Cathy Andre
EDUC 451
Abstract
Inquiry: Assessment
Inquiry Question:
How can assessment build confidence and a sense of self-efficacy in students? How can
assessment motivate students to improve their performance, rather than becoming
discouraged and potentially giving up? Does assessment mean grading?
Rationale:
Those are the questions I have been asking myself since I have been in the classroom.
What started my inquiry on the topic of assessment was when I marked a particular
student’s writing. I did not feel it would be beneficial to give him such a low mark on his
work. He is a struggling student, who struggles with school work across the curriculum,
and he handed in to me a reflection on a read aloud that was not meeting expectations. I
wondered what if this was the best work he could do? If not, how could I get him to do the
best work he could do? I also asked myself, what would giving him a 4/10 do to his sense of
self-efficacy? I thought there must be better ways to assess student work that will build
them up, as well as give them the tools, and motivate them to improve their performance.
This situation and similar ones like it while I have been in classrooms have led me to my
inquiry question.
I also recognize that my personal biases about assessment have also contributed to
my inquiry question. I remember when I was in high school, I receiving a poor grade on a
science test that I had worked really hard to study for. It left me feeling defeated and with
the opinion that I should accept I am not good at science. Looking back on these
experiences with assessment in my life, grades really did influence/determine what I
would pursue as far as academics. I have always been interested in science, but lost out on
the opportunity to learn more because I thought I was not cut out to take science courses.
Reflecting on these experiences has left me with the feeling that I must make sure I do not
repeat these experiences with assessment for my students. If my students like science I
want to assess them to help them improve/learn more, not to have them feel they are not
cut out for it and should give up. This reflection of my personal experience is another
important reason I have chosen the topic of assessment for my inquiry.
Description of Process:
Once I found an interest in my inquiry question I began to think about what the
answer could be. Through reflection on the question, research, discussions, and material
about assessment in the course content at UBC I have begun to discover some ways
assessment can benefit students and learning. Reflecting on my inquiry has been something
that I do after I collect new information on the topic. I began my research with an article
that looked at the effects of grades on students. This research had me thinking maybe
grades are the problem and they need to be done away with. I thought maybe that was my
answer. However, with further research and discussions with colleagues a not so black and
white picture (grades or no grades) was painted, as removing grades or using grades both
have pros and cons.
In a discussion with an experienced educator the idea that some students may need
grades to motivate them, where as some students may do better without the stress that
grades bring them (allow them to take on challenges without the fear of a low grade) is
what made me realise that there is no one right way to assess. With further research I
believe a varied assessment program done with the best intentions to promote students’
best work and learning is closer to the answer than simply removing grades altogether.
Conclusion and Findings:
After trying to find out as much about assessment as possible over the past several
months, I have come to some conclusions about this topic. I have found that, as I suspected,
grades can have a psychological effect on students’ engagement (Poorthuis, Juvonen,
Thomaes, Denissen, Orobio De Castro, and Van Aken, 2014). This is not to say that grades
and other forms of summative assessment should be done away with, there is still a benefit
for grades (Poorthuis, Juvonen, Thomaes, Denissen, Orobio De Castro, and Van Aken, 2014).
Receiving high grades can promote or maintain engagement which is a positive thing, while
low grades correlate with lower engagement, as stated in the article "Do Grades Shape
Students' School Engagement? The Psychological Consequences of Report Card Grades at
the Beginning of Secondary School" (Poorthuis, Juvonen, Thomaes, Denissen, Orobio De
Castro, and Van Aken, 2014). Therefore, high grades are not the problem, but low grades
seem to be. Therefore, it is the negative summative assessment that is something that
should be avoided.
