a series of curriculum dissemination. A process needs time, where people and the
organization move as they gradually learn, understand, be skillful and competent in the
new ways. The time needed varies for individuals and schools as teachers need time to
change their fixed mind set on classroom practices, especially on assessment (Wiliam &
Leahy, 2015).
 Administrator leadership is essential to long-term change success (Hall & Hord 2011).
Principals play a vital role in reducing resistance to change among educators and provide
assistance to them to see positive side of changes although bound to time. Facilitating
change is a team effort, which requires mandates and influences the process of learning
and change (Coetzee, Visagie & Ukpere, 2012).
 Numerous educational organizations, i.e. the district and state education department, and
the ministry, as well as from the parents and public facilitate support to educators by
awarding freedom, flexibility and choice to educators who know more about their own
classrooms and students than anyone else. It is appropriate to hold educators accountable
for planning and developing various teaching approaches to enhance students’ learning
and trust be given to teachers that will make them learn and change faster in their
contented ways (Wiliam & Leahy, 2015). Besides, educators gain a wealth of
understanding of formative assessment from monthly meetings of teacher learning
communities.

CONCLUSION

Although Malaysia is more than two decades late in implementing classroom assessment
formally, nevertheless we are in the right direction. Teachers need to change their mindset on
classroom assessment and have a positive outlook on classroom assessment as it informs a child’s
learning on a whole. As Black (1998) puts it, ‘… the improvement of formative assessment cannot
be a simple matter. There is no ‘quick fix’ that can be added to existing practice with promise of
rapid reward’ (p.46). Every teacher needs to incorporate formative assessment into their lessons,
and this will surely be successful in years to come with the support of various parties, and
especially with the right professional development from school administrators, teacher trainers
and education officers. Assessment has become a fundamental competency for educators in the
st
21 century (DeLuca & Johnson, 2017).

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