Assessment: Improving Student Learning

What is the primary purpose of assessment? A common response, and misconception, might be that the purpose of assessment is to collect marks so that the teacher can decide on a final grade that the student will receive. This week we had the opportunity to delve into the topic of assessment in order to develop a better understanding of how we can effectively use assessment for its main purpose: to improve student learning. 

Assessment AS Learning: Engaged and Empowered Students

As the graphic below illustrates, there are three different types or purposes of assessment: for learning, as learning, and of learning. As teachers, it is important that our assessment practices reflect this and that we integrate assessment for and as learning in our classroom in a balanced way. This week, as I reflected on my assessment practices during my last placement, I realized that my approach was not very balanced as I tended to focus more heavily on assessment for learning and less on assessment as learning. 

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As Growing Success discusses, assessment as learning is critical for improving student learning as it helps students to "develop their capacity to be independent, autonomous learners who are able to set individual goals, monitor their own progress, determine next steps, and reflect on their thinking and learning" (Ministry of Education, p. 28). It is time to move away from the traditional practices of assessment where the teacher is the only active agent engaged in assessing student's work and to instead promote a more collaborative relationship where our students are actively engaged in the assessment process. When

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our students are active participants in assessment, they are more likely to be interested in their learning, to be committed to their learning, and to be confident in their ability to learn. 

One of my main goals for my upcoming placements, therefore, is to incorporate more opportunities for my students to engage in self- and peer-assessment in order to empower them to take ownership for their learning. One key way to do this is by sharing the learning goals and co-creating the success criteria before a task so that my students and I have a common and shared understanding of the goals and criteria. If my students do not know what success looks like for a given task, how can I expect them to succeed? Rubrics and checkbrics that are based on the success criteria and rating scales are another great tool for students to use to monitor their progress and to identify their strengths, needs, and next steps for improvement. 

Descriptive Feedback: The Most Powerful Assessment Tool

Our readings for this week and our class discussion both emphasized that effective descriptive feedback is far more valuable and powerful for improving student learning than giving grades. By continuously giving our students specific, timely, and meaningful feedback, we can help our students to identify their strengths and needs and to develop a concrete plan for how to improve those steps. 

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With this knowledge of the power of descriptive feedback in mind, my webinar on report card writing focused largely on how to write effective report card comments as a means of effectively communicating with and collaborating with parents and students in order to improve student learning. In our webinar, we explored three criteria for effective report card comments that were discussed in Reporting Student Learning: Guidelines for Effective Teacher-Parent-Student Communication: 

• Precise: The comments should focus on specific knowledge, skills, and criteria that are found in the curriculum that are most relevant to the student's achievement or development. It is important for the comments to provide concrete next steps for learning and concrete suggestions as to how parents can support their child's learning at home. 
• Personalized: The comments should be tailored to the individual student, referring to their interests, learning preferences, and level of readiness, using personal examples gathered from conversations, observations, and student products.
• Meaningful: The comments should be written in parent-friendly and student-friendly language and should be written in a positive tone. 

Technology in the Classroom: Assessing Apps

The Math Mindset module for this week also emphasized the value of assessment, albeit in a different context, as one of the videos focused  on the importance of assessing or evaluating the value of math apps before integrating them in the classroom. As teachers, we have a responsibility to ensure that the technology that we are incorporating in our classroom is being used for the purpose of improving or enhancing student learning rather than just for the sake of having it present in the classroom. Some key questions to keep in mind when we are assessing whether or not to include a math app in our classroom are:

• Does it help students to develop an understanding of key mathematical ideas? 
• Does it promote a positive math mindset where students do not equate time with intelligence?
• Is it an app that students will find challenging, interesting, and engaging?
• Does it encourage students to develop a deeper or more meaningful understanding of math concepts through the use of visual representations? 
• Does it encourage students to explore, play, and interact with mathematical ideas?