The Most Important Question Every Assessment Should Answer The Question Every Assessment Should Be Able To Answer by Terry Heick The difference between assessment of learning and assessment for learning is a crucial one, in many ways indicative of an important shift in education. Traditionally, tests have told teachers and parents how a student “does,” then offers a very accessible point of data (usually percentage correct and subsequent letter grade) that is reported to parents as a performance indicator. Class data can be gathered to imply instructional effectiveness, and the data from multiple classrooms can be combined to suggest the performance of an entire school, but a core message here is one of measurement and finality: this is how you did. And it’s all past tense. 5 Strategies For Assessment For Learning First, a word about assessment startegies. comenuusaassessment.com created the above graphic that shares 5 strategies for assessment for learning: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. What Every Assessment For Learning Should Tell You Still, it happens.
Stimulate your students with these 10 creative self assessment ideas As a teacher, you have to give constructive feedback all the time. And if you’re really giving so much meaningful feedback, then, that’s terrific! But not all teachers have the time to give students feedback all the time. It’s nice to know that giving feedback and grading your students is not the only way to assess students. This post will guide you through some creative and new ways of self assessment. 1. The title says it all. As a teacher, you can add some other emojis if you like. 2. Give each student three cards. Green: I get it! After teaching the theory and letting your students make some exercises, you make some time to do a self assessment with your students. Ask your students to think about how they feel they are doing on the lesson material and let them raise one of the three cards. Now you have an overview of the students who get the new lesson material and the students who don’t. Hand out some extra explanation and exercises to the groups. 3. 4. 5. 6. But first. via GIPHY 7.
ScienceFix - Science Fix DERN Personalised learning, reflection, collaboration and .critical thinking are highly valued in education, and classroom practices are changing towards learning as a collaborative activity. Exploration is encouraged and fostered; however, assessment is still following a traditional path – heavily dependent on summative assessment. A short paper, by Phillipa Whiteford, titled The times are a-changing: A New Model for Senior Secondary Assessment explores how a more ‘future-focused’ application of an ePortfolio can provide an innovative solution to the challenges facing current assessment practice in senior secondary education. The author builds a strong argument for the need to align assessment to teaching practices, referencing research on new teaching practices and assessment, and pointing out a need for integrative assessment which combines both assessment for and of learning based on continuous feedback, guidance and reflection (p.66). [1] Fullan, M. & Miles, M. (1992). Research Report:
Examples of Innovative Assessments Concept maps provide a visual representation of connections between concepts that students have learned. These concepts are connected by directional, labeled links to show the relationships between them. Concept maps are excellent tools that can provide instructors with a formative assessment of students’ learning and misunderstandings, after the students were introduced to the new material. For example, the instructor can post an incomplete concept map where students are asked to fill in the blanks to build a complete map, which is then submitted to an instructor in class or via an online drop box. To assess student-generated concept maps, you may want to adapt this rubric for assessing concept maps opens in new window. Watch screencast with Dr. ConcepTests are multiple-choice questions designed to test understanding of a single concept. Watch a video with Harvard professor Eric Mazur on the use of ConcepTests:
Celebrating the 5th Anniversary of Classroom 2.0 with 75 Articles from Innovative Educators Classroom 2.0 was started in 2007 by Steve Hargadon, and it has been the premier social network for educators and technologist who are interested in leveraging “Web 2.0″ tools in the pursuit of discovering ways in which technology can impact learning. The site now has over 70,000 members worldwide, and offers a wide variety of discussion forums (grouped by “Tool”, “Subject”, and “Area”) along with events, recordings, and other resources. If you are not a member, I highly recommend completing the simple registration process, checking out these resources, and participating in the dialogue (or start one of your own!). Earlier this year, Steve got together with Richard Byrne ( FreeTech4Teachers ) and Christopher Dawson ( ZDNet Education ) and initiated a project with the objective of producing a collaboratively developed book to celebrate the 5th Anniversary of Classroom 2.0. Tailoring the Classroom of the Future With the Fabric of the Past Print This Post
Final Exams…a Tradition Worth Exploring I have been having many conversations this year with teachers about our practice of administering final exams for students. Although I cannot confirm with certainty, I recently read that the final exam process has been happening since the 1830s. With all the current research on effective assessment, how students learn and knowing that we are required to make decisions that have a student’s best interest as the primary consideration, I have to question why we are still doing this, this way. What is the purpose of a final exam and is it the best way to achieve that purpose? Many people indicate that a final is a way for teachers to measure whether or not a student has learned what has been taught in the classroom, some indicate its how universities do it so we should too and others sometime claim it prepares them for the “real world.” I watched a teacher work with a student the other day.
