10 Assessments You Can Perform In 90 Seconds 10 Assessments You Can Perform In 90 Seconds by TeachThought Staff Good assessment is frequent assessment. Any assessment is designed to provide a snapshot of student understand—the more snapshots, the more complete the full picture of knowledge. On its best day, an assessment will be 100% effective, telling you exactly what a student understands. This makes a strong argument for frequent assessment, as it can be too easy to over-react and “remediate” students who may be banging against the limits of the assessment’s design rather than their own understanding. It is a huge burden (for both teachers and students) to design, write, complete, grade, and absorb the data into an instructional design sequence on a consistent basis. Simple Assessments The word “simple” here is misleading. Then, due to their brevity, they’re simple to grade–in fact, you can grade them as exit slips–which makes taking the data and informing instruction (the whole point of assessment) a much simpler process as well.
Free Resources and Tools for "Authentic" Assessment The key to innovations in assessment and curriculum planning are trust, transparency, and collaboration -- and providing the professional development and training teachers need to succeed. Credit: Tom LeGoff Note: The School of the Future is part of a network of New York schools that develops and uses its own assessment techniques, referred to as DYOs. The school also uses Tasks on Demand, or unannounced assessments that do not provide supports for the students, in order to measure their learning at regular intervals. Resources On This Page: Do Your Own (DYO) Assessment Examples, Rubrics, Data, and Data Analysis Examples of criteria used in authentic assessment Back to Top Skills Spirals and Tracking Sheets Ideas for moving curriculum into a circular pattern and tracking performance to expose students to a wide variety of topics over and over again as the material gets more challenging SOF's Instuctional Tools for Teachers Tools for Developing a High School Humanities Project -- Persepolis
Refocusing assessment on teaching and learning This post is sponsored by Curriculum Associates. Assessment. It could almost be considered a “bad word” in the education world. With varying opinions, bringing up the Common Core State Standards or discussing state tests can sometimes feel like opening the ultimate can of worms. Can we achieve these goals by using assessments in smarter ways? I recently had a chance to sit down with Ken Tam, executive director of personalized learning at Curriculum Associates to get his thoughts on assessment and where it is headed in the future. Why has assessment become a “bad word” in some circles? There has been too much focus on high stakes assessment for purposes like accountability. We also haven’t done a good enough job at getting information to teachers in a timely manner, with enough detail so they can adapt teaching and learning. What is the purpose of assessments? I think this is a false choice. Yes, I think so. What questions should educators ask as they evaluate their assessment strategy?
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:
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.
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:
6 Types Of Assessment Of Learning 6 Types Of Assessment Of Learning by TeachThought Staff If curriculum is the what of teaching, and learning models are the how, assessment is the puzzled “Hmmmm”–as in, I assumed this and this about student learning, but after giving this assessment, well….”Hmmmmm.” So what are the different types of assessment of learning? This graphic below from McGraw Hill offers up six forms; the next time someone says “assessment,’ you can say “Which type, and what are we doing with the data?” like the TeachThought educator you are. 1. One way to think about it: Assesses a student’s strengths, weaknesses, knowledge, and skills prior to instruction. Another way to think about it: A baseline to work from 2. One way to think about it: Assesses a student’s performance during instruction, and usually occurs regularly throughout the instruction process. Another way to think about it: Like a doctor’s “check-up” to provide data to revise instruction 3. 4. 5. 6. 6 Types Of Assessment Of Learning
Going Gradeless: Student Self-Assessment in PBL I like reading professional material. I would posit that most teachers do. Professional reading (OK, all reading, really) allows our thoughts to constantly shift, transform, and travel to currently uncharted mental territory. If we are lucky, we encounter a watershed idea or concept that shatters our thoughts and understanding to such an extent that it requires a complete rebuilding of our philosophy. I was provided such a moment when I read Mark Barnes’ Role Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in a Student-Centered Classroom in the spring of 2015. Mr. My Goal It was my intention to simultaneously promote mastery learning as well as increase students' ability to metacognitively assess their work against a given set of standards. My Plan I knew that I needed to maintain accountability to various stakeholders in this process -- the students, their families, and the administration. The Results
Finding Clarity in Assessment and Grading A recent Edutopia article about the question of zeros in classroom assessment set off a passionate debate filled with differing philosophies: “Kids need to learn how the real world works!” “One zero shouldn’t tank a kid in a whole class!” “There’s no reason not to let kids redo work until they demonstrate mastery!” “If we let them redo the work, they’ll never learn about deadlines!” Teachers also discussed practices like dropping a student’s lowest grade, allowing homework passes, and grading homework solely for attempt. As universities drop SAT and ACT requirements and depend more heavily on students’ grade point averages for admissions decisions, it’s more important than ever for educators to gain clarity around our assessment philosophies and how they impact our assessment, evaluation, and grading practices. Separating Assessment, Evaluation, and Grading The word assessment comes from the Latin assidere, which means “to sit beside.” Finding Clarity in Our Systems
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.