ASSESSMENT PHILOSOPHY
Assessment Philosophy: Learning to Grow, Together
“Students have to change from behaving as passive recipients of the knowledge offered by the teacher to becoming active learners who can take responsibility for and manage their own learning.” (Black, 2004, p. 20). “If we assess to motivate students to try, assessment for learning enables students by helping them watch themselves grow — by causing them to believe that success is within reach if they keep trying.” (Stiggins, 2006, p. 15) |
Evaluation. Can mistakenly be the word that dictates student’s progress. This judgement may motivate some, but more often discourages students, especially those who need it most. Measurement helps teachers observe how much of the assigned work students have completed and if they were present in class. Evaluation and measurement have an important role in the classroom, but if that is it, I fear that many exciting learning opportunities are being missed. Assessment is the tool that helps guide and direct learning. In this paper, you will see how my philosophy of assessment is strongly based on the quotes above. I will explain how I intend to use the three types of assessments (assessment for learning, assessment as learning and assessment of learning) in my class to promote active and involved learners, to provide all students with the support and tools they need to succeed and grow if they put in their best effort.
Assessment for Learning: Formative Assessment
Formative Assessment is a vital tool for teachers and should be so intertwined with learning that it is a natural occurrence during the learning process. Assessment for Learning is an ongoing learning process which involves close interaction between the student and teacher. By working together, they can to find the student’s strengths and make goals for improvement. I intend to build strong relationships with each student and create a welcoming environment where assessment occurs naturally. Formative assessment is valuable to me as a teacher because I can improve how I teach and know where each student is at in his/her learning. In my future class, I intend to give students specific feedback to guide them in how to work on their learning goals.
Formative Assessment: Plan, Do, Check, Act
When teaching, I intend to implement the four components of formative assessment: Plan, Do, Check, and Act. I created the chart below to illustrate some strategies and assessment tools that I plan to use in each stage.
Assessment for Learning: Formative Assessment
Formative Assessment is a vital tool for teachers and should be so intertwined with learning that it is a natural occurrence during the learning process. Assessment for Learning is an ongoing learning process which involves close interaction between the student and teacher. By working together, they can to find the student’s strengths and make goals for improvement. I intend to build strong relationships with each student and create a welcoming environment where assessment occurs naturally. Formative assessment is valuable to me as a teacher because I can improve how I teach and know where each student is at in his/her learning. In my future class, I intend to give students specific feedback to guide them in how to work on their learning goals.
Formative Assessment: Plan, Do, Check, Act
When teaching, I intend to implement the four components of formative assessment: Plan, Do, Check, and Act. I created the chart below to illustrate some strategies and assessment tools that I plan to use in each stage.
Assessment as learning: Self-Assessment
Self-assessment is essential for student learning but often overlooked. It is important for students to reflect on their learning to be aware of what they are doing well, and what they need to work on. A few ways I would use assessment as learning in the class would be to have students create goals, keep reflection journals, and fill out reflection sheets after completing certain assignments.
Peer Assessment
Peer assessment used with self and teacher assessments helps students become metacognitive about their work and how to improve. In addition, students develop important critical thinking, interpersonal and communication skills (Cooper). In my French methods classes, we wrote descriptive feedback on post-it notes for each person who presented. I found my classmates feedback very helpful because it confirmed what I needed to work on and what I did well. I plan to implement comment or discussion based peer-assessment in my future class, depending on the grade level and task at hand. Frequent teacher modelling of how to provide constructive feedback is vital to ensure that students understand the process. Two starts and a wish (two things that were done well and something to improve) is an assessment tool I find works effectively for peer assessment because it helps guide students in giving feedback.