To elaborate on the idea that low grades (not grades in general) are the problem the
book “Choice Theory: A New Psychology of Personal Freedom” written by William Glasser
M.D. in 1998, offers a possible solution. What if a students work was not accepted unless it
would receive a B or higher? This does not mean making tasks less challenging, but means
giving students feedback and the opportunity for resubmission. Educators may feel this
might take too much time to get all students handing in a higher calibre of work, but as
Glasser mentions, “what is more important? How much the teacher taught, or how much
the students learned?” (Glasser, 1998, page 279)
Elaborating on the idea that only accepting work that would receive a B or higher
does not mean giving students less challenging work is the argument from the book, “The
Schools Our Children Deserve,” written by Alfie Kohn in 2000. In this book the argument is
that students experiencing failure is important. Besides, I believe giving a student an
opportunity to re-submit their work post-feedback versus a student getting a C and having
to accept that as their final grade is an easier pill to swallow. Digressing, failure is
important in assessment as it actually improves students’ confidence, motivation to
improve their performance, and take risks in their education, i.e. try the harder assignment
(Kohn, 2000). Kohn states in the book that it is extremely important to encourage a healthy
and resilient attitude towards failure. He also mentions the idea of the “avoidance of
challenge” (Kohn, 2000, page 29). This occurs when the point of an assignment is to
succeed rather than to stretch one’s thinking or discover new ideas because here a student
will do what is easiest, rather than what will improve their learning (and eventually their
performance) as they see getting an A as the point of education (Kohn, 2000). Therefore,
assessment needs to allow for the point of education to be learning, not success as in an A
on their assignment. This leads me to the importance of formative assessment.
In my research I have read a lot about the importance of formative assessment
through feedback and through the inclusion of students in the assessment process. This
idea of collaborating with students on their assessment has been stated in many articles,
but has stood out to me in Lorrie A. Shepard’s article “The Role of Assessment in a Learning
Culture” written in 2008. Formative assessment is a very valuable way of assessment
because it enhances learning, in addition to, and prior to giving grades. Feedback lets
students know what they did well and what they need to improve on. This is considered
dynamic or on-going formative assessment (Shepard, 2008). Feedback may also give
students the tools to expand their learning and produce better work by offering hints or
leading questions to get at their prior knowledge (Shepard, 2008). Moreover, collaborating
with students on their assessment helps them become accountable for their work and helps
them to know what they need to be working towards. This is considered an explicit or
transparent formative assessment that ensures fairness for the student as they are aware
of the criteria (Shepard, 2008). There is also evaluation of teaching as a type of formative
assessment. This method is important as the teacher receives some accountability for the
students’ learning as well and also because if the teacher models taking feedback, their
students are more likely to be able to do the same (Shepard, 2008). Assessment in this
formative way (as read about in Shepard’s article) is honest and does not have the intent of
tricking students, but has the goal of supporting students’ learning.
Ensuring that assessment is reliable is also important when ensuring that we are
doing the best for our students’ learning. If teachers do not collect enough evidence, or
assessments, on a subject it may not show the students true capabilities in it. For example,
a student may receive a poor overall English and Language Arts mark; however, was the
students assessed on all aspects of the curriculum, and were they assessed multiple times
in each area? This may be time consuming but it is in the best interest of the student. While
being interviewed by Ron Brandt, Grant Wiggins mentions in the interview titled, “On
Performance Assessment: A Conversation with Grant Wiggins,” “you watch them play a
game [football team], and they score 37 points. Is that typical of what the team can do? You
don’t know; you need more games played against different opponents under differing
conditions” (Brandt, 1992, page 36)
Assessment must also realise theory. According to Howard Gardner’s Multiple
Intelligences Theory of 1983, people have a set of intelligences that are biologically
determined, as stated in the text, “Educational Psychology: Learning, Instruction,
Assessment” printed in 1997. The intelligences include, linguistic, musical, logicalmathematical, spatial, body-kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Gardner argues
that one of the problems of schooling is that linguistic, logic-mathematical, and
intrapersonal intelligences are emphasized, while the others are pushed to the side
(McCormick, Pressley, 1997). Following this argument, it must also therefore be realised
that assessment should be varied. Educators need to realize the multiple nature of abilities
and help their students to use their intelligences to their advantage and improve on their
areas of weakness (McCormick, Pressley, 1997). This is important to consider when
attempting having a classroom where assessment builds confidence and self-efficacy in
their students.
