Entry #6: Assessing Student Learning
Dear Diary,
This week's reading focused on effective ways to teach and assess student learning. The chapter begins with a very thought-provoking question, "In teaching lessons, units, and courses, how do you know where you are going and whether or not you and your students are getting there?" The text suggests that the answer to this question starts with being intentional regarding "high-quality instruction" (Slavin, 2020). In a sense, this challenges teachers to thoroughly dissect standards, and begin with an end goal in mind - standards should drive instruction, and assessments should accurately measure what they require. Another statement that supports this idea is "a teacher is like a wilderness guide with a troop of tenderfeet. If you do not have a map or a plan for getting the group where it needs to go, the whole group will surely be lost (Slavin, 2020). Once the actual content itself is understood, teachers should begin the planning process using lesson objective(s), which steer the direction of the lesson.
Lesson objectives should include conditions for how students will be assessed, and action verbs that explain what students are expected to do. Objectives should be specific, clearly written to "promote comprehension" (Slavin, 2020) and ensure students understand the goal upon completion of lessons or units (Slavin, 2020). Taxonomies, or instructional objectives, have greatly influenced practices in education (Slavin, 2020). For example, Bloom's Taxonomy, developed by Benjamin Bloom and other researchers, explains how to use organized objectives. Ideally, these objectives range from more simple tasks or ideas, to more complex ones (Slavin, 2020). Bloom suggests elements of objectives should occur in the following order:
1. Knowledge or Recall, described as the lowest level. Here is where students memorize simple facts, formulas, or definitions (Slavin, 2020).
2. Comprehension is the element in which students illustrate their understanding of a topic or objective through their ability to use it (Slavin, 2020).
3. Application involves students' abilities to actually apply the learned objective(s) to solve problems (Slavin, 2020).
4. Analysis is the element that "requires students to see the underlying structure of complex information or ideas" (Slavin, 2020).
5. Synthesis is the element that challenges students to make new connections and discoveries. It involves "using skills to create completely new products" (Slavin, 2020).
6. Evaluation requires students to make valuable "judgements against some criterion or standard" (Slavin, 2020). Evaluations are essential not only for assessing how much a student knows regarding a particular standard, but they also serve the purpose of aiding in growth academically. Like objectives, evaluations should be specific to accurately measure students' weaker performance areas.
Two specific types of assessments are formative and summative. Formative assessments occur more frequently, and are used to reveal strengths and weaknesses between the beginning and end of the course of instruction. Summative assessments are less frequent, and measure how much as student has learned after course objectives have been taught (Slavin, 2020). Criteria for constructing assessments are as follows:
1. They should accurately measure learning objectives.
2. They should be an accurate representation of the learning tasks (or more formative assessments) assigned throughout lessons.
3. Assessment item/question formatting should be appropriate for "measuring the desired learning outcome" (Slavin, 2020). In other words, consider the depth of knowledge for each question, and determine the most appropriate question type, such as true/false, multiple choice, or short answer.
4. Assessments should directly measure the intended learning objectives and standards, not previously taught material.
5. Assessments should be reliable.
6. Assessments should improve learning by accurately depicting weaknesses. Results should create opportunities for reteaching and lesson modifications to clear any misconceptions.
Grading assessments should convey the quality of work, and level of understanding related to concepts that have been taught. It is suggested for students earning letter grades, that their meanings be included for easy interpretation:
A - "Exceptional" (Slavin, 2020).
B - "Very good, above average" (Slavin, 2020).
C - "Competent, average" (Slavin, 2020).
D - "Serious weaknesses, below average" (Slavin, 2020).
F - "Failure to pass" (Slavin, 2020).
Grade systems typically vary between lower and higher levels of education. While all assessments and forms of grading are vital, they should be an accurate account for what students have accomplished in class.
Reflection:
As a veteran teacher, there was a lot of insight offered on how to accurately teach and assess students. The common theme throughout the chapter readings in this text has been "being an intentional teacher". Regardless of years of experience in the classroom, there is always a level of improvement regarding best practices for teaching and learning.
Takeaways that I can immediately implement into my own learning environments include:
1. Displaying learning objectives in a specific, student-friendly language encourages academic ownership. Students can gauge, or take some responsibility for their strengths and weaknesses. Creating a rubric of "I can" statements or learning objectives may also be helpful towards helping students keep a record of what they know, and what they need additional assistance with.
2. Being more intentional about making sure tasks and assignments align with the level of rigor illustrated on my assessments.
3. Creating an anchor chart displaying letter grades along with their meanings. This strategy is great for encouraging students to be accountable for their learning as well. It would offer a more detailed explanation for their performances in class.
Reference
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