#7 Assessing Student Learning
Description
The ability
to assess student learning stems from knowing what the learning objective is
and how to assess it (Slavin, 2018). Assessment can be formal or informal and
should guide instruction (Slavin, 2018).
Analysis
Instructional
objectives can be described as the goal of the lesson or what you want the
students to be able to know or do (Slavin, 2018). A teacher can have general
learning objectives for a unit and a learning objective specific to one lesson.
The objective usually clearly states how it will be measured (Slavin, 2018). There
will be a condition stated for the measurement used, an action verb, and the
criterion for successful completion (Slavin, 2018).
To write
specific and measurable goals, teachers can look at performing a task analysis
(Slavin, 2018). A skill can be decomposed into prerequisite skills and
component skills that need to be addressed and combined for understanding of
the learning skill (Slavin, 2018). Backward planning is taking a broad
objective and narrowing it down to a specific behavioral objective (Slavin,
2018). It is much like planning for a year, units, and lessons.
When
assessing students, it is a best practice to link the learning objective to
what is being assessed. Assess what is taught and at the level of understanding
that it was taught (Slavin, 2018). Bloom’s Taxonomy has six levels of
understanding that should be taken into consideration for the lesson content
and measurement. Each level is not for every purpose and the developmental
level of students should be taken into consideration (Slavin, 2018). 1)
Knowledge (recall); 2) Comprehension-understand and use it; 3) Application- use
to solve real-world problems; 4) Analysis-look for patterns; 5) Synthesis- create
something new; 6) Evaluation-judge against a standard (Slavin, 2018). A
behavior content matrix can be used to map out how to meet students at
different levels (Slavin, 2018).
Research
on instructional objects shows that student’s reading and math scores were
level with the degree they were tested (Slavin, 2018). Objectives help teachers
plan, guide evaluation, and improve student achievement (Slavin, 2018). They
should be broad enough to cover what was taught. Teachers need to check for
understanding by evaluating learning and giving feedback to students and
parents. Evaluations are used for placement, entrance to universities, and employer
requirement. The feedback can let students know what they need to work on and
inform teachers on the effectiveness of instruction (Slavin, 2018). The information
from evaluations can be used to inform parents on student progress and as a means
for reinforcement at home (Slavin, 2018). In the classroom, evaluations can be
used to inform groups for advancement or remediation. It can also hold teachers,
schools, and districts accountable (Slavin, 2018).
There are
different types of assessments to evaluate student learning: formative, summative,
norm-referenced, criterion-referenced evaluations. Formative assessment is given
more frequently to gauge how students are understanding concepts in incremental
stages; feedback should be quick and used to improve instruction and student
understanding (Slavin, 2018). Summative assessments are given at the end of the
unit and should be tied to the more frequent formatives and learning objectives
(Slavin, 2018). Norm-referenced assessments compare students with other students
of similar demographic groups (Slavin, 2018). Criterion-referenced assessments
focus on master of specific skills, they can be stand alone assessments or
questions within the state-mandated test (Slavin, 2018). Formative assessment
are usually criterion referenced and summative can be either norm or criterion
(Slavin, 2018).
Student
achievement is higher when students receive immediate feedback (Slavin, 2018, p.351).
Students can reflect on learning and focus on improvement. Teachers need to
make sure feedback is frequent, when formative assessments are given (Slavin,
2018). Awards can be given as incentives in the classroom or at home when
parents are involved (Slavin, 2018). Students should know their strengths and
weaknesses and even how they compare to others. Summative assessments should
reflect the formative assessments in format and level of understanding (Slavin,
2018).
