Data. Assessment. Standards. All of these terms draw groans and eye-rolling from many educators. I know – because I used to be one of those educators.
Today, I am in the throes of completing my ninth course of my doctorate degree, finishing up the last assignment in a class called “Assessment Strategies.” I love learning, and I have recently become more open to looking at data and considering assessments, so I wasn’t groaning or rolling my eyes at the start of the term. However – and THIS is how I know God’s plan is at work in my life – I think I have not only drunk the Data Kool-Aid, I’m eager to throw a party and pass it out to all my friends.
How is this possible, you ask?
Well, I’m excited to tell you!
Assessment Defined
Educational standards establish what students should know and be able to do by the time they leave that grade level. Assessments are simply checks to see if students know and can do what the standard describes. The National Task Force on Assessment Education for Teachers defines assessment as “the process of gathering information about student learning to inform education-related decisions” (p. 3). I like this definition because it implies that assessments should happen throughout a learning experience and that their primary purpose is to inform instructional decisions. In this sense, giving good assessments and putting their results to use in my classroom is another way I can better serve my students.
Good assessments must start with standards, but at the classroom level, they must be broken down into individual learning goals and student learning outcomes. It’s important to make the distinction between learning goals and student outcomes; they differ in that student outcomes will reflect something specific a student will be able to do while learning goals outline what the teacher, program, or institution intends to do (DePaul University, n.d.). In essence, learning goals are teacher-centered while student outcomes are student-centered.
Often student outcomes must be chunked down into even smaller steps, sometimes referred to as objectives. For example, if the student outcome is to produce a research essay, the process may be broken down into the steps of the research writing process, with each step having its own objectives. Each step should be assessed for how well the student met the objective, feedback should be provided to close the growth gap, and the results should inform the instruction the teacher plans for the next day, week, or month. In this way, standards trickle down from overarching dictates to chunked outcomes, to individual objectives.
My Favorite Type of Assessment
In my opinion, the assessment should fit the objective and outcome. I’d like to say that traditional assessments that can be graded electronically are my favorite because they are the easiest on the back end; however, they provide the least information about students’ ability to perform an outcome, limit higher-order thinking, and provide little to no feedback to help students continue to grow (Saher et al., 2022). Traditional assessments with closed-ended questions, such as state standardized assessments, are the least useful for students and teachers. Because my purpose is always to serve my students the best I can, traditional assessments are actually my least favorite. They’re just no fun for me or the kids!
On the other hand, authentic assessments, such as projects, papers, portfolios, and performances, offer the richest opportunities for students to grow. This is because these assessments often take time to develop – time where students engage in self-assessment, metacognition, formative feedback, and targeted collaboration (Ortega & Minchala, 2017). Such authentic assessments allow students to be at the center of the learning progression, and supports teachers use of four instructional guiding questions:
- Where am I going?
- How am I doing?
- Where am I now?
- Where am I going next?
What About Effort Grades?
I will call it out right now. I’m guilty of using effort-based grading.
I think it started during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our district’s grade book policy during the pandemic included three types of grades: assessment for learning, assessment of learning, and participation. Many of my weekly reading and vocabulary work became participation grades, which I found useful to keep track of a student’s engagement during shut-downs. Scholarly research supports the use of participation grades in appropriate settings and amounts. For example, Harvard University’s grades include 20% participation, but cautions against bias and restricting how students can participate (The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, n.d.).
Most recently, I’ve been experimenting with labor-based grading contracts (see Figure 1). These are like participation grades in that students must complete a certain number of tasks to earn grades, but in theory “reduces teacher bias and challenges inequities maintained by traditional grading” (Smith, 2024). In my Reading Enrichment class, my students simply need repeated exposure to grammatical structures, purposeful vocabulary development, and building prior knowledge. I’ve used the contract in Figure 1 for two months of school so far, and the students seem much more engaged with all aspects of our work together. They also enjoy the autonomy the contracts provide, as I give them time to simply do the work, and how they are trusted to manage, pace, and organize their work as they wish.
Figure 1
Reaching Enrichment February Labor-Based Grading Contracts
Overall, my belief is that participation grades, completion grades, and effort-based grades have their place in education. It’s all up to how the educator can best serve their students.
Student Self-Assessment
Rick Stiggins (2008) argues that a balanced assessment system gives the best and most information to the most important consumer of the assessment results: the students themselves. I couldn’t agree more.
However, students themselves must develop stronger assessment literacy skills. Teachers can do this by providing explicit training or teaching regarding their assessments. While this is time-consuming, scholarly research indicates it is time well-spent. For example, Murphy and colleagues’ (2023) study found that more frequent, cumulative, low-stakes tests have a positive impact on student learning and engagement, while Shatri and Zabeli (2018) report that training students in self-assessment helped them develop self-awareness and metacognitive abilities, and students in the study overwhelmingly found self-assessment activities useful to their learning. For this reason, I am in favor of students assessing themselves.
While there is no single right way to teach students how to assess their outcomes, I have settled on teaching rubrics. I believe in the power of pencil and paper, so I print copies of a well-written rubric for students and have them highlight key words that demonstrate the progression of skills. We also engage in close reading exemplars, then grade them according to the rubrics. These activities lead to engaging discussions – sometimes even all-out fights! – and students’ post-assessments reflect much deeper growth than I’ve accomplished with traditional methods with previous students. For me, teaching students how to assess themselves according to a rubric is a way I’m serving them in future years, not just in my class.