Assessment of learning: Summative Assessment
Summative assessment is also an important component of the assessment process because it provides an opportunity for the students to demonstrate what they have learned. This information can be used by the teacher for future planning and communicating with parents. Assessment of learning is usually a final test, project, paper, etc, which are counted towards a grade. I agree with Black et al (2004), that “summative tests should become a positive part of the learning process (p. 16).” Some strategies to encourage this would be to have students create a rubric together for the final assessment, reflect on learning before reviewing, create test questions, self-assess and peer assess (Black, 2004, p.16). For final projects, I will provide examples of work that exceeded, met, and was approaching the standard. When the final assignment is complete, I will give constructive comments and the opportunity for students to make corrections for partial marks. Personally, I always learned more when there was an opportunity to improve my work.
Climbing up the Ladder
I think assessments are most effective when it requires students to climb up the ladder of Bloom’s Taxonomy to use higher-order thinking skills. For example, once students understand and remember how to solve subtraction with regrouping in math, after analyzing and evaluating, they should be able to create problems for their peers.
Motivation or Success?
Many teachers struggle with finding ways to motivate students, but we now know that it is not motivation that drives students to learn, but success and competence (Earl, 2006, p. 7). As a teacher, I intend to use formative assessment to encourage students in their accomplishments and guide them in their next steps towards reaching their goals. In addition, my lessons and assessments will be geared to my students’ interests. If they believe that what they are learning is relevant to their lives, they will be more intrinsically motivated.
Although it is important for all children to have experience taking tests and writing, I also believe that students learn in many different ways. In my class, students will be engaged in their learning and excited to work hard because they will have choice and ownership over their learning. I want each of my students to be successful, and I will do whatever it takes to help them reach their goals. If they succeed, they will believe in themselves, and if they are confident, they will strive to continue to learn — in whatever capacity that is. In my experience, I learned the most when I was given a choice to show my understanding in a creative way such as making a collage, doing a presentation, or making a video. I found writing papers stressful, and although I would excel on tests, I would not remember the information that I learned a week later.
Grades and Zeros
When students are assigned tasks, they often question themselves whether or not they can do it, or if it is worth the effort (Stiggins, 2006, p. 14). When the only feedback students receive are grades, students are not learning how to specifically improve their work, but instead compare themselves to others. Giving out zeros is highly demotivating for students, and can discourage future effort because it will be so hard for them to bring their grades back up. It teaches students to give up rather than how to learn (Stiggins, 2006, p. 14). In my class, I will provide only comments on student work and require rewrites or resubmissions. On the final submission, I will provide a grade which takes into consideration the effort and improvement of student work. I had two professors in university, that had us resubmit our papers because they believed in continual improvement and learning. This process was encouraging. I was motivated to work hard the first time, but was less stressed because there were still opportunities to improve.
Conclusion
I want my students to be responsible for their learning, to know their strengths and learning goals, so they can strive towards improvement independently. In my class, everyone is to be included and appreciated for what he/she has to offer to the learning environment. As a class, we will use our strengths to help each other improve. I believe all students have gifts and skills, they just need someone to believe in them, who will empower them - with the scaffolding they need, so they will believe that they can and will succeed. Teaching is more than just teaching content, creating tests, and giving out grades. Teaching is about knowing your students, helping them grow as a person and a learner along with teaching the essential learnings.
References
Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B., & Wiliam, D. (September 01, 2004). Working inside the Black Box: Assessment for Learning in the Classroom. Phi Delta Kappan, 86, 1, 8.
Cooper, D., & Catania, J. (2010). Talk about assessment: High school strategies and tools. Toronto, Ont.: Nelson Education.
Davis, A. Wiliam, D. Formative Assessment: An Essential Part of a Balanced Assessment Program. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://people.stu.ca/~raywilliams/6143/Formative Assessment Handout.pdf
Earl, L., & Katz, S. (2006, January 1). Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind. Retrieved January 17, 2015, from http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/assess/wncp/title.pdf
Stiggins, R. (2006). Assessment for Learning: A Key to Motivation and Achievement. Edge: The Latest Information for the Education Practitioner, 2(2), 1-20.
Self-assessment is essential for student learning but often overlooked. It is important for students to reflect on their learning to be aware of what they are doing well, and what they need to work on. A few ways I would use assessment as learning in the class would be to have students create goals, keep reflection journals, and fill out reflection sheets after completing certain assignments.
