Assessment should determine whether you can use your learning, not merely whether you learned stuff.
- Grant Wiggins, Healthier Testing Made Easy: The Idea of Authentic Assessment
- Grant Wiggins, Healthier Testing Made Easy: The Idea of Authentic Assessment
Assessment does not = test
Assessment is an ongoing, ever-evolving process that involves many approaches, methods, and evaluators. A test is typically what we think of when a student sits with a pencil and a bunch of questions on a piece of paper that will be scored for a grade. At Our School, assessment is daily, while tests are fewer, spaced out, and may not take place for weeks at a time.
Formative versus summative assessment
Formative Assessment - monitors student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by teachers to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning.
Examples:
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Summative Assessment - evaluates student learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it against standards and/or benchmarks.
Examples
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Assessment from Multiple sources
At OS, students also frequently engage in self and peer evaluation. This helps students to be aware of and be a participant in their learning. One of the most powerful components of self assessment is in the form of Our School's ePortfolios. Every child at OS has a digital collection of work selected by and reflected upon by the student. Different grade levels use different tools for their portfolios as age appropriate. Some samples may be found here, and here.
standardized testing
Standardized testing has a role to play as an audit, but what Our School does not forget, is that these tests have a very narrow focus and purpose as audits. Standardized testing in schools determine if students really learned what they were meant to learn as compared to the standards. To that end, OS employs Northwest Evaluation Association's (NWEA) Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) as the tool for this type of audit.
"Created by educators for educators, MAP assessments provide detailed, actionable data about where each child is on their unique learning path. Because student engagement is essential to any testing experience, NWEA works with educators to create test items that interest children and help to capture detail about what they know and what they’re ready to learn. It’s information teachers can use in the classroom to help every child, every day" (NWEA, 2014).
MAP is a complete set of assessments aligned to AERO standards: reading, mathematics and language. MAP dynamically adapts to a student’s responses – as they take the test. If a student answers a question correctly, the test presents a more challenging item. If a student misses a question, a simpler item is presented. In this way, the test narrows in on a student's learning level, engaging them with content that allows them to succeed.
At Our School, this assessment is delivered over the local school network on computers.
Understanding a student's true achievement level and academic needs gives educators an advantage when proficiency exams approach. By using MAP assessments, teachers know precisely where each student needs additional instruction, and how students may be grouped for a more effective learning dynamic. MAP tests also help educators prepare for the coming year by providing them with reliable information to guide instructional planning.
"Created by educators for educators, MAP assessments provide detailed, actionable data about where each child is on their unique learning path. Because student engagement is essential to any testing experience, NWEA works with educators to create test items that interest children and help to capture detail about what they know and what they’re ready to learn. It’s information teachers can use in the classroom to help every child, every day" (NWEA, 2014).
MAP is a complete set of assessments aligned to AERO standards: reading, mathematics and language. MAP dynamically adapts to a student’s responses – as they take the test. If a student answers a question correctly, the test presents a more challenging item. If a student misses a question, a simpler item is presented. In this way, the test narrows in on a student's learning level, engaging them with content that allows them to succeed.
At Our School, this assessment is delivered over the local school network on computers.
Understanding a student's true achievement level and academic needs gives educators an advantage when proficiency exams approach. By using MAP assessments, teachers know precisely where each student needs additional instruction, and how students may be grouped for a more effective learning dynamic. MAP tests also help educators prepare for the coming year by providing them with reliable information to guide instructional planning.
References
Northwest Evaluation Association (2014). Measure of Academic Progress. Retrieved from http://www.nwea.org/node/98
Wiggins, G. (2014). Healthier Testing Made Easier, Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/authentic-assessment-grant-wiggins
Wiggins, G. (2014). Healthier Testing Made Easier, Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/authentic-assessment-grant-wiggins