Student Portfolios
One way to build student reflection, metacognition, and self-awareness is through the curation of student portfolios. Evidence supports their efficacy and use as an “assessment as learning” activity (e.g. Lam, 2016; Saeed et al., 2018; Saher et al., 2022). Portfolios actively involve students in their learning progressions as they see the body of their work grow toward reaching their learning goals, and they provide unlimited opportunities for teachers to provide precious formative feedback. Some drawbacks include that portfolios take a lot of time and organizational skills to execute, but those technicalities can be overcome with some creativity. I’ve used portfolios in Creative Writing courses that I’ve taught, and my favorite part is when students reflect on their work and choose their best piece. The pride shining from their eyes is priceless.
Figures and Tables as Rubrics
I’m a rubric girl. I love a good rubric. I enjoy choosing standards, writing scales, and fleshing out the descriptors for a good ol’ student-friendly rubric. They are the perfect place for me to use the “Insert Table” function on the regular. Just take a peek at Figure 1 above; that labor-based grading contract is in a table! If I were more creative, I could see using figures to demonstrate the reflection process involved in the curation of a portfolio, with tiny circles representing cycles of peer editing, self-assessment, and teacher feedback, placed along a large circle that leads the student from the beginning to the end, and back to the beginning as they complete the portfolio.
I also like to use figures to build relevance with my students. Just today, I was outlining my goals for a short journal entry, one of which was to engage their higher order thinking. For what feels like the umpteenth time, I displayed Bloom’s Taxonomy on my SmartTV to remind them of the hard work their brains were about to do (see Figure 2). Overall, figures and tables are ways that I communicate and build literacy with my students, and I’m not sure how I’d approach education without them.
Figure 2
Bloom’s Taxonomy as Described by Fastiggi, 2019
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Originally, parent-teacher conferences scared me. I would get so nervous to talk to parents! However, I’ve come to realize that I actually enjoy parent-teacher conferences! Very rarely have I felt attacked by a parent; instead, they demonstrate a teamwork mentality and just want to ensure their student is doing the best he can. Often, we both walk away with a direct plan for how to support the student, along with a list of things the student needs to address. In fact, a 2017 study found that when students are present in the conferences, parents and teachers almost always join forces to help the student (Bilton et al.). For this reason, I jump at the chance to have a meeting with parents, as experience has taught me that this time is so well spent.
Conclusion
Overall, these past ten weeks have changed me as an educator. I’ve found multiple strategies to implement immediately, such as the labor-based grading contracts and an assessment-as-learning mini-unit with sophomore ELA essays, and I have a much deeper understanding of the various levels and purposes of assessments. I also see much more clearly how our current assessment system is flawed.
Lately, my prayer has been for God to put the path that glorifies Him and honors His plan in front of me, and for the discernment and courage to take it. I feel like I see a way I can serve Him through my learning about assessments. I’m sure this class was part of His plan, and now, I’m just waiting for Him to reveal its purpose!
References
Bilton, R., Jackson, A., & Hymer, B. (2017). Not just communication: Parent-teacher conversations in an English high school. School Community Journal, 27(1) 231-256. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1146487.pdf
DePaul University. (n.d.) Course objectives & learning outcomes. Teaching Commons. https://resources.depaul.edu/teaching-commons/teaching-guides/course-design/Pages/course-objectives-learning-outcomes.aspx#:~:text=Learning%20goals%20and%20objectives%20generally%20describe%20what,learning%20experience%20(e.g.%2C%20course%2C%20project%2C%20or%20unit).
Fastiggi, W. (2019, July 18). Applying Bloom’s Taxonomy to the classroom. Technology for Learners. https://technologyforlearners.com/applying-blooms-taxonomy-to-the-classroom/
Lam, R. (2016). Assessment as learning: Examining a cycle of teaching, learning, and assessment of writing in the portfolio-based classroom. Studies in Higher Education, 41(11), 1900–1917. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2014.999317
Murphy, D. H., Little, J. L., & Bjork, E. L. (2023). The value of using tests in education as tools for learning—Not just for assessment. Educational Psychology Review, 35(3). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-023-09808-3
National Task Force on Assessment Education for Teachers. (n.d.) Assessment literacy defined [PDF]. Institute for Educational Services. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/northeast/onlinetraining/ResourcesTools/Assessment%20Literacy%20Definition.pdf
Ortega, D. P., & Minchala, O. E. (2017). Assessing students in an authentic and ongoing manner in the English classroom. Theory & Practice in Language Studies (TPLS), 7(3), 159–165. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0703.01
Saeed, M., Tahir, H., & Latif, I. (2018). Teachers’ perceptions about the use of classroom assessment techniques in elementary and secondary schools. Bulletin of Education & Research, 40(1), 115–130.
Saher, A.-S., Ali, A. M. J., Amani, D., & Najwan, F. (2022). Traditional versus authentic assessments in higher education. Pegem Journal of Education and Instruction, 12(1), 283–291.
Shatri, Z. G., & Zabeli, N. (2018). Perceptions of students and teachers about the forms and student self-assessment activities in the classroom during the formative assessment. Journal of Social Studies Education Research / Sosyal Bilgiler Eğitimi Araştırmaları Dergisi, 9(2), 28–46.
Smith, C. (2024). Making the grade: Student perceptions of labor-based contract grading. Communication Teacher, 38(2) 183-199.
Stiggins, Rick. (2008, April). Assessment manifesto: A call for the development of balanced assessment systems [PDF]. ETS Assessment Training Institute. http://www.ebecplc.org/uploads/2/1/9/4/21941210/assessmentmanifesto08-1.pdf
The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning. (n.d.) Assessing class participation. Harvard University. https://bokcenter.harvard.edu/assessing-class-participation