The evaluation process of learning before and during Covid-19 lockdown. An exploratory study in Mexican public secondary schools

Abstract

In March 2020, México declared a health emergency due to the multiplication of confirmed cases of Covid-19. Because of the associated risks, all levels of government cancelled in-school classes for all educational institutions in the country, switching into a distance-based model for education. With this new work model, the assessment dynamics of learning have changed. Besides this, in 2017, the Secretariat of Public Education (the education office in México) implemented a transformative change in the assessment procedures. Particularly, with regard to the periods for evaluating the students’ learning during the scholar period; and the adaptations that would depend on the teachers’ reflection on the results in order to improve their teaching practice and the educational process. For both situations, it is important to know the teachers’ perceptions, so that if necessary, they can take any steps and modify it accordingly to the results. This investigation is exploratory and has the main objective of having a first view to the definition of techniques, ways, and criteria for assessing students learning in the English class in secondary schools in a city located in the north-west of Mexico. The analysis showed that participants agreed in relation to their definitions and criteria for assessment, and that throughout the pandemic contingency they have faced different changes in their perceptions about the evaluation process.