Learning Assessments
Building our understanding of what children, young people and adults know, and can do.
Understanding learning outcomes is crucial to monitoring progress towards the achievement of SDG4 and key to understanding the impact of individual projects, programmes and policies.
Our approach to assessment combines assessment best-practice and the traditions of psychometric rigour with a unique focus on utility. We begin with a recognition that just because data exists, it does not mean that it will be used. We design our assessment programmes and projects to ensure that we not only generate data, but that the evidence we generate will actually be used in order to achieve the ultimate goal of improving learning outcomes for children.
Fundamentals of our Approach
In our work on assessments, we are guided by the understanding that there is no one standard approach to assessing learning. Assessments need to be designed based on the purpose of the assessment and suited to the specific setting, and evidence-users need to be at the heart of the process. This means engaging information users on what questions they have and what information is useful to them before designing the assessment initiative.
We take a unique approach to reliability and validity. We often work with vulnerable children, including those who have been out of school and/or whose schooling has been disrupted by conflict. This requires a unique approach to reliability and validity to ensure that the results are not confounded by knowledge of, or negative reactions to, ‘doing school’. Reliable and valid measures of abilities in these contexts need to reflect non-traditional forms of knowledge and skills.
We also work with a focus on sustainability. We know that the real impact of our work depends on both leaving something behind, beyond the life of our specific assessment project and contributing to global goods outside our direct sphere of influence. By working in partnership and sharing knowledge, we expect a multiplier effect regarding inclusive assessment practices and investments in monitoring progress towards SDG4.
What we do
Designing and strengthening assessment systems
Designing and strengthening Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning systems that include learning measurement
Developing and adapting tools for measuring learning outcomes
