Discussion Forum Unit 5
Review the Assessment Toolkit on Page 17 of ‘Rethinking classroom assessment with
purpose in mind’ and the assessment strategies in ‘Using assessment to drive
instruction’ included in this Unit’s reading list.
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Select an assessment FOR learning
Select an assessment of AS learning.
Explain when you would employ each of these assessments during the school
year and appraise your expectations regarding their implementation with your
students
Hello everyone
For this week's discussion post I will be selecting an assessment for both assessments FOR
learning and assessment AS learning. When looking at both these types of assessment, they
can be considered as formative assessments where assessment FOR learning is where the
teacher can provide themselves and the students with feedback to help improve student
learning as well as their teaching instructions inside the classroom and, assessment AS
learning is where the students themselves assess their own work so that they can understand
how they can improve on their learning inside the classroom.
“Assessment for learning involves teachers using evidence about students’ knowledge,
understanding, and skills to inform their teaching. Sometimes referred to as ‘formative
assessment’, it usually occurs throughout the teaching and learning process to clarify student
learning and understanding” (Harapnuik, 2021).
“Assessment as learning occurs when students are their own assessors. Students monitor their
own learning, ask questions and use a range of strategies to decide what they know and can
do, and how to use assessment for new learning” (Harapnuik, 2021)
In selecting an assessment FOR learning, two assessments that I have seen continued benefits
from utilizing inside the classroom are Observations checklists and Anecdotal Notes. The
reason why I have chosen these two assessments is that I believe that both these assessments
work well with one another. With ongoing observations during classroom learning, teachers
can give students timely feedback on how they can improve in any areas of their learning by
guiding them through the tasks that are at hand. With anecdotal notes, the teachers are then
able to assess whether their teaching instructions are being understood by the students inside
the classroom as the teachers can assess the lesson content that is being grasped by the
students.
With regards to observation checklists, this type of assessment would be an ongoing
assessment that is employed throughout the school year where a teacher is continuously
making observations to help improve student learning as often as possible. "A well-defined
checklist identifies learning objectives and behaviors, which may be arranged in categories,
and are used to determine whether a student exhibits the behaviors or skills listed”
(GUIDANCE for DEVELOPING and SELECTING QUALITY ASSESSMENTS in the
ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM a PART of the ASSESSMENT TOOLKIT, n.d.). The
expectations of this form of assessment would be entirely up to the teacher as the students
would be focusing on their learning and attempting the tasks at hand while the teacher makes
the observations necessary to check off the identified skills that they have added to their
observation checklist, which are aligned with the standards that they are planning on the
students to reach.
With regards to the anecdotal notes, this type of assessment would be used by the teacher,
from the observations made, to document the student's behaviors and academic progress over
a certain time period. This time period can be assigned by the teacher, but in my teaching
milieu, I like to conduct my anecdotal notes every week where I will make notes of the
student's progress from the observations made, and then at the end of each month summarize
these anecdotal notes to assess the overall student performances. "Observations, along with
recording notes, can help teachers determine what students do and do not know”
(GUIDANCE for DEVELOPING and SELECTING QUALITY ASSESSMENTS in the
ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM a PART of the ASSESSMENT TOOLKIT, n.d.). This will
allow for the teacher to know more about their students, which essentially will allow for the
necessary help to be provided. Once again the expectations of this assessment will be entirely
on the teacher as they assess whether the students are meeting the learning objectives that
have been planned and whether the teacher's teaching instructions need to be adapted based
on the learning needs of the students.
In selecting an assessment AS learning, the two assessments that a teacher could utilize
where the students themselves are the accessors would be the Self and Peer assessment. As
the students are still learning how to be the accessors of their own work and where they can
identify any of their learning areas that need improvement, it would make sense for the
students to also assess their peers in the same regard. While assessing their own work, they
can also gauge how they are doing concerning their peers as they assess the work that their
peers are completing. As students assess their peers it provides a great learning experience to
be had as they are not just learning from each other but it also allows for the students to have
that 'teaching experience' with their peers when they provide any feedback from the peer
assessment.
With regards to both self and peer assessment, I believe that these assessments can be
employed together with any learning experience that is being had inside the classroom
(preferably as often as possible). Students can first assess their peers, while their peers assess
them, and then after this assessment has been done the students can then do a self-assessment
on their own work as they discuss with their peers the assessments that have been made. This
provides for a great learning experience to be had as the students are essentially learning from
each other. The teacher can be seen as being the facilitator of students learning and is then
able to observe how the students are assessing not just themselves but their peers as well.
With Self and Peer Assessment, the expectations are placed on the students themselves as
they provide the necessary feedback on how they believe their peers can improve on their
learning, and then from that, they can see what improvements they need to make with regards
to their own learning inside the classroom. Self and Peer evaluation is a potentially powerful
technique because of its impact on student performance through enhanced self-efficacy and
increased intrinsic motivation (GUIDANCE for DEVELOPING and SELECTING
QUALITY ASSESSMENTS in the ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM a PART of the
ASSESSMENT TOOLKIT, n.d.).
References
GUIDANCE FOR DEVELOPING AND SELECTING QUALITY ASSESSMENTS IN THE
ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM A PART OF THE ASSESSMENT TOOLKIT. (n.d.).
https://www.ride.ri.gov/Portals/0/Uploads/Documents/Teachers-and-AdministratorsExcellent-Educators/Educator-Evaluation/Online-Modules/Quality-AssessmentsElementary.pdf
Harapnuik, D. (2021). Assessment of/for/as Learning. Harapnuik.org.
https://www.harapnuik.org/?p=8475