Has Assessment Become our Goal?

Enjoy the journey and not just the destination. Is that the phrase? A lovely quote if it is, but is it an ideal or something we can actually achieve in education? In our current learning spaces, has the journey of learning been detoured and overshadowed by the metrics that try to define it?

I feel we are at a stage in education where assessment is prioritised above the teaching and learning. Please don’t misunderstand me. Assessment is a part of the teaching and learning process, but it is not the process. Let me say it again. Assessment is a part of the teaching and learning process, but must never become it. So our children are missing out on fundamental skills, because ‘will it be on the test?’ ‘Is it a measurable skill? Then why are we focusing on it?’ 

In this blog, I want to challenge how we view assessment - not as a villain (cue the evil, menacing laugh) - but to ensure that we are using it as a tool that promotes the learning and growth of our children. 

Across the world, literacy skills are declining. Did you know that 250 million children are failing to acquire foundational literacy skills? Furthermore, before the COVID-19 pandemic, 617 million children and adolescents had not reached minimum reading proficiency levels. These statistics from the Global Literacy Snapshot (UNESCO, 2025, https://www.unesco.org/en/literacy/need-know ) are a sobering reminder that we still have work to do in promoting literacy for the next generations. Children are no longer reading for pleasure or writing with wonder. But what have we made education to be? “You must achieve this grade by this stage!”? Where is the enjoyment in that? 

I feel we need to have a higher focus on formative assessment to ensure assessment guides learning rather than be the beating stick that stifles it. Formative tools like live marking are a step forward, but we must go deeper. We need feedback that speaks not just to correctness, but to creativity. To inquiry. To collaboration. To empathy. To critical thinking. 

Ahhh critical thinking! I hear many teachers and parents share that their children are struggling to apply what has been taught. Many educators I speak with agree - it’s one of the most crucial, yet most neglected, skills. We struggle to promote it as the pressure is on for children to fly high during their assessments. But surely, if we also focus on it, they will have the skills to be able to answer the abstract concepts that appear on their tests. If we teach for deeper understanding and we make space for abstraction and analysis, they won’t just pass the test - they’ll rise above it.

So where does that leave us - as parents, as educators, as adults who have ability to evoke change?

1. Reflect on how you are using assessment. Is it a mirror or a magnifying glass? As parents, are we promoting learning as a whole are we only showing interest in test scores?

1. Reframe: Build in time for developing those critical thinking skills. It’s not easy, but think about where those cross-curricular links can be made. Think about how that lesson can be tweaked to foster curiosity, creativity and empathy. 

1. Reimagine: If you’re ready to shift the narrative, share this blog with a colleague, spark a staffroom discussion, or bring it to your next planning meeting.

When assessment becomes the compass, rather than the map, we risk losing sight of real learning.