When I first started this journey of exploring assessments I thought assessments were summed up using these three words: growth, progression, and measurement. I have now shifted my thinking a little after diving into assessments. I have a better understanding of what assessments are and the knowledge to create and integrate assessments into my classroom. I have looked at seven different topics surrounding assessment and in each area, I was able to gain and learn. On Twitter, I reflected on each of these topics and thought about what it means to assess.
Growth When I first wrote growth down I was so focused on students showing growth and mastering their topics, but what I didn't look at was how assessments help the teacher grow. Shepard discusses that assessment is not only used to monitor students learning but also to look at the teaching. Teachers can use assessments to grow and adjust their lessons to help the students. I also was impacted by Dylan William's video around using assessments to keep us on track. His analogy around the plane and how teachers just keep pushing through curriculum whether students know it or not doesn't work. He said using these assessments to keep them on track will help show growth both for the teacher and the students. While looking at growth, I created a checklist to help me look at assessments. The very first question is about seeing if they know the topic and does it allow an opportunity for me to adjust my teaching to help them grow. Progression This is very similar to growth when I first thought of assessment. I was focusing on students moving forward in their learning. Now I see progression as something else. I view it as a way to improve myself as a teacher when it comes to creating assessments. I can gather data from any number of things but is that fair and what is right for my students. Meyers et al. talks about making sure students have what is accessible for them and making sure it is the right method and materials for them. This made me think about how I do assessments and is that right. I want to progress my assessments into a more meaningful assessment for my student. This also brings in another point about the type of environment that I am creating. Does my environment meet the needs of my students and is it creating a place where they can thrive. Lederman discusses providing the students with a low-stake environment and helping them build competence. After reflecting more on progression, I feel this word needs to be changed to needs. As the teacher, I need to make sure I am providing for their needs and creating that right fight so my students can grow and do their best. Measurement --> Feedback In the beginning, I felt measurement for sure was a word to describe assessments and that is essentially what an assessment is. I am measuring how my student did and marking that down for myself and the students but I was wrong. Assessments are more on what are you doing with this information and that is where feedback comes in. In this tweet I discuss how I changed my word to feedback. Feedback is so important to your students' growth and what makes an assessment work! Nicol & Macfarlane says that with the right feedback students use this to determine if they need to adjust their goals, tactics, or strategies. By doing this they may revise their knowledge and become self-regulated(Nicol & Macfarlane, 2006). That is so powerful that with just the right feedback students can grow and become self-sufficient! Since I knew feedback was such a powerful tool, I revisited a project and created assessments where students were asking for feedback and receiving feedback. I focused on how feedback could help them improve and also help the teacher do better for them. Something with feedback that I think is important to remember is to be aware of how we are giving feedback. Nobody is perfect, even teachers and we all make mistakes and generalizations. Warikoo et al. point out that racial association can create certain feelings, generalizations, and evaluation and you are generally not even aware of these associations (2016). We need to be aware of our feelings and make sure those are not coming across on our feedback or assessments. Being able to look at assessments and dive into what it is was excellent! I know can see how I can inspire students, help students, and grow myself. Assessments are not just a check you got it done, it is helping your students be better learners. References: Lederman, D. (2020, July 22). Best way to stop cheating in online courses? 'Teach better'. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2020/07/22/technol Meyer, A. Rose, D.H., & Gordon, D. (2014). Universal Design for Learning: Theory and practice. CAST Nicol, D., & Macfarlane-Dick, D. (2006). Formative assessment and self-regulated learning: A model and seven principles of good feedback practice. Studies in Higher Education, 31(2), 199-218. Shepard, L. (2000). The role of assessment in a learning culture. Educational Researcher, 29(7), 4-14. Warikoo, N., Sinclair, S., Fei, J., & Jacoby-Senghor, D. (2016). Examining racial bias in education. Educational Researcher, 45(9), 508-514. https://journals-sagepub-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/doi/epub/10.3102/0013189X16683408
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I have been reflecting on one of the assessments that I use in Social Studies. After spending a lot of time reading and learning about assessments, I have started changing some of my assessments. When I started looking at this Social Studies project, I realized I was not giving enough feedback to help my students grow and learn. I realized at the end of the project students were missing the point and had many misconceptions. I knew I need to change this project and incorporate more formative assessments. Below you will find a link to my document of me working through the process of why and how I created my formative assessments.
