Assessment & Evaluation In Practice

The historical assessment pyramid is being flipped upside down (Piper and Dufournaud,

Assessment For, As, and Of Learning, 2018, slide 12). Rather than small amounts of assessment

as/for learning (formerly referred to as diagnostic and formative) and large amounts of

assessment of learning (evaluation) schools, teachers, and students are realizing that there

should be less assessment of learning and more assessment as learning. I personally agree with

this sentiment. Not every comment, feedback, advice, critique, and mark that a teacher gives

needs to be recorded as an evaluation. In fact, giving more assessment for learning actually

shows the student that teachers care for them and care more about their learning than their

grade. One example from my practicum was students working on three review math questions

at the beginning of every class. This “Bell Work” was a routine that got students settled and

engaged their minds with previous content. They had working documents that they did their

work on so that every single day I could mark the students bell work and they could see

feedback the very next day. Each week would have a particular content focus. Assessment for

learning happened all week, every day. The last day of the week, after lots of practice,

feedback, and further instruction as necessary based on student difficulties and questions, the

bell work would be evaluated. By shifting the emphasis onto assessment for learning rather

than assessment of learning, we subtly shift our educational philosophy. No longer is the final

grade and percentage the end goal, but rather we prioritize the students learning the content.

The focus becomes student development, in reference to their previous abilities, and the road

to making life-long learners is freed from the weight of grades and marks. The school culture

shifts from one of grades to one of learning.

When assessment for learning happens, it becomes clear how instruction needs to be

corrected. On one occasion from my experience students were working on estimation

questions in pairs using a variety of strategies. While circulating and engaging in conversations,

it became apparent that many students were struggling. After giving local pairings specific

feedback and the collective class some further instruction we were able to clear up some of the

confusion.

On another occasion, students were working in groups to make graphs based on a

variety of data sets given to them. The graphs were hung up around the room and students

were given sticky-notes to give peer feedback based on a few guiding questions. The students

became involved in the feedback process, thus engaging their thinking about success criteria.

The next day, after personally reviewing the peer-feedback given, we as a class could use that

assessment to guide our learning (e.g. many students gave feedback about the increments on

the graph so we spent some time in focused learning about scales and increments on graphs).

It is crucial that instruction be guided by assessment. Without assessment for/as

learning the teacher is clueless about where to start instruction (no diagnosis of student

knowledge), how fast to pace instruction (no regular check-ins on student comprehension), and

when to repeat segments of instruction. Furthermore, without assessment, an instructional

segment could transition to final evaluation when very few students have been able to grasp

the concept. Therefore, assessment must be interwoven with instruction because, as Growing

Success says, it serves to “improve student learning” (p.6, 2010)

In closing, I think it is important for teachers to practice this assessment as it relates to

their professional development and growth. I have already observed that any opportunities I

get to self-reflect (i.e. assessment as learning) on my teaching practice become incubation

seasons for rapid professional growth. Furthermore, I think we can invite students to assess our

teaching practice as they can then see firsthand how descriptive feedback is implemented to

achieve further success.

 Works Cited

Ontario Ministry of Education, Growing Success, 2010.

Piper, John and Agnes Dufournaud, Assessment For, As, and Of Learning: Assessment Practices

or Aboriginal Students, 2018.