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Minutes with Charlie vol 2 no 1
By Charlie | August 25, 2008
Great enthusiasm, fresh hope, and renewed vision mix with imposing challenges and changes to form all the emotions associated with the beginning of a new school year.
We will once again produce Minutes with Charlie this school year. The purpose of Minutes is to provide information on various aspects of classroom assessment and to encourage discussion on those aspects. I believe that if we are to achieve the improvements we desire in student learning we must increase our assessment literacy and our assessment competency.
Assessment literacy refers to the knowledge and conceptual understanding of the principles of quality classroom assessment. When we possess assessment literacy, we can engage in intelligent conversation regarding classroom assessment, we can recognize good and poor quality assessments and assessment practices, and we can develop quality plans for implementation.
Assessment competency refers to the consistent practice of quality student involved classroom assessment principles in such a way that greatly impacts student learning. When we possess assessment competency, we can consistently apply the knowledge and understanding of assessment literacy in a variety of classroom settings and thereby impact student learning and motivation.
Neither assessment literacy nor competency is easy to develop. We must realize that we can possess considerable assessment literacy and be void of assessment competency.
As professional educators, we bear the responsibility for our own professional development. We work in a district that puts great emphasis upon providing professional development, but the responsibility for the development of my abilities as an educator falls directly upon my shoulders.
Hands down, without any reservation the best method of developing personal assessment literacy and competency is through the active participation in an Assessment Learning Team. A number of teams are forming on several campuses. It is professional development as you have never known it before.
Participation in an Assessment Learning Team consists of meeting about every three weeks with a few other teachers to review practices in assessment, discuss reading assignments completed since the last meeting, at times view videos, share experiences, and make plans for the next stages of learning and practice. The greatest learning for an Assessment Learning Team occurs, not in the every three week meetings, but in the three week interval where members put in practice in the classroom new learning about assessment.
Assessment Learning Teams provide the very elements we have often claimed were missing in professional development:
· It is ongoing throughout the year, not a one-time training.
· It is job embedded and applies to our specific classroom, grade level, and subject area.
· It is flexible to meet the needs of team members.
· Team members learn as a team, from each other rather than from some outside expert.
If you are interested in forming or participating in an Assessment Learning Team on your campus, talk to your principal about your plans for moving your professional development into your classroom practice.
Personal Reflection: What professional development have I done that has truly impacted my classroom practice? What will I do this year to enhance my personal professional development?
Topics: Assessment Learning Team, Minutes with Charlie, Uncategorized |
June 12th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
I really like your post. Does it copyright protected?
June 19th, 2009 at 6:14 am
Kelly, none of the Minutes with Charlie are copyright protected. They simply consist of some of my thoughts on improving classroom assessment