Throughout creating this assessment, I grew in how I wanted to create this assessment. I started still thinking summative and not enough formative so I changed to smaller checkpoints for the students to receive feedback from myself, peers, and experts. Since I was using multiple sources for feedback I realized using a digital tool to help us keep feedback all in one place was the best solution. I have thought of many different tools that can help us achieve our goal. For feedback from experts, they could use Flipgrid or Padlet. These tools allow the experts to give feedback, but also access these tools from home and not be in the classroom. As the school year approaches, I am very excited to see how this project goes now that I have created checkpoints for my students. I am hoping to see a better understanding for my students. I will also be looking at what ways I can improve my feedback as we start the project and what is the best technology tool for this. When I started this journey to create a checklist for assessments, I didn't realize how many different factors go into creating an assessment. Throughout my reading, I have come across different methods, ways to give feedback, equity, and so much more. As I reflect on these questions I feel good about the six questions I have developed. Is there always room for more, yes, but I feel these six give a good overview on how we should create assessments.
This week I combined questions 1 and 5. I felt these two were very similar and could be brought together. Then I added a question about accessibility. I was inspired by reading a few articles about students cheating on tests and feeling the pressure to perform well. If students have an opportunity to show their learning and truly understand what they are expected to do this should not be a problem. Teachers should create a low-stakes environment where students feel they can mess up but learn and grow from that opportunity. The last question I added was about the biases that teachers have and being aware of them. You may think you don't have any, but we all do even if it is unintentional. The right thing to do is be aware of them so you can work to help yourself and your students. Here is my checklist. As I continue growing and learning as an educator, this checklist I'm sure will continue to grow with me. For today, I am happy with my six questions. As I continue to look into assessment, I focused this week on digital assessments and their tools. I want to explore different learning management systems and see what kind of affordance and constraints they had. I was very excited about this because when you are in the classroom teaching, you don't always have time to look at new tools to try and use. As I started looking at new tools and read about them, I realized how many issues stem around student's privacy.
A tool that I was thinking about using and wanting to try out was Class Dojo. In a New York Times article, they discussed how student privacy was an issue. There is a concern about how the data is being stored and what long-term effects it could have on the students. This is making me think about how I am using this tool and is this the right tool for my classroom. Often we use the technology for ease of communication and efficiency of it but we don't think long term of where is this data going and how it could be used. Another issue I say arising in my research was the concern about cheating and privacy when it comes to online test-taking. As a lower elementary teacher, I did not realize this was such a huge issue for both the teacher and the student. I was blown away when I read the blog post by Zoe Fisher. Students are being asked to show their surroundings and record themselves taking the test. It monitors how they are looking and will flag them if they look suspicious. I was a little agitated by reading this because before my students go into a test I know which ones are going to do well and which ones will struggle because of the conversations and data I have from them throughout that unit. I read an article by Doug Lederman that described how we as teachers need to do better so that students don't feel they need to cheat. That was my mindset going into this and that is why I was so surprised about this concern about cheating. If we are doing what we need to do to prepare the students for this test, they should have to feel they need to cheat to succeed. In my last blog post, I created an assessment tool on Google Classroom. After looking over the research I did this week and the feedback I received, I feel I am creating a safe place for my students to receive feedback and not have to worry about cheating and needing to monitor them. I have created a rubric that allows students to see where they need to be a strive for that. I am curious after reading about how data is stored about if the rubric that I use is stored somewhere and that will be saved for that student. I do feel a rubric versus a recording of my student or knowing where they going is more of a privacy issue than a graded rubric. But even then I plan on looking into how it is stored for my student. I do want to see how I can use this assessment I created once I have a class again. I am looking at ways I can use the rubric in pieces to give feedback on one topic versus the whole rubric so I can adjust my lessons and the students can adjust their work and not wait till the end. I think I may have to go outside of Google Classroom and use the same rubric to give feedback on just the introduction. Once I figure this out with my students and being back in the classroom, I will update you on what changes and additions I have made. Fisher, Z. (2017, October 9). Have we confused surveillance with assessment of student learning? [blog post]. QuickAskZoe.com. https://quickaskzoe.com/2017/10/09/have-we-confused-surveillance-with-assessment-of-student-learning/. Lederman, D. (2020, July 22). Best way to stop cheating in online courses? 