What is the role of assessment in learning? Is assessment a tool for the teacher or student? How can assessment be both?
It seems that assessment was really pushed only within the past 2 decades or so. I remember reading somewhere that it really took off in the 90's. Is that true? Hmmm.
I see the role of assessment in learning as a way to measure learning. Rubrics come to mind. In the lesson rewrite assignment we just completed, the original lesson plan contained a rubric that teachers would use to assess student essays. It spelled out what elements an advanced essay contained, what a proficient essay contained and what a basic essay contained. Other grading rubrics might be something like, if a student gets 5 out of 5, that's an A, 4 out 5, B, 3 out of 5 C, etc.
Assessment is a tool for both the teacher and the student. When the teacher assesses student learning, they can (hopefully) see if the students are actually "getting" what they are trying to get across when they teach. Whether the students are gaining knowledge or understanding requires different assessment tools, I imagine. For instance, out UbD text talks about "authentic" assessment for student understanding as opposed to mere knowledge gain.
It is a tool for students in that students can see if they are really learning what is being taught. This probably goes without saying, but I think assessment is more valuable to a student in the form of an evaluation as opposed to just giving out a grade. Students learn more about their own learning when a written evaluation is provided. Assessment of teachers by students also comes to mind in the form of surveys, such as good ol' SOTEs.
I think we're all on the same page when it comes to thinking about assessments. It appears that we all think assessments are important for gauging if students are "getting" it. But the pressure of mandatory graded assessments defeat the purpose because students are either too worried about a grade or as I mentioned in my post, teachers are forced to spend time teaching students "how to test" to meet state standards.
ReplyDelete"It seems that assessment was really pushed only within the past 2 decades or so. I remember reading somewhere that it really took off in the 90's."
ReplyDeleteI would really like to see this if you could find it! Perhaps it is focusing on the standardized testing sort of assessment? Otherwise, I can't imagine any teaching ever took place without at least some sort of informal assessment.
But of course formalized, evaluated assessment is what we usually think of, and you pointed out a real problem from the student perspective - the pressure of being graded and the test environment. I talked about this too in my criticism that often assessment just measures how well students are at taking tests.
It occurs to me that from a teacher's perspective, sometimes this grade causes pressure too because it is always an evaluation that needs to be justified. In this way, teacher comments have to support the case for the grade. As a result, I notice I tend to make more negative comments (i.e. point out what needs work) on essays than positive (although time does also play a role).
I knew I might get into trouble for saying that. ;) Oh yes, I know you're absolutely right that there always has been assessment, in some form. I wish I could remember where I got that. I can't really back it up right now, but I have this memory of sitting in a meeting about 10 years ago and every other word that came out was "assessment." If I find anything, I'll let you know.
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