Formal assessments are a great way to provide teachers with a systematic way of evaluating how their learners are progressing in the particular subject as well as the grade.

Classroom activities are great opportunities to assess your learners, these activities however must be suitable for the purpose of the assessments. As a teacher you must ensure that fit for purpose applies.

Fit for purpose means that all the assessment tasks are appropriate for what you want to use them for. For example:

• Making use of summative assessments for grade 1 learners is not fit for purpose if the purpose of the assessment is to help learners progress in their learning.
• Making use of group activities is not fit for purpose if you are trying to assess the individual learners progress.
• Asking learners to describe in words how they are going to draw a picture is not fit for purpose is assessing the learner’s ability to draw a picture.
• Making use of formative assessments in the Senior Certificate examination is not fit for purpose because the Senior Certificate deals with what the learners have learned over a period of time.

Choosing activities ahead of time is advisable in ensuring that the chosen activities are fit for purpose. You can even modify existing activities to ensure that they are fit for purpose.

It is very important to ensure that all assessments are fit for purpose, so you are able to clearly track the progress of your learners, especially during this period of online learning and the slow reopening of schools. Learners may feel lost and left behind in this period and assessments are a great way of tracking their progress and ensuring that all your learners are on the same page.

Don’t forget to access the free resources available on Classroom Solutions to find suitable assessments for your grade.