There is a healthy purpose and place for reflecting on current abilities and measuring growth. Assessments belong with the starting lines, course correction and the finish line, but they are not the race.
On assessment, measure what you value instead of valuing only what you can measure. -Andy Hargreaves
Assessments and goals go together. These goals are self selected or built into the structure. Each goal has the four assessments built in to support the growth desired. There may be other names for these types of assessment, but I chose to use these.
The Beginning Diagnostic Assessment- Where is the starting point, what are the needs, goals, focus?
Daily Formative Assessment- Informal: Observation, listening, daily work
Check-in Interim Assessment- Monitoring progress, How is it going? What adjustments are needed?
The End Summative Assessments- Formal: What can you do or what do you know now? Celebrate progress.
Child Example of Self-Selected Goal and Assessments
Diagnostic Assessment: What are our goals for this school year? What do we want to learn? Brainstorm interests, strengths and weaknesses. Then prayerfully select the one you want to work on first. Create a plan for small steps and how you will know when you have completed your goal. Such as... I want to be a better reader. Steps: read aloud everyday for 15 minutes. Reread stories three times weekly. Read slower to catch mistakes and fix them. Tell someone about what I read. Record my reading and listen to it monthly. I'll be ready for a new goal when I can read a certain chapter book well.
Formative Assessment: As I read to my mom, she helps me by asking questions. Did that make sense? What letter did that start with? I listen to myself on the recording and see when I read clearly and when I did not. The conversations I have will help me know if I am able to understand what I read.
Interim Assessment: I had a talk with my mom and she asked how my goal was going? We talked about my steps and what I am actually doing. I decided I am ready to read longer and harder books. I'll keep the steps. I recorded a reading and feel that I can hear that it is more accurate, smooth and my voice is interesting to listen to. I can pause when I need to. I still have trouble with big words and need to break them up and practice getting them right before I go on.
Summative Assessment: I can read my chapter book and enjoy it too. Reading is something I choose to do in my free time because it makes me happy. I have become better. I got to pick out new books from the library and had a reading party to celebrate my work.
Teacher Example of Selected Goal and Assessments
I value Christ-like character traits, developing talents, well rounded skills and knowledge, thinking habits and joy. How do I assess, plan, assess, adjust, assess and celebrate all these? Line upon line. I pick and choose carefully and with intention and inspiration. What is the one thing to focus on first? For Example:
Diagnostic Assessment: I want to be stronger at retell and written accountability of our reading time. Steps: Create a simple template for each book we read for notes, gems, and the thinking habits. Create a bookmark with the cues I need so they will be accessible and used. Work along with the children on my own paper. Collect them and show they are valuable. Praise the children for the work they do and help them have variety and choice in how they show what they have learned. Each month review the papers and use them to help prepare for the oral term exams.
Formative Assessment: Somedays go well, others not so well. We need time, more time to make it meaningful and useful.
Interim Assessment: For term exam preparations, we reviewed our notes and found they were valuable in reminding us of details we could add to our oral essays. We picked our favorite one to add to our digital portfolio. I want to continue the notes, but add a bit more graphic organizer and short paragraph writing for the older students and more labels and sentences for the younger students.
Summative Assessment: I feel our notebook has improved. I have added more note taking and writing about reading into our learning which is a habit I see value in. The routine is natural. I will continue this next year.
Our Assessments
Beginning of the Year glance at where we are with basic skills.
Daily discussion, notebook
Sample Prompts:
Everyone lists 5 things they remember, then we add 5 more
Compare this story to another and tell how they are similar or different
List all the words you can that help us get a feel for the setting
Fill in the question starter: What would be different if...?
Who is most like you and why?
What is going on? What makes you say that?
Sketch out a scene and label the characters and objects
Jot down words you learned
Copy a quote that was thought provoking
Daily work in Math Grid Notebook
Daily Work in Writing Spiral Notebook
Term Oral Exams every three months essay and recitation format
Sample Beginning Exam Questions:
Tell me about a person you learned about this term. What did they do that was great and why do you think that?
What did you learn about birds this term? Pick one specific body part and and describe the differences in form and function.
Retell a turning point in a story and why the choices made then changed the story?
Tell me about a story including details from the beginning, middle, and end.
Tell me the part of the story where..
Describe a place and draw a map of it.
Higher Level Exam Questions:
Compare and Contrast Culture: How did people live in this time or place compared to that time or place?
Description: Describe a place in terms of agriculture, borders, landforms and population.
Omission analysis: What is left out? What is significant about a theory?
Cause and Effect: How did a choice, strategy, motive, geography... impact an event?
Define a concept (scientific, civic or economic) and describe its nature and qualities.
Inductive Thinking: Give examples of choices a leader made. End with your opinion of this leader.
Perspective: Tell both sides of a conflict.
Method/Form: Describe an invention. What, How, When, Why, Where?
Abstract thinking: What patterns do you see in history, civics, economics?
Perspectives: Describe the habitat from a unique point of view.
Classify: What are the attributes of a group?
Sequencing: Describe order of events such as in metamorphosis?
Means/Ends: If I alter the method, how will it affect the result? If I want a result, what do I change? Use an experience doing an experiment.
Constructing Support: Organize evidence and reasons to support your claim.
Utility: Describe the usefulness of a resource.
Form: Describe the structure of a leaf or a cell and the purposes.
Yearly Studio Portfolio creative work and recorded audio and visual. We get samples from nature journal, sketches, writing journals, and art projects.
Computer based testing exposure through Khan Academy quizzes
Creating Assessments
I have the children write their own math exam with sample problems from their work. They make it and another day take it. Then they share it to explain how they did it.
Testing Strategies
"Put a LID on it" Label each passage as Literature (story, quotation marks, lots of short paragraphs), Information (headings, sub-headings, diagrams) or Document (large box around most of passage and different section inside the box) before reading them. Complete documents first, then information and last literature.
Read title, labels and make notes in margins. Answer questions that include main idea, fact & opinion, and context clues first. Find clues in the passage to prove your answers.
Types of Comprehension Questions in Standardized Testing:
Context Clues: look for synonyms, antonyms, definition, explanation, description or example. Incorrect answers will include a word that rhymes, incorrect root, another meaning of multi-meaning words or opposite meaning.
Facts and Details
Sequence
Setting
Graphic Source
Main Idea/Summary
Cause and Effect
Making Predictions
Drawing Conclusions
Analyze Characters
Fact and Opinion
Comments