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Minutes with Charlie 5
By Charlie | January 28, 2008
Much has been said, written, discussed, and debated regarding the concepts “Assessment OF Learning” and “Assessment FOR Learning”. It seems that the more these broad types of assessment are discussed, the more confusion seems to reign. It appears to me that one of the most common and most destructive confusions is the view that we have assessment OF learning and assessment FOR learning and never the twain shall meet. There is an idea that somehow one is more important than the other or somehow superior to the other. I want to address in these few minutes the connection between and the role of these two valid types of assessment. First, a brief description of each is in order.
Assessments OF Learning are those assessments that happen after the learning is supposed to have taken place for the express purpose of determining if it did indeed occur. These usually take place at the end of a unit of study. In the classroom they are used to determine a grade for the unit of study.
Assessment FOR Learning occurs while the learning is still in process. These are assessments teachers conduct throughout the teaching and learning process to determine student needs in learning (i.e. misunderstandings, etc.), give teacher information to plan next steps in instruction, provide students with descriptive feedback, and give students a clear picture of their next step in learning. These assessments should not enter into the grading picture. Assessment FOR Learning is not an assessment for the purpose of accountability – it is an assessment FOR the purpose of learning.
It is important to note the commonalities between the two. Both are assessments. .Note that both focus upon “learning”. If we are ever guilty of giving an assessment in the classroom that does not somehow focus upon learning, then the assessment is certainly suspect.
In that they both focus upon learning they both also are related to instruction. Assessment OF Learning gives a teacher insight into just how effective they were in instruction. Assessment FOR Learning gives teachers insight into the next steps in classroom instruction.
Assessments OF and assessments FOR learning are different in that they serve fundamentally different purposes. Our success as educators depends upon our learning to use a balance between the two to insure and enhance student learning and performance.
The role of the teacher in assessment OF learning is:
- Administer accurate assessments, and
- Use sound grading practices.
The role of the teacher in assessment FOR learning is a bit more involved:
- Become a confident, competent master of the standards they are teaching
- Deconstruct the standards into classroom learning targets that form the learning steps that lead the student to the mastery of the standard,
- Convert the learning targets to student friendly statements of learning targets,
- Create high quality classroom assessments that reflect those targets,
- Use those assessments to track improvement over time, and
- Plan and prepare classroom instruction based upon the results of the classroom assessments.
Next we must consider the role of the student in each of these assessments. Just as a failure of the teacher to consistently fulfill his role in each type of assessment will greatly limit the quality of instruction and extent of learning, the same is true for the student. If the student fails to fulfill his role in each assessment category, learning will be greatly impeded.
Personal Reflection: Do I understand the categories of assessment? Do I consistently fulfill my role in each?
Topics: Assessment FOR Learning, Minutes with Charlie |