Therefore, to summarize my findings and to come up with some sort of answer (based
on what I know so far about assessment) there needs to be purpose in what we are
assessing, lots of evidence of the students’ performance in each subject, and multiple
methods of assessment in the classroom to account for multiple intelligences. There also
must be lots of opportunity for formative assessment across all subjects as formative
assessment gives students a safe way to experience failure, and freedom to take risks with
their learning. Overall this type of assessment will see students that will improve their
learning, eventually their overall performance in schools, and their confidence and selfefficacy rise. Most importantly, assessment must always help students learn, encourage
them to want to learn, and motivate and help them to produce their best work.
As I continue to work on my inquiry I want to use my findings in the classroom
while on my practicum. I hope that what I have found can actually improve students’
confidence, self-efficacy, and performance across all subjects (whether the students
perform well in them initially or not). Now that I have completed a fair amount of research
I have created two unit plans, science and social studies, that I and other teachers can use
in the classroom. These unit plans will include a variety of methods of assessment to
benefit students’ in the above mentioned ways. These lesson plans will hopefully make
assessment to improve learning more user-friendly. I will also be attending UBC’s IOP
Conference in May 2015 to share my research and unit plans with other educators.
Some pieces of technology that I plan to eventually incorporate to promote
formative assessment in the classroom are: explain everything, puppet pals, inspiration,
ePortfolios (Fresh Grade), and Google docs (for collaborative work as well as peer and selfassessment).
References
Online Articles:
Brandt, Ron. On Performance Assessment: A Conversation with Grant Wiggins. 49 Vol.
Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1992.
Grant Wiggins speaks about tests and the struggle teachers may have in creating tests
that are worth taking in this interview. Wiggins says, “how do they [teachers] design
new forms of assessment, the likes of which they’ve never seen? They know what
they don’t like about conventional testing… but they don’t know what this new vision
looks like.” Wiggins then tries to help teachers find criteria to make worthwhile tests.
Wiggins calls for tests or assessment that include, multiple pieces of varying
information (for example with writing have a narrative piece, essay, and journal
entry) collected over time on students in each subject (a portfolio), and using multiple
judges when possible to see consistency over what is really the same quality of work.
This interview leaves the reader with the question, “What is worth testing?”
Cooper, Damian. Collaborating with Students in the Assessment Process. 36 Vol. Toronto:
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 2006.
Poorthuis, Astrid M. G., Jaana Juvonen, Sander Thomaes, Jaap J. A. Denissen, Bram Orobio
De Castro, and Marcel A. G. Van Aken. "Do Grades Shape Students' School
Engagement? The Psychological Consequences of Report Card Grades at the
Beginning of Secondary School." Journal of Educational Psychology (2014): 113.EBSCO. Web. 28 Nov. 2014.
<http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid
=8f53d0d0-d5d7-463b-956c-dfbf6c36a46e%40sessionmgr113&vid=2&hid=105>.
This journal article is a study that looks at the psychological effect of grades on
student engagement and success with learning. The article states that lower report
card grades can result in lower emotional and behavioural engagement the term
following the report card. The study found that boys more than girls, were more
affected if they perceived that their classrooms performance norms were higher than
their grades, therefore, making them feel worse about their performance. The
argument of this article then is that although we usually state that student
engagement is related to students’ grades, it can also be said that students’ grades
relate to student engagement. However, this article does not suggest the removal of
grades and assessment, but asks teachers to be aware of the possible negative
consequences of them.
