What's in an assessment?

January 12, 2016

Day 197 as an Oklahoma Teacher

    What's in an assessment? A test by any other name would still be a test. Students have to deal with all sorts of assessments:  EOI, ACT, unit test, semester tests, reading tests, weekly tests, writing tests, AP tests, and other tests throughout school. Students are tested so much that they don't value the curriculum. It's just about the test and the test score that will get them scholarships in college. This week, I had a student say that this semester does not matter as much because students have already been admitted to college. The counselor is going to come in and talk with my classes because they don't understand that the colleges don't have the official transcripts, senior English has to be passed to graduate, and if the GPA is affected, then potential scholarships could be lost. It also relates to what Jennifer Williams has noticed with her students. Students don't value the learning; they value the grade they earn. I have some ideas about assessments and how we can show students the value of learning the material.
     The first one is called the Take Ten Assessments. These assessments are not graded but are warm-up exercises used for reviewing or introducing new material. Some of these assessments include commit & toss, four-corners, elevator speeches, tweet-pair-share, or editing islands. Use it for the first ten minutes of class. The second one is the Take Charge Assessments. In my opinion, students should have choices about what kind of assessments they will do to show what was learned in the lesson. If students have the power of choice, they have the power to learn. Some of these assessments include Socratic discussions, Create questions and use the ACE strategy (answer, cite, & explain), source cards & note cards, fish bowl, and "Act It Out!" All of these ideas cover reading, writing, speaking, listening, and vocabulary skills. The last one is called Takedown Assessments which are used at the end of the unit. These ideas include presentations using technology, creating board games, writing essays, or project-based learning. Repetition and consistency is essential when learning and remembering skills, and tests should have a purpose and not just for a reason.

Adieu!