Three Important Distinctions In How We Talk About Test Scores. In education discussions and articles, people (myself included) often say “achievement” when referring to test scores, or “student learning” when talking about changes in those scores.
These words reflect implicit judgments to some degree (e.g., that the test scores actually measure learning or achievement). Every once in a while, it’s useful to remind ourselves that scores from even the best student assessments are imperfect measures of learning. But this is so widely understood – certainly in the education policy world, and I would say among the public as well – that the euphemisms are generally tolerated.
And then there are a few common terms or phrases that, in my personal opinion, are not so harmless. I’d like to quickly discuss three of them (all of which I’ve talked about before). So, here they are, in no particular order. In virtually all public testing data, trends in performance are not “gains” or “progress.” Proficiency rates are not “scores. . ” - Matt Di Carlo. Types of Feedback and Their Purposes. Feedback for Learning:Seven Keys to Effective Feedback. 7 Key Characteristics Of Better Learning Feedback.
7 Key Characteristics Of Better Learning Feedback by Grant Wiggins, Authentic Education On May 26, 2015, Grant Wiggins passed away. Grant was tremendously influential on TeachThought’s approach to education, and we were lucky enough for him to contribute his content to our site. Occasionally, we are going to go back and re-share his most memorable posts. Yesterday we shared an article on close reading, and today Grant looks at providing better feedback for learning. Whether or not the feedback is just “there” to be grasped or offered by another person, all the examples highlight seven key characteristics of helpful feedback.
Helpful feedback is – Goal-referencedTransparentActionableUser-friendlyTimelyOngoingConsistent 1. Given a desired outcome, feedback is what tells me if I should continue on or change course. Note that goals (and the criteria for them) are often implicit in everyday situations. 2. 3. Thus, “good job!” 4. 5. A great problem in education, however, is the opposite. 6. 7. Student Led Conferences - Teacher Resources. Strategies for Online Teaching. Rick Wormeli: Redos, Retakes, and Do-Overs, Part One. Learning Menus: Textbooks a la Carte. Why do it? Elementary and middle school classrooms often require students to read history textbooks. Historical accounts in textbooks, however, can often be dry or difficult to grasp. Learning Menus offer students a variety of active methods to access the textbook, remember pertinent information, and learn to regulate their own learning.
This strategy can be adapted for multiple grade levels. What is it? Learning Menus are forms of differentiated learning that give students a choice in how they learn. Learning Menus come in various forms and can include tic-tac-toe boards, restaurant-like menus, matrices, and multiple-choice grids. In the dinner menu example, “Appetizer” activities focus on summarizing the overall content in each section of the textbook reading with activity choices like “Flash Cards,” “Outline,” and “Summary.” Example For an example of a Learning Menu in action, see the video Differentiating with Learning Menus on the Teaching Channel website. Why is this a best practice?