Personal Assessment Beliefs Statement
"If you can both listen to children and accept their answers not as things to just be judged right or wrong but as pieces of information which may reveal what the child is thinking, you will have taken a giant step toward becoming a master teacher, rather than merely a disseminator of information" - Easley & Zwoyer, 1975
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The cartoon to the right clearly identifies what assessment is NOT and unfortunately, too often becomes. Assessments require diversity, for all students learn and demonstrate learning differently. I believe that it is important to give students multiple opportunities to show what they know. Unless specified within the objective, it may not matter that the student knows how to write unblemished essays, but rather that he/or she understands the content. It is important to keep this in mind when assessing student learning.
I believe in...
Clear Learning Targets
Clear learning targets provide the framework that is required for implementing effective assessments (Stiggins & DuFour, 2009). Myself, as well as my students, must know without a doubt, what is being assessed. Without direction or understanding, the classroom becomes a confusing environment in which assessments merely ranks students. "Understanding the important learning targets is the essential foundation of sound assessment, and of good teaching too. Only when we understand the academic subjects we teach will the achievement targets our students are to master be clear" (Stiggins et. al., 2007, p. 15). According to Stiggins, assessments should be framed around three questions that students should be able to answer: (1) Where are we going?, (2) Where am I?, and (3) What do I need to do to close the gap? (Varlas, 2013, p. 6).
In my classroom, I will make my learning targets clear to my students AND visible in my classroom. Whether this be on the board or at the top of assignments, students will always know what they are supposed to be learning.
Because clear learning targets are the first component necessary on the list of Nonnegotiable Quality Filters of assessment, it will be a priority when giving assessments to students. Again, it is important to be able to clearly articulate what exactly the item is assessing in language that the students can understand (Sheldon, personal communication, 2013).
In my classroom, I will make my learning targets clear to my students AND visible in my classroom. Whether this be on the board or at the top of assignments, students will always know what they are supposed to be learning.
Because clear learning targets are the first component necessary on the list of Nonnegotiable Quality Filters of assessment, it will be a priority when giving assessments to students. Again, it is important to be able to clearly articulate what exactly the item is assessing in language that the students can understand (Sheldon, personal communication, 2013).
Effective Communication
In my classroom, assessment results will be communicated with stakeholders such as students, parents, and school administrators in an appropriate and time-efficient manner. "All of the work to develop quality assessments is wasted if teachers don't have a process for delivering assessment results in a timely and understandable form" (Stiggins & DuFour, 2009, p. 643). To emphasize the importance of communication, Stiggins states, "Even if learning targets and information needs are clear and the information gathered is precisely accurate, an assessment can fail to achieve its learning ends if the results are not communicated effectively to the intended user(s)" (Stiggins et. al., 2007, p. 17). With immediacy as the goal, I will continually keep in open communication with my students to convey feedback. The feedback I offer will communicate evidence from the assessment itself, not about the student as a learner. In addition, I will include feedback with suggestions of how the student might do better the next time. Students will be given the opportunity to "act on the message" that is given through my feedback and improve to cultivate learning (Stiggins & DuFour, 2009, p. 643).
Student Involvement
"Students decide whether the learning is worth the effort required to attain it. Students decide whether they believe they are capable of reaching the learning targets. It is only after our students make these decisions in the affirmative that we, their teachers, can impact their learning lives" (Stiggins et. al., 2007, p. 17). In my classroom, assessment will not be used as an intimidation strategy that solely ranks students on their test-taking abilities. Students will, however, be involved and informed throughout the process. Educational researcher Kari Smith has identified a strategy that enables students to be so involved that they are actually creating the assessment, or pieces of the assessment, themselves. In my classroom, students will have opportunities to contribute to the assessment process in meaningful and significant ways. "Student-created tests give students repeated reviews of the material, both individually and in groups, and allow for fruitful peer teaching and learning" (Smith, 2009, p. 28). Students will be involved in this process through brainstorming, intense discussion and review, presenting information, and clarifying misunderstandings (Smith, 2009). In addition, I will teach my students to self-assess themselves on the focused learning targets. By using the "traffic light" strategy, students will indicate which learning targets they feel they have mastered, those they feel they have partial mastery over, and those they have little understanding of using green, yellow, and red dots. Students will place these dots next to each learning target to indicate where they are and what they need to work on more to achieve the learning target (Stiggins et. al., 2007, p. 155).
Another aspect of student involvement is allowing students the opportunity to retake a test and redo assignments. By handing over the responsibility to the students to take initiative of their learning, I will be creating an atmosphere that promotes success and student achievement, rather than supporting their mentality to 'give up' after a test is taken (Stiggins, 2007)." So part of our classroom assessment job is to keep students believing in themselves as learners through the effective use of classroom assessment" (Stiggins et. al., 2007, p. 17).
Another aspect of student involvement is allowing students the opportunity to retake a test and redo assignments. By handing over the responsibility to the students to take initiative of their learning, I will be creating an atmosphere that promotes success and student achievement, rather than supporting their mentality to 'give up' after a test is taken (Stiggins, 2007)." So part of our classroom assessment job is to keep students believing in themselves as learners through the effective use of classroom assessment" (Stiggins et. al., 2007, p. 17).
Learning Through Assessment
Assessment is not only a tool to collect data and sort students into categories, but it is also a tool for strengthening learning and helping students deepen understanding. "Rather than sorting students into winners and losers, assessment for learning can put all students on a winning streak" (Stiggins, 2007, p. 43). In my classroom, I will strive to create assessments that produce winning streaks in students rather than causing them to simply give up -- keeping them "confident and focused on their progress" (Stiggins, 2007, p. 44). I will do this by setting my students up for success and helping students turn failure into success (Stiggins, 2007). Additionally, I will adapt Kari Smith's procedures for involving students in the assessment process, with the desired outcome of deeper learning. In my classroom, students will learn through creating the test, taking the test, marking the test, as well as learning after taking the test (Smith, 2009). Students will be continually learning throughout the assessment process and beyond. One way I will do this is by allowing students to score their own tests. "When students have just taken a test, some of the tension is behind them, yet the material is still fresh in their minds, which offers opportunities for learning. But when students focus only on the grade, they miss those opportunities. When learners score their own tests, the problem largely disappears" (Smith, 2009, p. 29).