Assessment+for+learning

Staff: Kevin Stedman and myself are at Saginaw Valley attending an ACT Workshop. I have set up this wikispace in lieu of a traditional staff meeting. Here is your assignment:

1. View Video: Chapter 2: Assessment for Learning - Assessment FOR/OF Learning A Hopeful Vision of the Future(10 min.)

2. On Own: A. Read Chapter 2 Page 29 - 47

B. Respond to one of the following questions as a wiki contributor on this page sometime this week. Formulate your answer to correspond with your content area and teaching practices. Please sign your name to your response.


 * The premise of this Chapter reflects upon the difference between formative assessment and summative assessment. What does the author believe students need to know in order for them to monitor their work?
 * What does the author think the impact of using formative assessments will have upon students?

//As media specilaist I rely totally on formative assesment, mostly on the spot feedback from students, when I evaluate whether I am getting my messages across. The goal being that the students express competancy as we progress. This allows for both myself and the student(s) to adjust method and message as needed. In the words of the author the student "gets frequent and specific feedback on performance". - wilson

In my Spanish classes, students need to know what progress looks like. If they know what the goals are, and I am specific as to what they need to do/improve upon to get there, they can more effectively monitor their work, behaviors, and study skills. Assessment for learning also helps students make connections from prior objectives to new objectives because they keep working with the past material in order to progress. The idea of formative assessment plays a key role in learning a foreign language because students slowly progress (at different rates) of fluency. A student doesn't graduate from the novice level of fluency and move on to the intermediate level in a single day. Instead, it is all about slowly progressing. Therefore, students need to know what it means to progress and what progress looks like and how to achieve it. -Scott Hemker

The author believes that the impact formative assessment has on students will aid them in communicating to others about their own profress. In addition, there is strong evidence that formative assessment is tied to improved achievement, especially among the lowest achievers.-Gary

After this weeks BIT meeting I want to respond to some very legitimate concerns stated by our staff representatives about our assessment series and my decision to make this series a theme this fall. On the one hand I realize that there have been many changes with the trimester. It's a lot of work, and not knowing how curriculum will play out with the given amount of time we have is a critical question. I know for some of you, not knowing outcomes is frustrating and upsetting. I also know that i had a choice to use assessment as a focus this fall or not. As I reviewed the MIFramework and our MME results, it was apparent that we were in great need of work on assessment and continued school improvement. It also revealed that our building had not had long term professional development that was not stop gap and fleeting in nature. I owned that and I began to look for professional development that can make a difference. When I began to look into Stiggin's Assessment for Learnring, it seemed to me that by using some of the ideas that he has put together, we can make a difference - especially with our more needier students. I don't see assessment initiative as just another new theory that will go away in a couple of years. I believe that by improving how we use assessments in our day to day instruction we will motivate students to perform at higher achievement levels. My intention was and is not to overburden staff with tasks outside of our staff meetings. But I feel like the scientist that sees in the middle of an experimental trial that Pill A is saving lives, that he needs to junk the experiment and pass out pill A. Status quo isn't enough anymore. Working to align expectations, working to be as affective as possible in the classroom - helping students become as motivated as possible is critical, and Assessments for Learning addresses these areas.

I have just read Chapter 2 and I'm not convinced that I truly understand the difference between "for learning" and "of learning". In my classroom, at the beginning of each unit of study I spend time going over the goals of the unit. During each class period, through our discussions and work assigned I am always assessing how the students are doing on those goals and how I can reteach or present in a different way for the students to better grasp the material. I also emphasize to the students why they are being taught this material and why/how learning this will benefit their lives. Several varying activities comprise my units and are followed by a cumulative test or project. So, I'm guessing along the way I do both "for learning" and "of learning." - Chris McJ//

For class assessments, I have used the "of learning" format for my entire teaching career. Switching a mathematics class to a "for learning" atmosphere seems a daunting task. My students have a tendency to try something once and that is it. If they are successful on the first shot, then they move on and never look back. If they are not successful on the first shot, then they move on and never look back. We had a pre-test last week a day before my "of learning" test. I think the pre-test fits into the "for learning" assessment. Many students did not attempt the pre-test, but instead waited for the answers after it was done. The test was filled with over half of the questions taken from the pre-test. How can they get so many incorrect?? I do not think the pre-test motivated them to study the items they needed for the test. Help!! Maybe chapter 3 will solve all of my problems.--Steve Kelly

Disciple Based Art Education (DBAE) has been a standard in many art programs. This approach advocates self assessment as does Chapter 2. Assessment provides feedback to the student. And it fosters the "belief that success in learning is achievable." Following each project, we meet to assess based on the grading criteria given at the time the project was assigned. The students write out their assessment and then give it orally in a group of their peers. - Karen

In Physical Education class we monitor and chart skills. The student can readily see how much they have improved each day. In Weight Lifting class the students record their maximums and strive to improve for each lift. These students are also monitored on agility drills so that each student can see their improvement weekly. The skills necessary to succeed in CPR/First Aid are taught in a progressive manner. Each skill builds upon the skill previously learned, so the students can readily see their success. Kathy H

Hi Steve, your response gives me good feedback. I think the point of this chapter is that it begins to highlight the fact that we can gain student achievement gains by thinking about for learning assessments and how they might play in individual classrooms. Do you think that some classes may derive more benefit from for learning than others? TS