Assessment Practices

BLOG 3:

June 8, 2018

Assessment Practices:

How do you typically assess your students? your teaching? other learners (e.g. teachers)? How have your assessment practices changed over the years? How have they changed in your school? District?

I typically use formative and summative assessment in my classroom; the former through feedback and the latter through tests.  With assessment for learning (formative), I use practices such as providing comments and suggestions for improvements of students’ essays, for example - with the option of them revising and editing to hand back in to boost their mark and reinforce their learning. When doing assessment of learning (summative), I typically go over the expectations on the quiz a day or two before, going over each question in class that I am expecting them to know and understand, or sometimes merely the main concepts, depending on the type of test and the expectations.  We do brainstorming at this time and students provide several possible solutions to the outcomes.  I mainly assess my teaching through self-reflection and student feedback, either oral or written.  I look for indicators of “grow and glow” and adapt my teaching practices accordingly to fit the needs of each specific class.  I assess other teachers informally through dialogue, conversations, stories, and sometimes emails.  When I first started teaching, I probably over-assessed my students, as I took in virtually everything for marks.  Now I do much more assessment for learning and assessment as learning along the way.  My school’s assessment practices have remained quite consistent throughout the years, for example, we have decided as a staff long ago how much to weigh final exams, assignments, tests, etc.  

What research do you use to support your assessment practices? What evidence do you have that

indicates that your assessment practices help students achieve and be successful? What have been the challenges in changing your assessment practices?

My assessment practices mainly fall under the research of Drake, Reid, & Kolohon, in their book Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment, of 2014.  Melissa and I presented the topic of assessment based on their book and I learned that much of my practices are in alignment with chapter 3 in regard to backward design.  The authors emphasized the importance of the “know, do, and be,” creating rich performance tasks, creating assessment tasks and tools, using assessment for learning, and the advocacy of using rubrics.  I have been much more aware and knowledgeable about these practices and how to implement them in my classroom in the recent past.  I have seen better engagement and learning from students when I assess for learning and provide an assessment tool at the beginning of the task, for example, a rubric.  The rewards speak for themselves in terms of engagement and learning for students; the challenge for me as a teacher is to remember to start with the end in mind and create the assessment tool before I assign the task.  Although rubrics take more planning to create, they do make marking more efficient and clear.  Creating a rich performance task can be challenging, but for a project like a novel study, for example, I find it can also be quite enjoyable for me to create ideas for relevant assignments and tasks because I know my students and what may appeal to them.  It takes more time and thought, but in the end, it is worth it. 

What work do we still have to do as instructional leaders in this area to ensure that students are receiving the best assessment practices in our buildings/districts?

As instructional leaders, we need to make sure we are consistent in assessment, use the proper tools, and provide clear expectations for our students.  Letting them know the “target” right from the beginning helps in defining the goals and the expectations to reach them.  Using backwards design and relying on the latest research is also important.  Implementation of these practices for both short- and long-term success and dialogue with teaching peers is also fundamental to remain current, inspired, and educated.