Summative Literacy Assessments and How They Imagine Children

Abstract

As an international team of scholars, we have individually and collectively encountered a range of summative and formative assessment practices. Some of these assessment practices have originated from other parts of the world as policy practices increasingly entail global borrowing. We open this chapter with two compelling views of childhood; one places the onus on leading, directing, and controlling children's learning; the other views learning as idiosyncratic, unpredictable, and stunningly contingent on each child's vision of the world. We then introduce readers to a summative assessment associated with three countries (Australia, South Africa, and the United States) to explore how the use of these assessments contributes to the proliferation of particular views of childhood. Finally, we discuss the use of three formative literacy assessments that have gained international attention and present alternative visions of childhood and literacy learning.