Peer Assessment
Peer assessment used with self and teacher assessments helps students become metacognitive about their work and how to improve. In addition, students develop important critical thinking, interpersonal and communication skills (Cooper). In my French methods classes, we wrote descriptive feedback on post-it notes for each person who presented. I found my classmates feedback very helpful because it confirmed what I needed to work on and what I did well. I plan to implement comment or discussion based peer-assessment in my future class, depending on the grade level and task at hand. Frequent teacher modelling of how to provide constructive feedback is vital to ensure that students understand the process. Two starts and a wish (two things that were done well and something to improve) is an assessment tool I find works effectively for peer assessment because it helps guide students in giving feedback.
Assessment of learning: Summative Assessment
Summative assessment is also an important component of the assessment process because it provides an opportunity for the students to demonstrate what they have learned. This information can be used by the teacher for future planning and communicating with parents. Assessment of learning is usually a final test, project, paper, etc, which are counted towards a grade. I agree with Black et al (2004), that “summative tests should become a positive part of the learning process (p. 16).” Some strategies to encourage this would be to have students create a rubric together for the final assessment, reflect on learning before reviewing, create test questions, self-assess and peer assess (Black, 2004, p.16). For final projects, I will provide examples of work that exceeded, met, and was approaching the standard. When the final assignment is complete, I will give constructive comments and the opportunity for students to make corrections for partial marks. Personally, I always learned more when there was an opportunity to improve my work.
Climbing up the Ladder
I think assessments are most effective when it requires students to climb up the ladder of Bloom’s Taxonomy to use higher-order thinking skills. For example, once students understand and remember how to solve subtraction with regrouping in math, after analyzing and evaluating, they should be able to create problems for their peers.
Motivation or Success?
Many teachers struggle with finding ways to motivate students, but we now know that it is not motivation that drives students to learn, but success and competence (Earl, 2006, p. 7). As a teacher, I intend to use formative assessment to encourage students in their accomplishments and guide them in their next steps towards reaching their goals. In addition, my lessons and assessments will be geared to my students’ interests. If they believe that what they are learning is relevant to their lives, they will be more intrinsically motivated.
Although it is important for all children to have experience taking tests and writing, I also believe that students learn in many different ways. In my class, students will be engaged in their learning and excited to work hard because they will have choice and ownership over their learning. I want each of my students to be successful, and I will do whatever it takes to help them reach their goals. If they succeed, they will believe in themselves, and if they are confident, they will strive to continue to learn — in whatever capacity that is. In my experience, I learned the most when I was given a choice to show my understanding in a creative way such as making a collage, doing a presentation, or making a video. I found writing papers stressful, and although I would excel on tests, I would not remember the information that I learned a week later.
Grades and Zeros
When students are assigned tasks, they often question themselves whether or not they can do it, or if it is worth the effort (Stiggins, 2006, p. 14). When the only feedback students receive are grades, students are not learning how to specifically improve their work, but instead compare themselves to others. Giving out zeros is highly demotivating for students, and can discourage future effort because it will be so hard for them to bring their grades back up. It teaches students to give up rather than how to learn (Stiggins, 2006, p. 14). In my class, I will provide only comments on student work and require rewrites or resubmissions. On the final submission, I will provide a grade which takes into consideration the effort and improvement of student work. I had two professors in university, that had us resubmit our papers because they believed in continual improvement and learning. This process was encouraging. I was motivated to work hard the first time, but was less stressed because there were still opportunities to improve.
Conclusion
I want my students to be responsible for their learning, to know their strengths and learning goals, so they can strive towards improvement independently. In my class, everyone is to be included and appreciated for what he/she has to offer to the learning environment. As a class, we will use our strengths to help each other improve. I believe all students have gifts and skills, they just need someone to believe in them, who will empower them - with the scaffolding they need, so they will believe that they can and will succeed. Teaching is more than just teaching content, creating tests, and giving out grades. Teaching is about knowing your students, helping them grow as a person and a learner along with teaching the essential learnings.
