Non-Cognitive Assessment and Student Engagement
For many decades education systems were focused on accounting for cognitive components of student educational attainment, and summative standardized tests emerged as important ways of measuring academic outcomes. The evolving 21st century societal and ass
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12. NON-COGNITIVE ASSESSMENT AND STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
The views expressed in this chapter are those of the authors and not necessarily their employing organizations. BACKGROUND: BALANCING NON-COGNITIVE FACTORS IN EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS
For many decades education systems were focused on accounting for cognitive components of student educational attainment, and summative standardized tests emerged as important ways of measuring academic outcomes. The evolving 21st century societal and associated education systems are distinguished by increased complexity and dynamism of all their major elements, including intertwined multicultural and demographic realms, family structures and ever changing domestic and world economies, which consistently confront society and education with evolving demands and challenges. Besides the pressure to meet challenging education standards in the time when college readiness becomes a norm, school students face other daily issues associated with peer pressures, uses of technology and mass media, unhealthy relationships (including bullying), struggling with sexual and gender identity, substance abuse, etc. Additionally, growing proportions of immigrant and minority students may face challenges of cultural and language adjustments, fitting in with their peers, meeting academic demands and other issues. Research demonstrates that various non-academic factors can be very impactful in student behaviors and academic outcomes. For example, in the meta-analysis of 213 school-based universal social and emotional learning (SEL) programs, Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor and Schellinger (2011) demonstrated significant gain in student academic achievement. Consequently, school staff face the necessity of delving into a broad array of non-academic, social, emotional and other realms, in order to create school climates that are equitable, safe, inclusive and socially and academically stimulating for diverse student populations. Increased complexity of evolving contemporary education systems compel more comprehensive approaches to balancing and measuring system aspects that span beyond traditionally considered cognitive educational components into an intricate domain of “non-cognitive” factors, which are conceptualized in diverse ways. These non-cognitive concepts, which often relate to each other, include “positive personal
M. S. Khine & S. Areepattamannil (Eds.), Non-cognitive Skills and Factors in Educational Attainment, 265–292. © 2016 Sense Publishers. All rights reserved.
A. NADIROVA & J. BURGER
qualities other than cognitive ability” (Willingham, 1985; quoted in Duckworth & Yeager, 2015, p. 239), (e.g., self-control, emotional intelligence, resilience, confidence, etc.), as well as beliefs, values, attitudes and affect. Currently there is no consensual terminology in the research and educational community on what constitute non-cognitive factors (Duckworth & Yeager, 2015). While a consensual terminology would be beneficial, in actuality different research and practical contexts, concerns, priori
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