When winter holidays started, the first-grade primary students from Daoyuan Affiliated School of CUHK-Shenzhen took home special “assessment handbooks.” The unique handbook is a “new evaluation model” to answer the call of the country’s “double reduction policy” — a set of guidelines to ease the burden of excessive homework and off-campus tutoring for students during their compulsory education period.

The assessment handbook evaluates students from 10 perspectives including personal qualities, ethics and rules compliance, performance of traditional disciplines, art subjects, and sports. Additionally, the handbook contains the student’s self-assessment and also comments from classmates, teachers, and parents. Parents not only get to know their kids’ academic performances but also comprehensive qualities such as good manners, honesty, and diligence. In this case, parents can help their children develop good habits and improve academic performance in cooperation with the efforts of education in the school.

Qiu Jianluo, headmaster of the affiliated school of CUHK-Shenzhen, said that their school focuses on morality education and is dedicated to improving students’ comprehensive qualities, and providing positive feedback about students’ qualities of learning, sports, arts, aesthetics and practical skills.

Students’ growth is multidimensional. The new assessment handbook not only includes intelligence factors but also non-intelligence factors, and cares more about students’ feelings and attitudes during the learning process to help them build self-confidence.

Lian Liping, head of the department of primary school studies of Daoyuan School, said: “The diverse assessment, in essence, is to change teachers’ teaching habits. The assessment transformation of the method, content, and dimensions help teachers become caring professional educators of ‘practice + research.’”

Luo Yuwei, an English teacher, said: “Each child is unique, and we do not want to standardize them with scores, and hope that each one of them can gain their courage to explore and be positive in the learning process.” The original purpose of the diverse assessment in the affiliated school of CUHK-Shenzhen is to provide each student with suitable education, support each child’s development, emphasize the motivational functions of assessment, and guide teachers to care more about students’ growth.

(He Yue)