ToolKit98

Activity 1.1

Changing Assessment Practices: What Difference Does It Make for Students?

Purposes:

1. To stimulate thinking and discussion among teachers, parents, and diverse communities of learners about the practical, learning-centered reasons for changes in assessment practices

2. To prompt reflection about current practice as a foundation for action

Uses:

This is a good introductory activity for looking at the rationale for changes in assessment. It can be used to begin a PTA or other family and community session. It is also useful with a school faculty. It has been used in a large, auditorium-style session with several hundred participants.

Rationale:

As use of a variety of assessment tools expands, it's essential that educators look together at assessment practices. As educators rethink and improve the quality of assessment practices they need to share their growing understanding of the impact of assessment practices on children's learning, and, more fundamentally, on the belief of children in their ability to learn.

This activity is built around the work of a group of British Columbia educators who developed a guide to communicate with parents and community members about the impact of assessment practices on the learning of young children and the rationale for changes underway in primary classrooms.

Materials:

Overhead projector, screen, blank transparencies, transparency pens

Overheads A1.1,O1-Changing Assessment Practices, Purposes, A1.1,O2-Questions for Parents, and A1.1,O3-Questions for Educators

Handout A1.1,H1-Assessment/Evaluation/Reporting

Time Required:

20-30 minutes

Facilitator's Notes:

1. (1 minute) Set the stage for reflection and discussion by noting that participants will be examining and discussing a sheet that shows one group of educators' way of helping parents understand the specific changes in assessment practice that are taking place in classrooms and how directly those changes are related to children's learning and academic self-concept. The sheet shows what this group of educators has come to value and why, as well as the actions that flow from their understanding. Use Overhead A1.1,O1-Changing Assessment Practices, Purposes to describe the purposes of the activity, as needed.

2. (5 minutes) Provide copies of Handout A1.1,H1-Assessment/Evaluation/Reporting and ask participants to read it while thinking about the questions on Overhead A1.1,O2-Questions for Parents or A1.1,O3-Questions for Educators.

3. (10 minutes) Ask participants to find a partner and discuss the handout and their thoughts about the questions on the overhead. Are there some common questions? Common areas of agreement?

4. (5 minutes) If time permits, ask for volunteers to report key ideas, issues, and concerns from their discussions.

5. (5 minutes) Remind participants that this activity is intended not to present the specific practices that educators must use (and thus end conversations about our assessments), but to open or extend ongoing conversations about day-to-day assessment practices and student learning.

You might close by asking participants to create their own list of reasons for change in assessment practices-or-write down one insight they gained from the discussion or one question they want to learn more about.

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