Assessments in Hong Kong

The amazing fact about children is that they learn in different ways. Some children are visual learners while others learn best by listening. For this reason, I believe that children should be assessed in any area that shows evidence of learning. I agree with Howard Gardner's theory that there are at least 7 multiple intelligences. Children should be assessed Linguistically, Intrapersonally, Interpersonally and Mathematically. When children are assessed in any area, it is important that the area is one that can be used in real life situations. It has to be meaningful.

Vygotsky speculated that parents play an important role in the intellectual development of their children, and that this role includes the transfer of expectations related to their children's academic achievement. Consequently, different parents can produce different contexts of academic achievement for their children. The participants were 215 Primary 5 and 6 students from four primary schools in Hong Kong, and their parents. Students were administered a test of working memory and their academic achievement was indicated by their school-assessed mathematics and language achievement scores.  Parents reported their expectations of their children's academic achievement, the extent of their home and school environment, and their educational and income levels. Correlational and sequential regression analyses showed that different schools yielded different contexts of academic achievement. The results support the hypothesis that parents, and especially parental expectations, play an important role in children's academic achievement, and that within Hong Kong different schools can be characterized by different contexts of achievement.

References

Phillipson, Sivanes. (2009). Context of Academic Achievement: Lessons from Hong Kong. Educational Psychology, v29n4p447-468