'Teach better'. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2020/07/22/technology-best-way-stop-online-cheating-no-experts-say-better?_ga=2.8007921.2111774729.1595514669-139725419.1594257992. Singer, N. (2014, November 16). Privacy concerns for ClassDojo and other tracking apps for schoolchildren. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/17/technology/privacy-concerns-for-classdojo-and-other-tracking-apps-for-schoolchildren.html What if you could create a digital rubric for both you and your students to use? Google Classroom had you covered! No more printing, carrying them home, and marking all the pages. Google Classroom has a new feature where you can embed your rubric right into the students' assignment. Students have access to the rubric and can see exactly what is being required of them. They have it right there for them to reference. No more losing their rubric and asking you for a new one. Students can take charge of their learning and see what they need to do. Then when they turn in the assignment, you have a rubric for you to grade. Students can get feedback and see what areas they need to improve or see where they are succeeding. Check out the video below to see how the rubric works and some thoughts I have about it. I have added my last question to my checklist but, is only having five questions enough? As I wrapped up my final question, I can think of many other factors you as the teacher need to think about to make your assessments strong and worthwhile. My other four questions focused on how the assessment is written and what it can do for the student but not what it can do for the teacher.
This week I decided to add a question that is directed more at the teacher than the student. In both Understanding by Design model and Universal Design for Learning model, the authors Meyer et al. (2014) and Wiggins & McTighe (2005) argue taking the information you gather from your assessment and using that information to guide and change your lessons. The reason you want to look at your assessment results is to gauge the effectiveness of your lessons. You want to make sure students are mastering what you are asking of them. If you continue to look at assessments where students are not mastering the topic you need to reflect on your instruction and see are you designing your lessons and curriculum properly. Part of my checklist is asking students to be reflective and see how they can improve and set new goals. Since I am asking that of them, I also need to be asking that of myself. As a learner, you need to always be reflecting and gauging your work. By reflecting on my lessons and making changes, I am modeling to my students to monitor their progress and learning as well. Meyer, A. Rose, D.H., & Gordon, D. (2014). Universal Design for Learning: Theory and practice. CAST Wiggins, G.P. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/lib/michstate-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3002118 I am continuing my assessment checklist with two more questions this week. I wanted to focus on creating goals and having more than one opportunity to show your understanding.
Goals are super important in my classroom and a way that I support my learners. I wanted to make sure that I am also turning to goals when students are being assessed. Goals should not just drive your instruction but should also drive your feedback with assessments. As an adult, you are constantly readjusting and creating goals for yourself based on evaluation, how something went, or something you need to accomplish. This should be the same for students of any age. Lastly, I wanted to make sure students had an opportunity to see growth. So often you are rushing through your material that the minute you find a way to improve or go beyond you can't because you are onto the next thing. As an educator, you need to show students there is value in growing and reflecting on where you are as a learner. Here are the two new questions on my checklist. Hopefully, you will find some value in this checklist as well. Math assessments are given throughout the year to assess where the students are with their learning. One type of math assessment used is the Everyday Mathematics end-of-the-unit test. This is a math curriculum used in K-6 using a scoop and sequence method for students to learn and understand math concepts. Through my CEP 813 class at MSU, I have been diving into assessments and looking at how assessments are used, how the information from the assessment is used to inform instruction, and do we need to look at these assessments more critically. I will be using the Unit 1 Everyday Mathematics assessment to look at. This year, I have been changing the format of the assessment to create a more conversational, formative test than a summative test that students don’t get feedback on and don’t learn and grow from it. How this assessment works is the teacher and students go over the lessons and after they have completed that unit’s lessons they take an assessment to see how well they retained the knowledge. The reason I am changing it is once the students take the test they get their score and then nothing is done with that material and that is not constructive for the teacher or the student. Here is a copy of the Unit 1 assessment for you to see. My team and I have added our math standards on this test. The original copy does not have those standards. I have been creating an Assessment Design Checklist to see how the assessments I use, measure up. I want to take a deeper look at this assessment and see what more I can do to change it and make it more teacher and student-friendly. Is this assessment showing me what my learner has