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Minutes with Charlie 6
By Charlie | February 19, 2008
“Student involved classroom assessment” should be as normal in our classrooms as “student involved classroom learning”. Yet, as we strive to insure the student is actively engaged in learning we have not taken steps to likewise insure that the student is involved in assessment.
We easily see where and why students should be involved in a variety of learning opportunities, but it is not so clear to us where and why the students should be involved in the assessment process. It is often difficult to see the connection between the two. I would like to explore briefly what it means to have students involved classroom assessment and then address the connection between student involvement in learning and student involvement in assessment.
Student involvement in classroom assessment deals with students being actively involved in four areas of the assessment process. These areas largely reflect the last four areas mentioned previously regarding the role of the teacher in formative assessments.
First, students should clearly know and understand the learning target to be assessed. If a student cannot accurately describe the learning target and does not have a clear understanding of the quality of work required to hit that target, he is not involved in this stage of classroom assessment.
Second, based upon his performance on classroom formative assessment, the student should know and be able to explain his progress on the road to hitting the target. This involves a specificity that far exceeds knowing his grade average on a test. A student involved in classroom assessment can describe both his strengths and weaknesses in hitting the target.
Third, based upon the results of formative assessments a student should be able to describe the next steps he needs to take to improve his performance. Just as a teacher uses the results of formative assessments to plan instruction, the student uses the results to plan steps to improvement and greater learning. A student that cannot describe the next stages of his learning and what he will do to improve is not involved in this stage of assessment.
Finally, a student should be able to accurately communicate and provide evidence of his progress toward hitting the target. This communication should be more than a grade average. One of the most powerful assessment communication tools is the student led parent conferences where the student is able to describe to the parents, in the presence of the teacher, the learning target, examples of the standards of excellence , his progress toward excellence, and the steps he will take to improve.
The primary connection between student involvement in learning and assessment lies in the area of student motivation. As educators we readily recognize that if a student is not motivated to learn, little learning occurs. If a student checks out of the learning process and decides that he is either not willing or able to learn, there is little we can do to promote learning. On the contrary, we all know that when a student is motivated to learn, they often make great leaps of learning despite considerable obstacles. Involvement in the assessment process provides the needed ingredients to enhance motivation to learn, increases engagement in learning, and improves student performance.
Personal Reflection: As a general rule, are my students regularly and actively involved in these areas of classroom assessment? Am I providing this motivational tool to my students?
Topics: Minutes with Charlie, Student Involvement |