On the third class session, we discussed some interesting topics. One of them was about standard-based assessment. What I find really important in this issue is that standard-based assessment results beneficial for students in the sense that it lets them know the criteria by which their performance or work will be evaluated. Besides, standard-based assessment allows teachers to have a route of work, that is, the standards will guide teachers through the whole process of teaching. Consequently, the content and pedagogical activities are designed to meet the learners’ need toward a specific goal or set of goals. It can be said that every standard is compound by a series of other elements or criteria that students need to accomplish in order to reach that standard. In this type of assessment, teachers have to be aware that all students should be actively engaged.

When I started listening and reading about standard-based assessment, I just thought about the education in my country and I wonder to what extent teachers are familiarized with this issue of essential importance. Probably, our Panamanian educational system has most of this philosophy written in paper, but are our teachers really putting them into practice? To what extent are teachers trained to meet these parameters?