Assessment My favorite topic (after grammar, of course)

Assessment/Evaluation Assessment refers to the process of gathering information or measuring the presence or absence of something. Evaluation refers to the process of interpreting and making judgments about evidence gathered in assessments.

Some basic assessment principles: Assessment should focus on measurement of important and worthwhile goals and objectives (not just stuff that’s easy to measure). Effective assessment requires that the teacher use a variety of procedures (education is complex!) Assessment requires adequate sampling – it needs to be frequent and on-going. Assessment should be equitable and fair! Assessment should inform teaching.

Just because you “teach it,” doesn’t mean they will “learn it.” You need to decide on important goals for teaching your subject (think of the Stiggins learning targets/your developing philosophy of education), and focus on these when you teach and assess.

Learning is complex State tests and other high stakes tests will only measure certain skills, usually those that are the least complex to measure. So... You want to identify clear objectives that focus on what you think students should know and should be able to do, and then plan assessments to measure these objectives. That last minute test won’t cut it!

Assessment options: You have lots of assessment options. What are they? What are the benefits/limitations of these?

A note on essays Essays are powerful, because they can assess complex and higher-level objectives. They call on students to apply, analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and/or CREATE! They probe more deeply and can highlight what a student knows. Challenges? Scoring, writing challenges, writing style, time, b.s. factor, subjectivity.

Precision is key Write an essay in which you discuss the chromosome hypothesis and the gene theory. Write an essay, about five pages in length, in which you compare and contrast the chromosome hypothesis and gene theory. In your answer, provide specific references to a.) essentials of each position, b.) modifications that have been made to each position since it was initially adopted, and c.) strengths and weaknesses that have been attributed to each view by leading experts.

Authentic assessments Evaluations are based on evidence gained from the actual performance of “authentic” or “real” tasks. Instead of hypothetical problems, students solve real problems. Advocates point out that these assessments should be related to life beyond the classroom. Also, many pathways can lead to success – differentiated assessment These are usually complex, and require multiple steps, as well as clear instructions and... Revision! Can be subjective, time consuming, difficult to develop, scoring is challenging (check-lists or rubrics work best)

Rubrics When attempting to make sense and make clear complex behaviors, you want to articulate some guidelines and standards. Rubrics contain guidelines that detail “acceptable evidence” for making a judgment about student work. Holistic rubric Analytical rubric Challenge: They are difficult to construct and explain to students, they are very time consuming.

Checklists! Evaluative checklists: Checklists require a clear understanding of your expectations, but they allow greater flexibility. There are few degrees of performance variability expected. Negotiate with students and assign points. Portfolios provide tangible evidence for students that they are learning and making progress. Can motivate students, and make them feel like your partners in their own learning.

Standardized Assessments The purpose of these tests is to assess the performance of a large number of individuals from a variety of different backgrounds on a similar trait or characteristic. They measure both achievement (compares student learning) and aptitude (measures potential ability or capacity to learn). These are usually developed by for profit companies, they are well-written by “experts,” tested, and revised. Challenges: mismatch between curricular objectives of national audience and local schools, bias, coaching (cheating), and testing conditions.

Grading Grading – one process of communicating the evaluation (judgment) to students – -Does the grade provide valuable information? How objective is the grade? How clearly can you articulate this (most grading ability comes with experience, much of this is difficult to articulate – tacit).

Criteria Norm-referenced evaluation: bell curve – “grading on the curve,” based on the assumption that given traits will be distributed in a predictable way. Criterion-referenced evaluation: performance of an individual is compared to a standard, or specific criteria, related to the objectives established for a class. (targets) Negotiated criteria

A grading plan Devise sources of evidence you can use in your grading plan: Homework, major projects, test scores, lab. Projects, student portfolios, oral presentations, class participation, student reflections. How much weight will you give each one?

The assessment layer Design an assessment plan for your unit. Identify at least 3 objectives and state the assessment technique you will use and how you will specifically implement it. Construct some sample test questions, and essay question, develop a sample rubric or check-list, define some authentic assessment tasks you could use in this unit, and tie this to your philosophy of education and how this will influence how you assess/evaluate/grade your students.