I used to think of assessment as an “ending” to a learning event. When preparing to teach a unit, my planning primarily consisted of looking at the objectives and crafting activities that would engage all students. The word assessment was a noun that referred only to a task generally used at the end to determine a grade. The things students were asked to do as part of an endpoint assessment task may—or may not—have been aligned to the key objectives. Items on an end-of-unit test were usually selected response or short-answer/essay, but for the most part that was just for variety’s sake.
Now assessment is not a singular noun referring to an individual test or task, but refers to an ongoing process that is interwoven with instruction. The process no longer happens only at the end; in fact, it begins with pre-assessment. With my current group of 7th-grade mathematics students, I introduce a grid at the onset of each unit. The grid lists the learning targets for that unit, with space for students to record their analysis of the results of their pre-assessment, target by target. Additional boxes are included for each target, where students list sources of evidence from daily work, quizzes, etc. Throughout the unit, we periodically pause for students to select which of the learning targets their evidence indicates they are doing well with and on which they need more support. I use their self-assessments along with my own records of their performance to determine mini-lessons, small group instruction topics, and areas where we might move more quickly.
When I was first introduced to the principles of assessment for learning, I was a content developer. My role consisted of providing professional development and supporting principals and teachers in implementing quality classroom assessment practices. I believed it could work and spoke passionately about how to integrate these strategies into instruction. I modeled lessons to demonstrate how learning targets could be turned into student-friendly language. I even taught a graduate-level course on classroom assessment in a school district, but I had never actually used assessment for learning in my own classroom! When I finally had that opportunity, I was determined to “walk my talk” with a group of 7th graders who have struggled with mathematics. I wanted to see my own “Inside the Black Box” (Black & Wiliam, 1998b) with my students, hoping it would result in increased achievement and motivation.
Making assessment for learning come to life in my own classroom has renewed my zeal for teaching. I am more focused on essential learning targets, and my students always know what we are learning, how they are doing, and what we can work on together to close any gaps. They have become fantastic self-assessors, using their “evidence files” to determine their own strengths and challenges. Most importantly, they are becoming more confident problem solvers who no longer avoid and complain about math. By going back to the classroom, I now know first hand that using these strategies can have a significant positive impact on student learning.
Quality classroom assessment produces accurate information that is used effectively to increase student learning. This is the “do it right” and “use it well” of the book’s title. Accurate information comes from clearly identifying the purpose(s) for which information about student learning is being gathered, clearly defining learning targets for students, using the appropriate assessment method well, selecting a sample to accurately represent achievement of the intended learning, and avoiding circumstances that might bias results.
Effective use includes relying on accurate assessment results to plan instruction and interventions; using descriptive feedback and self-assessment tactics to help students understand their own progress; that is, their successes and areas for further study; and tracking and communicating achievement information clearly and in a way tailored to the user’s needs. These two overarching aspects of quality, accuracy and effective use , form the focus of the succeeding chapters of this book. Through the study and application of ideas in each chapter, you will learn to select, create, and use assessments that are of high quality and that engender student success.
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