Planning for Assessment
Like
the tail of the elephant, assessment is the last part to enter the tent.
I
prefer the idea of the tail wagging the elephant.
Start
at the end.
Decide
what students will know and do. Make sure they know the targets.
Develop
varied, multifaceted learning strategies that engage them in learning.
Determine
the essential outcomes and demonstrations of success.
Involve students in multiple measures of learning at all levels of the taxonomy.
Think
about how assessing throughout instruction can inform your teaching.
Identify
how learning will change in response to the ongoing assessment.
posted by Assessment Network @ 4:00 AM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
In order to find success, we must start with a clear goal in mind. Where do we want these students to end? What does the target look like that we want to hit we these students? Is there even a target? If we put this idea of beginning with the end in mind, we can better mold our own lessons, or the means of administering information, around our goal. How are the students going to reach the conclusion that you require? More importantly, do I have a goal for myself that I want to reach with these students? These are some of the more important questions that we must ask ourselves before we create lessons and assignments for our students.
In the case of assessment, there are many factors that go into planning for student comprehension and accurate performance. Again, there is a surplus of questions to be answered: Who are my students? What are their strengths and their weaknesses? Are they all test takers or do they work better through project based learning and writing? Perhaps another form of assessment that wouldn’t be considered standard would suffice?
Authors Susan Brookhart and Anthony Nitko (2008) write, “ Learning targets focus instruction and assessment, and they also focus students and teachers on the knowledge and skills intended for learning,” (pg. 47). These targets should, again, be clearly defined and easily understood by teacher and student alike. By understanding where you are going, it is easier to establish the means to reach that goal.
Though summative assessment occurring after learning has taken place, it needs to be developed before the teaching begins. Indeed, it should be the driving force of teaching students. Teachers who write out their tests ahead of time are going to be much more organized with their learning goals, and they are going to better navigate their classes towards those objectives. By clearly stating the goals to students, they are able to identify where they have been, where they are, and where they are going to be next.
In "Assessment and Classroom Learning: a role for summative assessment" John Biggs describes the dilemma of teachers who encourage low cognitive levels by relying heavily on recall questions. I believe that this happens more often than it should because teachers are wary of asking a truly challenging question, because they feel as though they did not prepare the students for that form of challenge. Had they known that they were going to ask that higher order thinking question at the outset of the unit, then the teacher could have really worked to getting their children ready. The teacher who plans their assessments before instruction will be more likely to stay focused on learner objectives. That is because they too have a better idea of where they want to get the students to next. A good teacher will keep that assessment in mind as they prepare lessons and teach the class. In this way summative assessments are an integral part of the teaching/learning cycle.
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