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How Can Assessment Serve Our Students? Anthony Cody As a beginning teacher 13 years ago, I used the resource provided, the textbook, to teach my seventh graders Earth Science. The text was not very exciting, but I thought the content was valuable, so I did my best. When we finished a chapter I gave the students a test that covered the material. I instructed them to study and then allowed them to use their notes. The results in my Oakland classroom were dismal. Only a few students scored above 75%, and the majority were below 50%. When I thought about it, I couldn't find any new information I had gotten from the test, nor could I see that the students had learned much useful from the experience. On balance, in fact, it seemed to be more negative, as it reinforced the alienation many of these students felt from academic success. As a result I moved away from this type of test to determine a student's grade. Instead, I scored student's notes to tell if they were participating, and gave additional weight to project assignments. I still gave occasional quizzes, but I made them up myself, and they reflected what I thought I had really taught, rather than what was in the chapter. I used these tests to determine if students grasped the content, and this in turn affected their grade. This assessment was done at the end of a unit, like a period at the end of a sentence. When I began the process to achieve National Board Certification I started to see that assessment could play a different role for both myself and my students. National Board standards suggest that assessment should play a central role in instruction, and I began to reshape my practice to meet these standards. I am now involved in a research project at Stanford University that is exploring these issues in depth. Pre-Assessment The assessment I had been doing was summative. It told me what a given student had learned after the lesson was complete. But there are ways of telling what students understand prior to a lesson, known as preassessment. If I know what students understand I can build on that knowledge. I can also uncover misconceptions, which research has shown are surprisingly durable and resistant to change. My lessons and activities need to challenge and overcome the students' misconceptions, giving them new understandings and models. Formative Assessment As the lesson unfolds, I need to continue my assessment, so I can monitor what the students are actually drawing from the instruction. This is called formative assessment, and this information can be used to modify my instruction. For example, this week my students did an experiment with a small AM radio, wrapping it in aluminum foil. When the radio was wrapped in foil, the radio went silent. The goal was for the students to discover that the radio waves were blocked by the foil. However, as I discussed this with them, they said "Look, the foil is blocking the sound waves." I intervened and uncovered the radio speaker and pointed out that the sound could have escaped if there had been any, but the students clung to their idea. They really had no conception of radio waves coming through space and making the radio work. A better way of showing this would be to have a cassette player in addition to a radio. This would allow students to observe that the foil does not silence the sound waves. Assessment to Promote Growth It has an even more useful role, however. My goal is not just to measure my students' achievement, but also to help them grow. Formative assessment allows me to give feedback to my students that guides and pushes them to achieve, to close the gap between his starting point and where I wish him to be. Our real goal is to build students' capacity to judge the quality of their own work, and internalize high standards. Students tend to do a job of work, then sit back and let the teacher evaluate it. I have been working this year to turn this around. Last semester I assigned a research project on the planets. I gave students a detailed assignment so they would know what I expected. When the rough drafts were due I gave the students something new; a rubric that described four levels of quality. I shared a draft I had written myself and invited them to critique it in a class discussion. This gave them a little practice, as I emphasized the type of feedback that is most helpful to an author. Then the students formed pairs, and shared their drafts, using a feedback form. In order to make sure each student got quality advice, I then collected their drafts, and added my comments to those of their peer. The next day the students got back their drafts and specific feedback on how to strengthen their project. Most of the students used this information and turned in final drafts that were significantly better than their first efforts. Changing Role of Assessment In my classroom as a beginning teacher, I first used assessments that had little connection to my classroom instruction. As a more experienced teacher, I developed my own summative assessments that were tied directly to my instruction. Now, as I deepen my practice, I am using assessment not only as a measurement of achievement following instruction, but as a tool of instruction as it unfolds, informing me and the students so that we can work together to learn from each other. Assessment Q & A your sight is great.  I am a first time teacher starting in the fall teaching science to 6, 7, &8th graders.  I found your assessment insights very useful.  I am trying to establish my own system now.  My idea is for them to build a unit portfolio as we go along and use that as the base of the grade.  weekly quizes I check progress and comprehension.  sound good?  Thanks for your help, Lani Lani, That sounds like a good plan. I will describe to you the problems I have encountered with my students, and the systems I have put in place to take care of them. Many of my students are disorganized. A lot of the units I do are lengthy, and may even go beyond a single six week marking period. Also, not all the work we do in class is directly tied into the unit theme. To help with all these things, what I do is have them maintain a binder just for my science/math core class. They turn this in every other week, on a Friday. I only have two classes like this so I can alternate them so I am grading 30 binders each week. I stay late that day grading their work. They have sections in their binder for science classwork and homework, and these are divided into new and old. When they get their binder back the following Monday they have credit for their work. There is a grade sheet at the front of the binder, and I point that out to parents the first week of school, so they can check on their child's progress right away. Then when the unit ends, I ask them to take the key assignments from the unit out of their binder, and turn them in, usually along with some sort of major project or report on the topic. This would be the unit portfolio. They would get a grade on the major project, and then just have the portfolio there as background, a record of our work on the topic. The problem I would have with your system is that it would put a lot of pressure on me to wrap up a unit before the end of the marking period, so I would have something more than just quizzes upon which to base a grade. I have found that sometimes kids who are working hard can still do poorly on quizzes. They are likely to become discouraged if they aren't given credit for the classwork and homework they do. I also want a regular solid baseline of information on the classwork they are doing that I can report to parents. I want to be able to say "In the past month, James has gotten two Cs on homework and a D and a C on classwork. That tells me he is not making much effort." I wouldn't want to just tell them about quiz grades and not have that other information until after the unit was finished. It is especially important to communicate to parents early on in the school year and let them know your system, and the ways they can check up on their child's progress. In other words, if you collect binders and the child has not done much work, you can call the parents right away, without waiting for the end of the unit. I hope that helps. Anthony