Student monitoring and evaluation is a tool that helps teachers to use student performance data to assess the effectiveness of teaching continuously and throughout the process and to make more informed educational decisions in line with students' capacities, skills and abilities. It is one of the most efficient and effective approaches to monitor student progress.
Student monitoring and evaluation is a method that not only determines student progress, but also continuously assesses the student. Monitoring and evaluation activities are time-efficient, not ad hoc but continuous, self-assessment, used by many institutions and individuals, help monitor educational progress, file educational progress, are inexpensive, and require minimal skills to interpret data.
Monitoring and evaluation studies also encourage collaboration between teachers and students, develop individualized programs in areas where students are deficient, ensure that the program is appropriately shaped and evaluated, contribute to the advancement of education, contribute to the achievement of advanced educational goals, contribute to the professional development of students in student and teacher expectations, student achievement and motivation, and increase parent satisfaction.i
The main purpose of the monitoring and evaluation process is to support and improve education and training activities. For this purpose, teachers can use systematic methods to monitor students' development and learning in order to better identify students who need different teaching activities, re-plan the learning process and create a more effective learning environment. At this point, differentiated, enriched and individualized teaching techniques can be used.
In this sense, the student development report reflects student monitoring and evaluation activities in the field. The student progress report is an important tool for monitoring and evaluating students' academic and social skills. This report allows teachers to regularly present their observations and analyzes of students. In this way, the improvements made in the educational process can be monitored. Student progress reports not only reflect the achievement level of students, but also reveal their personal development.
Monitoring student development and learning covers the following areas;
-Assessment of physical development and motor skills,
-Assessment of cognitive skills,
-Assessment of language skills,
-Assessment of social-emotional skills,
-Assessment of interest, motivation, knowledge, skills, intelligence levels and learning pathways,
-Identifying developmental disabilities and learning disabilities,
-Assessment of individual/special talents,
-Assessment of musical, visual arts and sports ability.
Assessment for learning
Assessment for learning, one of the methods of student monitoring and assessment, is the process of seeking and interpreting the evidence that both students and their teachers need in order to decide where students are in the learning process, where they need to get to, and how best to get there.
One of the most important aims of assessment is to assess for learning and should be distinguished from assessment for learning, that is, grading and report card assessment. Research on the assessment of classroom work shows that assessment for learning is one of the most powerful tools for raising standards and improving learning. Existing research provides much evidence to support this assertion. Assessment of the outcome of learning has established methods, whereas assessment for learning needs practical theoretical ideas, as the outcome of assessment for learning can provide a variety of benefits. In this case it is important to follow the guiding principles that set out the key features of assessment for learning.
Assessment for learning;
- It is part of effective teaching and learning planning.
- It focuses on how students learn.
- It is also very important for classroom work.
- It is one of the most important professional skills for teachers.
-It is a responsive and constructive process and has an emotional impact on the learner.
-Nurtures student motivation.
-Supports understanding of objectives and criteria.
- It helps students to see how they can improve themselves.
- Develops the student's ability to make self-evaluation.
- Recognize and appreciate the achievements of all students to the fullest extent.
The current report card practice, which has been implemented in primary and secondary schools for many years, is an approach that provides information about the results of the courses but does not include information about the development of students in the process. This approach has been replaced by a student progress report that will include the development of students periodically, the criteria determined according to the courses and social emotional learning skills.
Student progress report
The aim of the student development report was to evaluate the iv lessons and assess social emotional learning skills.
In this context, the teacher is expected to evaluate the student's performance during the lesson according to the specified criteria. In this assessment approach, there is a quadruple criterion structure in the background that corresponds to the skill or outcome for each lesson and defines student performance. This quartet structure includes statements that describe the relevant performance of the student in the order of “needs improvement, adequate, good and very good”. At this stage, while evaluating student performance, the information, findings, observations, documents, etc. obtained about the student are taken into consideration and evaluated in line with the criteria and in the process.
The dimensions of social emotional learning skills in primary school progress reports are structured to observe and support students' progress in basic social emotional skills such as self-awareness, regulating emotions, building relationships, developing social awareness and making responsible decisions. Each dimension contributes to students becoming more aware, sensitive and effective individuals in daily life and learning processes.
Considering these theoretical and practical dimensions of the student development file, it will be seen that it is an important step towards getting rid of the exam-oriented education system that has been complained about for years. In the face of this important development, our colleagues, who were faced with the task of filling out the student development file, considered the issue as a drudgery without being aware of this important dimension, and reacted to this practice, which came into force as of the 2024-2025 academic year. This situation is acceptable for our colleagues who have a benevolent attitude in following the developments in educational sciences and the world. Because it is quite difficult to leave the usual comfort zone!
However, when the debate was met with a backlash from education unions and press releases began, it would be insufficient to explain the issue in terms of comfort zones.
“While teachers are already working under the pressure of the exam week, written and practical exams, e-School procedures and intense curriculum pressure; in a process where listening and speaking skills are evaluated separately in addition to written exams, especially in language courses, they are now faced with detailed, time-consuming and development reports that are completely burdened on the back of the teacher... We do not accept this imposition.” said Eğitim İş in a statement,
Eğitim Sen, on the other hand, said, “Under the current conditions, it is virtually impossible to keep these reports in a healthy and qualified manner, given the heavy course loads, crowded classrooms, lack of materials and equipment, physical inadequacies and public resources that are not allocated to education. Under these conditions, development reports have become a drudgery added on top of teachers” primary duty of teaching and learning.".
The statements of both education unions are based on the importance of the student progress report for teachers, students and parents; getting rid of the exam-oriented structure of the education system; monitoring students' social and emotional learning skills in addition to their studies; the importance of assessment for learning; the importance of assessment for learning and, in general, not the requirements of educational science, but on the fact that their members will fill out more forms and not leave their comfort zone.
We hope that both education unions will retract these statements, because the purpose of education unions is not only to defend the comfort zone of their members and to oppose every practice of the government from the front, but also to develop alternative education policies on all issues that will maximize the right to education of our children, the future of the country.