Let us not judge our students simply
on what they know. That is the
philosophy of the quiz program.
Rather let them be judged on what
they can generate from what they
know — how well they can leap the
barrier from learning to thinking.
- Jerome Bruner (Harvard Educational Review, 1959)
What is Assessment?
 It is the process of looking at a
student’s behavior and drawing a
conclusion about the student’s
knowledge and abilities.
Assessment as a Tool
 Assessment drives instruction on
how to best help our students
learn.
Types of Assessment: We generally use the types of assessment
listed on top of each category in the gifted classroom:
Informal Assessment
Performance Assessment
vs
vs
Formal Assessment
Paper-Pencil Assessment
Assessment
Teacher-Developed
Assessment
vs
Standardized Test
Authentic Assessment
vs
Traditional Assessment
Two Types of Assessment
Formative Assessment occurs
before or during instruction
Summative Assessment
assess what students learned
after instruction
Applying Differentiation to
Assessment
 Based on each student making individual progress rather
than only looking at the group as a whole.
 Compares one student to himself or herself over time
rather comparing students to everyone else.
 Differentiated projects, rubrics, and non-traditional report
cards or progress reports rather than traditional
assessment.
 Mostly pre-assessment and formative assessment so that
adjustments may be made to help the student learn while
instruction is taking place, not afterwards.
Do not train children to learning by force
and harshness, but direct them to it by
what amuses their minds, so that you
may be better able to discover with
accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius
of each.
~Plato
Informal Assessment Strategy Examples:
 Entrance/Exit Tickets: Students answer questions on a
ticket as they enter or exit the classroom to demonstrate
what they know before a lesson (entrance), or what they
learned after the lesson (exit).
 Anectodal Records: The teacher observes behavior and
logs (in non-judgemental terms) what learning behavior
was exhibited by a student(s).
 Checklist: May show behavior or process skill objectives
and is based on the teacher’s observation.
 KWL Chart: Demonstrates what students know about a
topic, what they want to know, and finally, what they
learned after instruction.
Informal Assessment Strategies:
 Surveys/Rating Scales: This is an easy to use option
that would assess student understanding of content.
On-line surveys that take class data gives the teacher
an overall picture of understanding.
 Rubrics: These should clearly indicate what is
expected from students and how they would
achieve each level of grading. These make grading
less subjective and it outlines to students what is
expected from them at each level.
 Quick Write: The students summarizes in a few
sentences what was learned during the lesson.
Informal Assessment Strategies:
 Follow-Up Questioning: Using the higher levels of
Bloom’s taxonomy, the teacher asks questions based on
an observation, comment, or question, staying away from
rote memorization type questions (What is? Where is?)
 Journals or Learning Logs: Students log or journal
learning that is taking place by daily entrances
demonstrating this knowledge. For example, a Science
Experiment Journal should demonstrate the Scientific
Method.
 Open-Ended Questions: Use the highest levels of Bloom’s
taxonomy and resist one single answer.
 Think-Pair-Share: Students think about a question, pair
with a partner and discuss the question/answer, then
share their answer with the entire class.
Performance Assessment
 Open-ended or extended response exercises: These are
questions or other prompts that students explore a topic orally
or in writing. (Examples: observations from a science
experiment, debate arguments)
 Extended tasks: These are tasks that require several hours or
longer to accomplish an assignment. (For example, drafting,
reviewing, and revising a written report; conducting and
explaining the results of a science experiment; or the
performance of an oral presentation after going through the
process of writing the presentation and practicing before the
final product).
 Portfolios: A collection of performance-based work. It would
include the student’s “best work” and their evaluation of their
strengths and weaknesses. It illustrates improvements and
development of skills over time.
Teacher-Made
Assessments:
 Observation, rubrics, or other teacher
created assessment tools that are
tailor-made for the gifted classroom to
measure performance are best. Paperpencil assessment such as a test is
generally not used in the gifted
classroom.
Authentic Assessment
 Authentic assessment directly measures
student’s performance through real-life
tasks or performance: creating an original
piece of artwork, writing a paper,
delivering a speech, etc.
 Teachers are not only interested in the
product but also in the processes that the
student used in creating the product.
Examples of Authentic
Assessment:
 Portfolio of writing samples
demonstrating the development of a
student’s writing skills over time before
the final writing of a paper.
 Videotapes of students practicing a
speech on various occasions to
document oral communication skills
development over a period of time
before the final version.
6 Principles of Authentic
Assessment:
 Authentic assessment is continuous, informing every aspect
of instruction and curriculum building. As they engage in
authentic assessment, teachers discover and learn what to
teach as well as how and when to teach them.
 Authentic assessment is an integral part of the curriculum.
Children are assessed while they are involved with classroom
learning experiences, not just before or after a unit through
pre or post tests.
 Authentic assessment is developmentally and culturally
appropriate.
6 Principles of Authentic
Assessment:
 Authentic assessment focuses on students’ strengths.
Teachers assess what students can do, what they know,
and how they can use what they know to learn.
 Authentic assessment recognizes that the most
important evaluation is self evaluation. Students and
teachers need to understand why they are doing what
they are doing so that they may have some sense of
their own success and growth.
 Authentic assessment invites active collaboration
between teachers, students and parents work together
to reflect and assess learning (Bridges, 1995).
The test of a good teacher is not how
many questions he can ask his pupils
that they will answer readily, but how
many questions he inspires them to
ask him which he finds it hard to
answer.
-Alice Wellington Rollins