Children\'s Mathematics

The process of assessing children’s learning by looking closely at it and striving to

understand it, is the only certain safeguard against children’s failure, the only certain

guarantee of children’s progress and development. (Drummond, 1993, p. 10)

The assessment of children’s mathematical

representations on paper

Introduction

The assessment of children’s mathematical marks on paper is as complex as the

assessment of any part of children’s learning. It is complex because we are actually

trying to tune into children’s thinking. Carr (2001) gives the analogy of an iceberg.

Imagine an iceberg; what we can see of it is the same as what we see of children’s

minds and what we do not see of the iceberg and of children’s minds is the far

greater part.

Assessment is also difficult because we cannot be totally objective. In her observa-

tions of the children in her class, Paley had to rethink her original assumptions time

and time again (Paley, 1981). However, as she scrutinised her transcripts she learned

so much about the children and their thinking. She also said she was learning from

the children.

Looking beyond the superficial helped us assess almost 700 samples of children’s

own mathematical marks that we had collected over a period of twelve years. If we

look closely at children’s own marks we uncover much more about their learning

and how we might help them develop both their understanding and our under-

standing. As Drummond states ‘a desire to understand can enrich our powers of

seeing’ (1993) and as we looked over the variety and diversity of our samples we were

intent and inspired. As a result of this we became more insightful, not only because

we reflected, revisited and revised, but because we were driven by a deep motivation

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Developing

Children’s Written

(^10) Methods
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