In high school it is easier depending on the make up and subject area of your class to have students take the grade they earn seriously because many of them may be college bound and so their GPA counts. AP classes, Cambridge courses or International Baccalaureate courses usually attract committed students. Many school districts are making it easier to enroll in challenging courses with mixed results. Many students without the expected entry-level-skills can slow the pace of the course, but ultimately rise to the higher requirements, but may need tutoring.
Middle school students can either be grade grubbers, hit peaks and valleys or be a defeatist - it's what we call the child who has absolutely no self confidence and has chosen to not try at all. This child will usually be a problem in class because if you can't get an "A" in a subject - you can certainly earn an "A" or even an "A+" in being disruptive. Elementary students can also be all over the place, but if you can hold their attention and have good curriculum strategies and lesson plans that allow for flexibility and mobility, students may become learning sponges especially third and forth graders - wow, what great ages.
So assessments - one quick one is exit visas - you put a few questions on your "Smart Board" for closure and students have to answer one of their choice as a pass out of the room - really great on the day you have a formal observation. Pass out 3x5 cards at the beginning of class to set this up as a pattern so students will know this is an exit visa day and they should already put their name and class period on the card. Your observer will be super impressed with this quick assessment. It's closure, too!! You can hold onto these for study guides for quizzes and test guides. Apps are available now that can generate multiple versions of your tests so that can cut down on student cheating, but essays are essays.
If you have a blackboard-like function that you can set up that runs the plagiarism software on submitted Word essays, you are in teacher heaven. I just had to do that for the first time in my grad class and thought, wow (although this is the second class I've taken in the English Department - they are not standardized, go figure) - this is a perk! The papers are all electronically uploaded so the format is standard. Then they are scanned for plagiarism and the yellow background the professor used is easy on the eyes when she reads them. Of course - as grad students paying for the course, we take the assessments seriously.
My tests/assessments had a predictable pattern and appearance. That is the first rule. The second rule is that some material from past lessons always appeared on a new test/assessment - if it was important enough for me to teach, it is important enough for the student to remember. The third rule - students self-score the test with a red pen immediately upon finishing the test. Students turn in the test when time is called, all pencils are put away, desks are cleared and red pens are passed out and test papers are returned. Students correct their own papers using the matching answer key. (This is great for special needs students because it meets many of their IEP's) You put the answers to the spelling test in a word box on the "Smart Board", chart or blackboard - so they can use them correctly in the rest of the test.
Sorry to tell you that you, the teacher, will still have to spend lots of time reviewing each paper because students do not do a good job of finding their mistakes. Since the test format is always the same - the point value is standard so the students learn to score themselves very quickly. Students may request to retake the same test within three days. When parents or guardians find out that students do not have to live with a poor test grade, they get pretty insistent that you automatically give the test again. Word gets out that you have to work hard if you want to fail the class. Meanwhile, you are constantly reinforcing the main concepts that you want to stay put in the brains of all of your students. Yes, it's a lot of work - but it works. They take the assessments seriously - at least the ones I made and those were related to the ones the school district and state developed.
Tests and assessments should be a chance to show off and get that "A" - students should feel confident that between the preparation you have given them all year long. A "unit" on test-taking skills has taught them to look for key words in the set up and weed out the distractors. The more you give exit visas, pop quizzes and predictable tests - the more students will take them seriously.
It is true that culturally, some students are mocked for getting good grades. This is where I think having a lunch bunch or some other alternative lunch-room area is a cool privilege. Maybe it should be a lottery for those who are interested. This might relieve some pressure to fail on purpose.
Being predictable about your assessments, how they are graded and formatted will go along way to helping students take them seriously. Double weight test and single weight quizzes and that also helps. If the whole class bombs a test throw it out - it's your fault!
Essays on tests should be brief or should resemble test prompts - triple weight them if you can and develop individual topics before the test so students can prepare for two or three topics that you all figure out together. Finally, outcome-based projects give an authentic measure for students that just will never do well on any formal test instrument. I construct the arc of nine week and semester grades so that projects will protect any student from a "D" or "F", but take a look at my rubrics and you will see that I spell out specific expectations. So high expectations and student input raise the stakes and students take these assignments more willingly. Good luck - it seems like the assessment grind is slowly winding down and maybe teachers can take the lead in making better judgment calls on what works best for educating American youth.
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