Scherer, Ronny, and Fazilat Siddiq. "The Big-Fish-Little-Pond-Effect Revisited: Do Different
Types of Assessments Matter?" Computers and Education 80 (2015): 198-210. Science
Direct. Web. 24 Nov. 2014. <http://ac.elscdn.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/S0360131514002036/1-s2.0-S0360131514002036-
main.pdf?_tid=e70f05ac-75e7-11e4-97ca00000aacb35f&acdnat=1417060140_a26669011ca734f222b80b42961ca3b7>.
Shepard, Lorrie A. "The Role of Assessment in a Learning Culture." The Journal of Education
189.1/2 (2008): 95-106.
Stiggins, Rick. "Assessment FOR Learning in Upper Elementary Grades." The Phi Delta
Kappan 90.6 (2009): 419-21. JSTOR. Web. 28 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/stable/20446134?seq=3>.
Formative learning is a key idea in this article by Rick Stiggins. Stiggins states in the
article that students arrive in school and start interpreting their own assessment
results and drawing their own inferences about themselves, and this will affect
students’ learning well before teachers get to act on those results. It is also mentioned
that those students who see themselves succeeding early on actually believe in
themselves as able learners and therefore succeed academically. However, it is noted
that this can be seen in the opposite direction as well with students asking, “can I
learn this, or is it too hard for me?” and then potentially losing engagement with
learning. This article then asks the question, what can educators do to ensure success
in learning if students keep trying, even after poor results through assessments?
Stiggins then tries to give some strategies to help answer the question he poses.
Wiggins, Grant, and Education Commission of the States,Denver, CO. Toward One System of
Education: Assessing to Improve, Not Merely Audit. State Policy and Assessment in
Higher Education. ESC Working Paper. Distribution Center, Education Commission of
the States, 1991.
In this article Grant Wiggins write about how assessments should improve
performance by providing usable feedback for students. He does not believe
assessment should merely audit students’ work. Wiggins questions “one-time
mandated tests” that test on what students should have done as useful. Wiggins
would like to see a move towards more performance-based assessment. This means
assessing students as they are performing the tasks they need to be assessed on, and
charting student progress over time (not just looking at their first answer and having
that be their only answer). Wiggins goes further to say that performance-based
assessment must be authentic and the criteria they are based on are clear and known
to the students prior to their assessment. Student’s knowing the criteria prior to
assessment is key in creating students who are accountable for their work (whether
the performance exceeds expectations or not). A valuable point Wiggin’s makes in
this article is that this form of assessment mimics real world assessment of
employees in the workforce (why not have students become used to this type of
assessment early?).
Yan, Zi, and Eric Chi Keung Cheng. "Primary Teachers' Attitudes, Intentions, and Practices
regarding Formative Assessment." Teaching and Teacher Education 45 (2015): 128-
36. Science Direct. Web. 24 Nov. 2014. <http://ac.elscdn.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/S0742051X14001280/1-s2.0-S0742051X14001280main.pdf?_tid=7f9569b0-75e8-11e4-9d3400000aab0f02&acdnat=1417060396_6d20d2c6bfcf6375bb1c6da9e685f93b>.
A study based out of Hong Kong, but relatable to issues with assessment in Canada,
this article looks at what formative assessment does for students in comparison with
summative assessment. This study takes into consideration how likely it will be that
teachers implement more formative assessment into their classroom, and what
teachers would need to do so and be successful. This study finds that formative
assessment has many advantages over summative assessment. Formative assessment
helps with identifying students’ learning difficulties and then help to redesign
teaching methods to enhance student learning. However, this may be a more timeconsuming approach to assessment so in order to see teachers carry it out they must
have a positive attitude about its advantages, receive the appropriate support,
resources, skills, and knowledge so that if they fail at implementing this type of
assessment at first they will not be discouraged to try it again, and again.
Online Videos:
Assessment and Grading for Student Achievement. Dir. Damian Cooper. Perf. Damian
Cooper. Youtube. N.p., 9 Nov. 2011. Web. 20 Jan. 2015.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_FPnFyY5eQ>.