References
Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B., & Wiliam, D. (September 01, 2004). Working inside the Black Box: Assessment for Learning in the Classroom. Phi Delta Kappan, 86, 1, 8.
Cooper, D., & Catania, J. (2010). Talk about assessment: High school strategies and tools. Toronto, Ont.: Nelson Education.
Davis, A. Wiliam, D. Formative Assessment: An Essential Part of a Balanced Assessment Program. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://people.stu.ca/~raywilliams/6143/Formative Assessment Handout.pdf
Earl, L., & Katz, S. (2006, January 1). Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind. Retrieved January 17, 2015, from http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/assess/wncp/title.pdf
Stiggins, R. (2006). Assessment for Learning: A Key to Motivation and Achievement. Edge: The Latest Information for the Education Practitioner, 2(2), 1-20.
Three of my classmates and I made this interpretive silent short film for our Measurement and Evaluation at St. Thomas University.
Introduction to video
The focus of film is the comparison between assessment for learning, of learning, and as learning in both positive and negative connotations. In this film, Sébastien plays the role of the “bad” teacher who uses power and control to have students participate in learning. Graham, plays the role of the “good” teacher who provides a safe learning environment where cooperation is taught and encouraged. And finally, Kelsey and Rachel are the students in both classrooms.
This video illustrated how and how not to use the 3 forms of assessments in your class.
Introduction to video
The focus of film is the comparison between assessment for learning, of learning, and as learning in both positive and negative connotations. In this film, Sébastien plays the role of the “bad” teacher who uses power and control to have students participate in learning. Graham, plays the role of the “good” teacher who provides a safe learning environment where cooperation is taught and encouraged. And finally, Kelsey and Rachel are the students in both classrooms.
This video illustrated how and how not to use the 3 forms of assessments in your class.
Explication of video
The number 1s are the "how not to" examples in the video.
The number 2s are the "how to" examples in the video.
Assessment for learning (Formative): Math Class
1) Student effort is driven out of fear and students are punished for not having the correct answer.
2) More learning occurs when students are immersed in a positive learning environment where they are encouraged to work together in finding the answer to problems. Students are highly motivated and any mistakes can be used by the teacher to direct student learning rather than punishment.
Assessment of Learning (Summative): English Language Arts Class
1) Student learning is low on Bloom's Taxonomy by doing spelling test after spelling test. Students are just memorizing assigned words without having meaningful contexts to apply and use the words for deeper understanding.
2) Students enjoy directing their learning. Having choice assignments to learn and teach new words to their classmates is a richer and more engaging experience for students.
Assessment as Learning (self-evaluation/reflection): Science Class
1) Students are punished for being curious. They could not reflect on their learning because the time that should have been spent learning was spent in the corner.
2) Students want to be active learners and involved in the inquiry process. When they experience this, they can reflect on their learning which helps motivate students to take responsibility and ownership of their learning.
The number 1s are the "how not to" examples in the video.
The number 2s are the "how to" examples in the video.
Assessment for learning (Formative): Math Class
1) Student effort is driven out of fear and students are punished for not having the correct answer.
2) More learning occurs when students are immersed in a positive learning environment where they are encouraged to work together in finding the answer to problems. Students are highly motivated and any mistakes can be used by the teacher to direct student learning rather than punishment.
Assessment of Learning (Summative): English Language Arts Class
1) Student learning is low on Bloom's Taxonomy by doing spelling test after spelling test. Students are just memorizing assigned words without having meaningful contexts to apply and use the words for deeper understanding.
2) Students enjoy directing their learning. Having choice assignments to learn and teach new words to their classmates is a richer and more engaging experience for students.
Assessment as Learning (self-evaluation/reflection): Science Class
1) Students are punished for being curious. They could not reflect on their learning because the time that should have been spent learning was spent in the corner.
2) Students want to be active learners and involved in the inquiry process. When they experience this, they can reflect on their learning which helps motivate students to take responsibility and ownership of their learning.