learned? Yes, these assessments show me what the learner is learning. I can look at each question and tell whether my student understands that topic or not. But sometimes, these assessments lack in covering all the standards I am required to teach my students. There are two units that I have added a problem in to make sure I am testing my students on all the standards. Since this curriculum is a scope and sequence on the assessments I will be able to reevaluate my students on a topic we covered previously in the year and see how they are doing. This is a positive because Bennett (2011) states that you should have multiple data points on the topic to see how the students are progressing. This is a problem for my topics that are not revisited and I don’t get multiple data points on them. For example, I only touch on perimeter and area once over the entire year and don’t assess them again. Am I able to give descriptive feedback to the student to either help or push their thinking? With the way this assessment is designed, no I am not able to give feedback to the student. Since I created a checklist for this year, I can give some feedback but I am looking at how I can improve it, even more, to give more feedback to my students. I can give feedback to help them but I can not give feedback to push their thinking. This is where this assessment is lacking for feedback. Black & William (1998) stated that giving feedback to pupils will help advice on what he or she can improve on. This is why this assessment needs to be changed so the student has that feedback so they can grow and improve. As I consider ways to improve my assessment I also want to look at how can I make this assessment digital. Given this past year, teachers had to redesign a lot of their work and assessments to make it work with virtual learning. Math I feel is one of the harder subjects to turn digital but it can be done. With math assessments, you need to think of platforms that will allow your students to show their work. I believe posting each question on Seesaw and allow them a place to draw and write their answers would work. You could also you Nearpod and achieve the same thing. You could also consider a video option to allow the students to show their work and explain what they did out loud to solve it. This could be done over Flipgrid, Educreation, and Seesaw or any other video recording option. Having students explain their work and thinking could add an extra level to their learning and understanding which a paper and pencil test doesn’t give you. This gives me something to think about but will save that for another post. Black, P. & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the black box: Raising standards through classroom assessment. The Phi Delta Kappan, 80(2), 139-144, 146-148. Shepard, L. (2000). The role of assessment in a learning culture. Educational Researcher, 29(7), 4-14. When you think of tests, you think of an assessment to see whether someone knows how to do it or not. Your goal is to pass the test and show that you know how to do it. Do you ever give any thought to how the test was written and what work went into it? The answer is probably no.
As a teacher, I need to think about what tests I am giving my students and if they are doing their job. Both the student and the teacher's time is precious and you don't want to waste everyone's time by giving a test that is not doing its job. I have started drafting a checklist to go over the assessment I give students. I am looking at both summative and formative assessments through this checklist. Some questions may apply to both or only one. As a teacher, we are constantly assessing our students and making sure they are where they need to be. As a third-grade teacher, I use more summative assessments than formative assessments to gauge where my students are. Something that I started doing last year was giving exit slips after each lesson to see where my students are.
I started implementing this type of assessment after I went to an assessment literacy training. The main goals here are: how is the information we are gathering used, how can we provide opportunities for students to communicate their thinking, and how can we provide feedback for students. So, I started creating checks after each main lesson when I was teaching a new standard/learning target. I created checks for each one of the main subjects I teach. I would present the I can statement(s) on the topic so students knew what it is they were showing me. I also include a rubric so they could see the expectation, as well as, a way for me to provide feedback. This was helpful to me, so I could give real-time feedback in the moment and provide an opportunity for us to improve and grow in their learning. Character Traits and Change Check After reflecting on my assessments, I feel there are many positives to this type of assessment. I can see at that moment what my students can do or not do. I can assess whether they need to be retaught or just a little support. I can give support and feedback like ideas and theories behind social constructivist. By providing the students that feedback I can help them grow as learners as reach their potential. This assessment is limiting by giving them a rubric and not allowing them to think outside the rubric. I feel this is where Skinner's behaviorism comes into play and I am conditioning students to only do what is expected of them and nothing more. I am now thinking about how can I adjust that and possibly make changes to my checks. In a previous reflection about assessments, I wrote that assessments are growth, progression, and measurement. I feel this check can do all three of those. I can measure my student's abilities, we can grow within this check, and the goal with this check is we will make progress and show progression. |