Motivation & Self Esteem. Dir. Damian Cooper. Perf. Damian Cooper. Youtube. N.p., 29 Aug.
2014. Web. 20 Jan. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GfhBGiItmQ>.
Books:
Glasser, William M.D. Choice Theory: A New Psychology of Personal Freedom. New York:
Harper Collins Publishers, 1998. Print.
William Glasser M.D. writes in this book what should be done to improve the effort
coming out of “do-enough-to-get-by students”. Glasser asks students the question “do
you do quality work in school?” and the students he asks say that they have never
done the best they can do. However, in extracurricular activities they do. Why is that?
How can we see students doing their best work in the classroom? Glasser also
mentions in this book teaching and assessing for what is worth knowing. Is it worth
knowing word for word one of Shakespeare’s plays, or is it worth knowing how to
read, write, and comprehend? However, Glasser understands the issues surrounding
why educators would not do this. This book also makes connections to what happens
to the students who did poorly in school to who ends up in prison. Glasser also calls
for the removal of grades for less than competent work. Students should only get
grades for work that is worth a B. If students work scores below that they would
receive feedback and an opportunity for re-submission. Educators cannot accept
anything less than competent work if they want to see quality. Glasser also compares
and contrasts open book tests and closed book tests to see which one promotes
quality learning. Glasser also asks that educators think about the benefits how
students are taught in the primary grades versus in intermediate grades. Glasser also
asks the reader to think, what is more important? How much the teacher taught, or
how much the students learned?
Kohn, Alfie. The Schools Our Children Deserve: Moving Beyond Traditional Classrooms and
“Tougher Standards”. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. Print.
This book’s section on education analyses the costs of overemphasizing achievement.
Alfie Kohn argues in this book, backed by a body of research, that overemphasizing
achievement leads to undermining students’ interest in learning, makes failure seem
overwhelming, leads students to avoid challenging themselves, reduces the quality of
learning, and invites students to think about how smart they are instead of how hard
they tried. Kohn states that students need to understand failure is a part of life, as no
one succeeds all the time. Also it is stated that students need to learn how to fail and
deal with it. The book also asks educators to make tasks about learning, not about
doing well. This will allow for students to take a challenge to learn as much as
possible, rather than avoiding challenge to ensure success. Therefore, educators must
tone down the emphasis on performance and grades, and value intellectual
exploration, not results.
Kohn, Alfie. No Contest: The Case against Competition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1992.
Print.
Alfie Kohn argues in this book that “competition” and “success” are not the same
thing, and that reaching goals is possible without ever competing. To make a point
Kohn quotes John Holt who states, “we destroy the… love of learning in children,
which is so strong when they are small, by encouraging and compelling them to
work for petty and contemptible rewards… in short, for the ignoble satisfaction of
feeling that they are better than someone else.” This book has the reader think about
grades as that “petty reward”, and asks that people use cooperation rather than
competition to promote learning. Cooperation also works as a better motivation,
according to the book, as it promotes accountability. Students are more likely to
produce their best work when they know others are counting on them.
McCormick, Christine, and Michael Pressley. Educational Psychology: Learning, Instruction,
Assessment. New York: Longman, 1997. Print.
In this psychology text book, the section on assessment gives information on
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences theory for the purpose of making the claim that
educators must realise the multiple nature of abilities. Therefore, educators need to
assess their students to see where their strengths and weaknesses are to improve
learning for them. This section also gives ways to prevent test anxiety. Since tests can
be a valid way to assess students, it is important then that we give students the tools
and skills that will help them to take a test, like showing them how to study for a test.
Also the section mentions that tests must be fair, accurate, consistent, and defensible.
Information is also given about ways to test for intelligence. This section also calls for
dynamic testing (students are tested, taught, and then re-tested) to show where
students are at, and to improve where they are at.