To
construct an effective achievement test, teachers need to keep six things in
mind. 1) Achievement tests should measure learning objectives that are aligned
to instructional objectives; 2) Achievement tests tasks should represent a
sample of learning tasks and should not trick/surprise students; 3) Achievement
tests items should be appropriate for what is being tested; 4) Achievement
tests should test based on specific data collected (recent-formative, broad
concepts- summative); 5) Achievement tests should be reliable but recognized as
just one data point; 6) Achievement tests are meant to improve learning
(Slavin, 2018). Using a table of specifications can help with test creation but
categorizing objectives and their level of understanding (Slavin, 2018). It is
a tool to aid in test creation. Selective response test items should be clear
and not confuse students, such as multiple-choice, true/false, and matching items
(Slavin, 2018). These types of questions can easily allow to guess, so it is important
to also give constructed response or essay items (Slavin, 2018). When adding constructed
response items, it is best practice that students have had formative assessments
that were also constructive response (Slavin, 2018). Students should be given
adequate time to respond to essay items and directions should be clear and to
allow students to know what is expected of an exemplar essay (Slavin, 2018). A
rubric is a great resource for students. Teachers should give feedback for students
to improve when essays are given as a formative assessment (Slavin, 2018). Peer
evaluations can help students improve writing as well as problem solving
assessments (Slavin, 2018).
Real
means of documenting student learning is accomplished through authentic,
portfolio, and performance assessments (Slavin, 2018). These are ways for student
to demonstrate real learning that is not so formal. According to Slavin (2018),
some examples of authentic learning are a longer passage to show deeper
understanding (reading), experiments (science), complex physical problems that
require creativity (math), and writing real letters or newspaper articles (p.368).
Portfolios allow students to collect work samples that can show improvement/progress
over time and are a great tool for communicating with parents and allowing students
to self-reflect (Slavin, 2018). Performance assessments allow students to
demonstrate knowledge or skills in real life (Slavin, 2018). They are only
effective if students have a broad understanding of a topic (Slavin, 2018). Scoring
rubrics should be provided well in advance for students to know what is
expected and how they will be evaluated (Slavin, 2018). Students can be
evaluated using technology through digital games and simulations (Slavin,
2018).
Grades have
been used for along time as a form of feedback, although they can be a confusing
form of feedback. The meaning of grades should be given and reflect the level
of student effort and understanding (Slavin, 2018). Sometimes student grades are
more a reflection of the level of difficulty of a test (Slavin, 2018). Absolute
grading is criterion-referenced grading and relative grading is given according
to student rank in class (Slavin, 2018). This can cause undo competition which can
harm peer collaboration (Slavin, 2018). Scoring rubric should define
expectations. Other alternative grading systems are contract grading, mastery
grading, and grades that reflect improvement and effort (Slavin, 2018). Grade weights
for report cards should reflect what is most important to the
teacher/school/district (Slavin, 2018). Grades should never be a surprise and prior
communication should have happened between parent(s)/student/teacher on how to
improve grades (Slavin, 2018).
Reflection
My main
source of assessing student learning is using formative assessments. In the
past, I have used spiral reviews to access how much students have retained
overtime. I have used questioning as quick check and to encourage engagement
since I pull sticks so students do not know when they will be called on. I have
used weekly quizzes, but I have not graded the quizzes with the class. I have
learned it is better to grade the quizzes immediately so students will get the
feedback they need on their strengths and weaknesses. This is something I will
do moving forward. I have used student journals to allow students to self-reflect
on the learning objective, and it was usually in the form of an exit ticket.
Most of my exit tickets are open-ended questions that tie directly to the
learning objective. I will call randomly on students to share their responses
and I will give immediate feedback or even call on another student to expound
on the response given. The only downside to this has been that students who
struggle with writing seem to never finish their response before the bell
rings. I plan to periodically offer Flipgrid to record their responses, but I
do not rely solely on this, because my assessments have written responses to them.
I do want
to be more creative with my assessments by having more authentic assessments. Our
school mandated we use the assessments from the curriculum that was adopted, and
they are the same format (matching, short answer, and claim-evidence-reasoning
responses. This year, I will be the gifted and talented teacher, so I plan to
have a variety of assessments, such as projects, portfolios to document our
discovery days on the hiking trails, and performance tasks. I will provide
rubrics so students will know exactly what will be graded and expected. I want
my students to be involved with parent/teacher conferences so the portfolio will
help facilitate the student-led conferences.
I plan to
be very selective when I write assessments to pay attention that they reflect
the learning target and what was taught in class. I want my assessments to also
reflect the style of teaching. I will not be grading in the traditional sense,
but I want my students to get the feedback necessary for improvement. I hope by
using alternative ways of assessment, students and parents will get an accurate
picture of what the student can do and how much growth they have made.
References
Slavin,
R. E. (2018). Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice (12th ed.).
Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
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