Tch Tips: Creative Assessment Strategies Do your students meet your test announcements with an audible groan? You probably want to be more creative, but there’s just so much content you have to explore with your students and so little time. It may seem impossible to break away from those boring but efficient paper-and-pencil tests. But what if I told you that creativity and efficient, effective assessment are not mutually exclusive? There are many creative and exciting ways to assess student learning and measure applied proficiency beyond the traditional paper-and-pencil tests. Take some of these great ideas for a spin in your classroom sometime soon. Creative Checks for Understanding Teachers don’t have enough time in a class period to have multiple one-on-one conversations with every student, every day, so checking in efficiently requires a little creativity. This video file cannot be played. Show Your Cards: In this video, students use colored cards — red, yellow, and green — throughout a lesson to communicate understanding.
12 Things Kids Want from Their Teachers Whether we are a teacher, parent, relative, boss, or community member, each of us has a chance to make a positive and impactful difference in a child’s life. But in order to do this, we must carefully consider this question: What matters most to our children? For 20 years I have been posing this question to my students. The classroom would become immediately silent as the students wrote intensely for longer than they had ever written before. Surprisingly, many of the responses were the same. Here is a list of the 12 Most Important things that came out of these amazing conversations: 1. Wish me good morning, and send me off with a “see ya tomorrow.” 2. When you look at me, let me see happiness in your eyes. 3. Sit and talk with me privately; even if only for a second. 4. Help me dream of things I might be able to do; not just the things I need to do now. 5. Show me how to handle it. 6. Inquire about my weekend, the game I played, the places I go. Click the banner to order! 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
Life After Levels – An Assessment Revolution? Over recent months I’ve been involved in interviews for a number of posts across the Multi Academy Trust. One of our favourite questions has been, “What will assessment look like once levels are dead?” The answers have on the whole been a bit confused. This post is based on a webinar I delivered for Optimus Education in March 2015. A Necessary Confusion Teachers and potential leaders are struggling to imagine life after levels, proposing that we keep with levels or that we produce our own levelling systems for Key Stage 2 or 3. Levels were removed in September 2014, with the introduction of the new National Curriculum, and will be reported for the final time in Summer 2015 for Years 2 & 6. New Horizons As the sun sets on the World of Levels, we need to lift our eyes to the horizon and make sure decisions about our new assessment systems are taking us in the right direction. Principle 1 – Assessment Must Support Learning Summative Assessment: Of Learning or For Grading? References Like this:
Formative What do Principals Look for When They Hire? I like having student teachers in the building. They are predominantly bright and keen and excited, and they bring an influx of positive energy to our school. They also remind me that teaching and learning is fun and sometimes a little bit scary, and as much as the universities are doing a better job than ever preparing students for their work, there is still an awful lot to know about working with kids and working within an organization that cannot be learned by coursework alone, and the practicum sessions really help with that. It is also a great reminder of the power of a learning community and amount of collective wisdom on a staff. The first thing I want to clarify is that I never have seen teaching as a job. You need exact or very good credentials. Congrats, you made the short list and are going to be interviewed. Know something about the school where you are applying. Here are some quotes and contributions from other principals to add to the mix: Johnny Bevacqua, St. 1. 1. 1. 2.