Chapter 6 - Assessing for Learning - Missy McCallen

Assessment

Background Knowledge:

Formative assessment helps teachers form ideas for teaching and gives us knowledge of students’ strengths and weaknesses.  Students can use the feedback from this type of assessment to begin taking responsibility for their own learning and develop valuable lifelong skills such as self-evaluation, self-assessment, and goal setting.

 

Summative assessment sums up what we have taught and gives a grade for the grade book, but may not tell us what students have retained and can use later. This type of test is usually based on a time period or at the conclusion of a chapter or unit. This feedback generally helps teachers know what to teach next year.

Personal Connection:

I love to see growth in students and celebrate with them as they meet and exceed expectations.  Throughout my teaching career, I have taught many multi-skill leveled classrooms.  One multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, or True/False assessment could never give me the information I considered necessary to determine if students were actually making progress or mastering skills. I know many teachers feel that once they teach the content the students should “get it” and be able to spit it back out. But is this really how learning takes place? Do we want students leaving middle school to only have the skill of memorizing and writing down exactly what we have told them?

Reflection:

Take a minute and think/write/post about the bigger ideas of the types of activities and assessments that took place in your classroom this past year. Think about these questions as you frame your response:

1. Did more than 80%of my students grow academically, spiritually, and emotionally? How do I know this?
2. Could I name 10 students who I worry about moving to the next grade due to lack of skills? What were the skills? Did I provide a way for them to improve? Could all of my students have improved in this area?
3. Did I refrain from activities or types of assessments due to my students’ lack of skills?
4. What did my assessments tell me about my students?
5. What did my assessments tell about me about my teaching style?
6. What could I change about my assessment and expectations to help my students achieve at a higher standard?

 

Exemplar:

Here is a practical example. Writing is an area in the lower school that we will be working on next year through small group instruction.  The following is my reflection on assessment as I begin thinking about writing in grades 1-4 next year:

1. Assess for the bigger ideas: reading, writing, cause and effect, sequential order, problem to solution, vocabulary, skills for life, etc.

1. Ask students to pre-write, use a graphic organizer create or research a topic of interest.
2. Learn to write using ideas of interest, not manufactured prompts.
3. Look for the foundational skills that will make them excellent writers.
4. Allow time for students to make connections to self, media, culture, history,  and, real-life activities.

1. Give consistent feedback in a timely manner that shows students how to perform better the next time.
2. Allow students to try several attempts at getting it right.
3. Keep track of individual students’ struggles so I can look for growth and then do number 5.
4. Re-teach skills that have been missed, misunderstood, or are not up to expectations.
5. Spend time conferencing with students at least once every nine weeks.
6. Assess using a rubric and give examples of writing for each grade level.

 

Your thoughts:

So blog about any of the ideas mentioned in this chapter or my response. Before you do, watch this video by Matthew West: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_RjndG0IX8  (Sorry about the advertisement!)

 

Expand your knowledge:

A blog on formative assessment and technology:  http://www.nwea.org/blog/2014/update-36-digital-formative-assessment-tools-classroom/

An article on assessment, choice, and the brain: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/assessment-choice-and-learning-brain-glenn-whitman (Make sure you click on the Tic Tac Toe Link)