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Minutes with Charlie 12
By Charlie | April 7, 2008
The third type of learning target from an assessment perspective is that of a skill target. Skill targets are in essence performances that must be demonstrated by the student and observed by the teacher and others to be assessed.
In skill targets it is the doing of the skill that holds primary importance. In most cases, there are foundational knowledge and understanding targets that form some prerequisites to quality skill performance. In some cases, the mastery of reasoning targets also form an essential foundation for high skill levels. For example, if the skill target is to give an oral presentation examining the merits and demerits of the Marshall Plan, the student must possess basic knowledge of the Marshall Plan and its role in post-war Europe as well as some reasoning ability to determine the merits and demerits of the Plan. But, the skills target is the oral presentation.
While the most obvious skill targets are found in physical education and the fine arts, skill targets abound in other academic areas. In learning to speak a foreign language a skill target would be the proper pronunciation of words and correct conjugation of verbs. In language arts oral reading fluency and poetry reading are examples of skill targets. In mathematics, many of the measurement TEKS and construction TEKS are skill targets. In the sciences, the TEKS often call upon students to demonstrate certain skills in the lab.
All too often it seems we take the skill targets in the TEKS and assess them as if they were knowledge and understanding. We have students identify or select items rather than demonstrate skills. As we examine the TEKS, it is important that we distinguish the skill targets from knowledge targets and assess them appropriately.
There are several important considerations when we embark upon the assessment of skill targets that will prove useful in avoiding problems.
First, as mentioned earlier, knowledge and understanding targets often underlie the skill targets. If we are attempting to assess skill targets without first insuring that the students possess the necessary knowledge and understanding to use in the skill, we are insuring their failure. If we put them to perform a skill, without an adequate foundation, we often are deceived in their skill ability. For example, a student may have excellent skills in giving oral presentations, but if we have them give an oral presentation on a subject in which they lack adequate knowledge, their lack of knowledge will mask or hide their oral presentation skills.
Second, usually skill targets do not fall into a “they have it or they don’t have it” assessment. More often than not, skills develop along a continuum. There will be a range of proficiency or a scale of competency along which a student may demonstrate skill. As such, it is important that going into the skill assessment, we as teachers have a continuum or scale upon which to assess the skill. This continuum must contain specific criteria to move along the scale. These criteria must be understood by the student prior to the instruction and assessment.
Finally, as with most assessments (knowledge and understanding, reasoning, skills, or products), it is important to have multiple assessments for learning during the learning process, not just one skill performance.
Personal Reflection: Am I attentive to when the TEKS call upon a skill performance for my students? Do I regularly assess students in the skills they are required to develop? What can I do to become more proficient at assessing skill targets?
Topics: Learning Targets, Minutes with Charlie |
June 15th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
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