The Basic Criteria Of Educational Evaluation

Evaluation is the crucial fulcrum in educational field. Evaluation reflects attitude and implies expectation to the education. Evaluation guides the direction of education in some ways. Since it was created, educational evaluation has gained extensive attention on different aspects including methods, objects, content, principles, organization and implementation, etc., which seems to be adequate while lurks huge crisis under the perfect appearance. As educational evaluation is developed from educational test, evaluation criterion with quantification, standardization and scientification certainly should be what we pursue. This kind of pursuit is understandable. However, the content of educational activity is colorful and the object is animate. Thus when confronting education, should evaluation subject consider other things except for the quantified criterion like gores, numbers, enrollment rate, etc. This study is to analyze the basic criteria of educational evaluation from qualitative aspect with philosophical thinking.To be specific, the study contains several parts as follows.Firstly, describe how the basic criteria of educational evaluation are established. We will begin with comprehending its connotation, then complete the theoretical and practical basis, with which we analyze subject and object of the evaluation and get the conclusion that evaluation subject includes participants, decision makers, and managers in educational activity, while object is composed of educational activity, process and consequence. Then we conclude that value criterion evaluates the whole educational activity, spiritual criterion evaluates teachers’behavior in educational activity, and human criterion evaluates the educational consequence-student. The reason will also be specified.Secondly, analyze main content of value criterion. To comprehend value criterion, knowing connotation of value is absolutely necessary. From Marxism description to value, we obtain the general concept and core point of value, that is, value describes relations between subject and object, as well as basic requirement to the subject. In this way value becomes the criterion that evaluates the whole educational activity and is the reflection of subject appeal on the object. Value criterion consists of basic components. According to researchers’opinion, we extract three representative elements-Truth, Goodness and Beauty. Truth includes knowledge and belief. Goodness is the scope of ethics. Beauty, above truth and goodness, is the existence of disinterestedness. On the basis of comprehending the essence of Truth, Goodness and Beauty, we will illustrate how to apply them to the evaluation of educational activity.Thirdly, explore main content of spiritual criterion. From definition of spirit in the dictionary to the western philosopher’s thinking, in which either the noble soul, the rich mind or the eternal intellect, all of them are the pursuit of spiritual essence. The neglect of evaluation to the educational process affect people’s thinking of spirit to some degree. With rational analysis, we find that Love and Wisdom can summarize the basic element that spirit contains. To evaluate teacher’s educational behavior with the Love and Wisdom is the most fundamental and supreme request to the educator.Fourthly, trace main content of human criterion. It seems that comprehensive development has been known by heart, and exploration and discussion on humanity are also countless. However, thinking of life merely becomes philosopher’s career. To evaluate the student, we should focus not only on gain of knowledge, improvement of ability, and choice of career, but also on higher perspective. That is, we should evaluate student from the perspective of human nature, as well as life meaning.Last but not least, this study holds the view that the value criterion is also applicable to the educational process and consequence, its commonality determines its fundamental status. The basic criterion of educational evaluation does not mean that people give up the existed quantified criterion, but to add more humanity on the evaluation besides the science and reason. The criteria we established are certainly not unchangeable. It needs testing by the education practice. In addition, there are other criteria which researchers will discover with joint effort.