Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of Contributors
- ASSESSMENT, EQUITY, AND OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Assessment Through the Lens of “Opportunity to Learn”
- 3 A Sociological Perspective on Opportunity to Learn and Assessment
- 4 A Sociocultural Perspective on Opportunity to Learn
- 5 Individualizing Assessment and Opportunity to Learn
- 6 Cultural Modeling as Opportunity to Learn
- 7 Opportunities to Learn in Practice and Identity
- 8 Game-Like Learning
- 9 Sociocultural Implications for Assessment I
- 10 Issues of Structure and Issues of Scale in Assessment from a Situative/Sociocultural Perspective
- 11 Sociocultural Implications for Assessment II
- 12 Assessment, Equity, and Opportunity to Learn
- Index
- References
3 - A Sociological Perspective on Opportunity to Learn and Assessment
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of Contributors
- ASSESSMENT, EQUITY, AND OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Assessment Through the Lens of “Opportunity to Learn”
- 3 A Sociological Perspective on Opportunity to Learn and Assessment
- 4 A Sociocultural Perspective on Opportunity to Learn
- 5 Individualizing Assessment and Opportunity to Learn
- 6 Cultural Modeling as Opportunity to Learn
- 7 Opportunities to Learn in Practice and Identity
- 8 Game-Like Learning
- 9 Sociocultural Implications for Assessment I
- 10 Issues of Structure and Issues of Scale in Assessment from a Situative/Sociocultural Perspective
- 11 Sociocultural Implications for Assessment II
- 12 Assessment, Equity, and Opportunity to Learn
- Index
- References
Summary
OVERVIEW
This chapter reviews the major conceptions of opportunities to learn and assessment within the discipline of sociology. The traditional view of schooling as a meritocratic sorting device is contrasted with (1) the view of schooling that asserts schools (either wittingly or unwittingly) serve to reproduce the existing hierarchies of privilege; (2) the point of view that proposes that schools, peers, and families mediate the relations between structural constraints and human action; and (3) a resurgent democratic conception of schooling.
In contrast to the meritocratic conception of opportunity to learn (OTL) and assessment that asserts schools provide students with avenues to compete as individuals for valued resources, I present evidence that questions whether students have equal access to valued educational and cultural resources. This leads to defining OTL in terms of establishing the conditions within schools for the open flow of ideas and solving problems that are connected to the “real world.” Multiple measures of students' academic performance – especially those such as portfolios and exhibitions – that assess learning in authentic contexts (see Gee, this volume, and Mislevy, this volume) are preferred over standardized tests as assessment tools.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Assessment, Equity, and Opportunity to Learn , pp. 42 - 75Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008
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