Are scores a measure to determine students’ ability in the 21st century?

We still passed over the first years of the 21st century, which is full of challenges and experiences, especially in education. This offers the necessary changes to study more effectively.

Scores now are not an important measure to evaluate students. The School also uses grades as the primary measure of instructional effectiveness. In the process of applying to university, entrance scores are also a measure to determine a student’s success or failure.

However, in modern society, grades are no longer the main scale for assessing students’ ability. There are many students who graduate with distinction, however the communication and adaptation skills to the life change is limited, which is the main situation, they cannot be successful in their future careers. In contrast, students who have the medium scores, but participated in many activities and experiences, have the adaptability.

As new global citizens, PennSchool always focuses on the students’ development by innovating the curriculum to promote students’ potential, ready to take on new challenges. An important goal of competency-based education is to unlock the students’ potential and help them develop themselves. Education is providing not only knowledge but also sustainable skills for international integration.

At PennSchool, students are guided to establish goals for knowledge, skills and competencies through lessons and practical projects. 4 Core learning methods are encouraged to experience, including: Inquiry-based learning, Team-based learning, Technology-based learning and Collaborative teaching and learning.

The assessing process at PennSchool does not depend on the exams as previously. At the end of each semester, students will have the assessment exams. Besides, throughout the learning process, students will be evaluated through the completion of projects. The Final Assessment Score will be the summary of them. This means that the test only accounts for 55% of the total score.

In traditional education, the students’ assessment will be based totally by teachers. But now, PennSchool students are directly involved in this process by self-assessing and the completion of lessons. PennSchool also encourages the feedback and evaluation of teachers to students and vice versa, to build the learning program together.