ToolKit98

Activity 1.1

Assessment Principles: What Beliefs Guide Our Assessment Decisions?

Purposes:

1. To examine underlying beliefs that influence decisions made about assessment

2. To explore equity issues in assessment

Uses:

This activity can be used in Chapter 1 when a group first begins to examine assessment-as an opportunity to reflect about how previously encountered assessment ideas and information fit, to challenge the beliefs that individuals and groups hold, or as a way to begin a discussion on the rationale for changes in assessment.

Individual principles or clusters of principles can be used as conversation starters for discussion of grading in Chapter 4.

Some principles lend themselves readily to discussions of equity in Chapter 3.

Rationale
It’s important to surface the varying beliefs about assessment that participants bring to their discussions of alternatives. This activity is intended to help participants look beyond the specific “how to” information and share their thoughts about how assessment should contribute to learning. The set of principles included in this activity was crafted by educators intent on reaching decisions across schools and states. They are not intended to be accepted as is, but to function as a prompt for articulating and challenging beliefs.

Materials

Overhead projector, screen, blank transparencies and pens, or chart paper
Overhead A1.12,O1—Assessment Principles Purposes, Overhead A1.12,O2—Reflecting on Principles
Handout A1.12,H1—Assessment Principles

Time Required:
20-35 minutes

Facilitator's Notes:

(5 minutes) Use Overhead A1.12,O1—Assessment Principles Purposes to present the purpose of the activity. Make the point that the principles they will be viewing come from one group of educators and may or may not match their own beliefs and experiences. We are not necessarily endorsing them; we present them for discussion.
(10 minutes) Pass out Handout A1.12,H1—Assessment Principles and ask participants to group themselves into sets of 3-4. Use Overhead A1.12,O2—Reflecting on Principles to prompt participants to look at the match between their beliefs and those expressed in the handout.
(10-20 minutes) Invite groups to comment on principles that don’t quite jibe with their experience; or that raise questions about current practices. Where you think it’s appropriate, add your thoughts about some of the underlying issues that are raised by specific principles.

Variation—Digging Deeper: Assessment Principles and Equity

Time

30-50 minutes

Uses

As you use the assessment principles with groups of teachers, parents, administrators, and others who are dedicated to success for all learners, there are some follow-up questions that can focus attention on some of the complexities of equity in assessment.

Facilitator Notes:

1. (10-15 minutes) You may want to begin with the general questions:

Are there any principles here that raise equity issues for you?
What are your questions or concerns about these principles?

Ask participants to think about these issues individually and then discuss ideas in small groups.

2. (10-20 minutes) Below are selected principles and related equity questions that come from people in many locations. You can use this list to summarize the small group discussions or to stimulate group thinking. There are far more questions for each principle than you are likely to use in a session; they are possibilities to select among.

Assessment Principle Equity Question(s)

A2: The main purpose of assessment is to help students learn. When students are assessed well and given feedback about their performance, they find out what they have learned successfully and what they have not. Any weaknesses can then be reduced. A2: Are there differences in how feedback is given and received in the cultures represented in your classroom?
What kinds of feedback work (for which students)?

individual? group? positive?critical?
in writing?orally?
by teacher only? by peers?

What should feedback focus on? (Errors? Strengths? Movement toward standards?)

A3: Assessment tasks should be designed so that most children in a group do well in most tasks. This takes the threat out of being assessed, and allows children to be motivated to learn by the regular experience of success and praise. A3: Does this principle encourage "dumbing down" in the curriculum?
If most students should do well in most tasks, will we avoid really challenging tasks? Will students with high ability be limited?
Is praise always a positive force in student learning? (Does it encourage and motivate all students?

A4: Design/selection of assessment tasks requires a clear idea of the curriculum objectives. Children should only be assessed on knowledge, skills, and attitudes their teachers have given them opportunities to develop, and each task should be well within the capabilities of most students. A4: Does this principle assume that everything of importance is learned only in school?
Does it, too, give permission to dumb down tasks for some students? To limit our expectations for them?
What are the unique perspectives, ways of knowing and showing learning that students come to school with? How can we build them into our assessments?

A7: The language of assessment must match the language of instruction. If not, then assessment produces unfair and invalid results. Children must be fluent in the language in which they are to be assessed and the level of language used must match their stage of development. A7: What are the language(s) in which our students can best express their learning? How do we assess learners whose language skills in their first language are limited as well as their second language skills? Will it be equitable if we translate? Will it be quality assessment? Will it be equitable if we give students more time? Is that good assessment?

A9: Assessment should focus on each student's achievements, independently of how other students are doing. Constant comparison/competition with classmates can damage the self-esteem and self-confidence of many students. A9: Isn't competition a vital part of success in our nation?
If students don't know how they are doing in relation to others, what will be the measure of excellence? (This one can lead into discussion of standards-based assessment.)

3. (10-15 minutes) Invite participants to propose rewordings, deletions or additions to the principles to more fully deal with the essential need for equity in assessment.

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Assessment Principle	Equity Question(s)
A2: The main purpose of assessment is to help students learn. When students are assessed well and given feedback about their performance, they find out what they have learned successfully and what they have not. Any weaknesses can then be reduced.	A2: Are there differences in how feedback is given and received in the cultures represented in your classroom? What kinds of feedback work (for which students)? individual? group? positive?critical? in writing?orally? by teacher only? by peers? What should feedback focus on? (Errors? Strengths? Movement toward standards?)
A3: Assessment tasks should be designed so that most children in a group do well in most tasks. This takes the threat out of being assessed, and allows children to be motivated to learn by the regular experience of success and praise.	A3: Does this principle encourage "dumbing down" in the curriculum? If most students should do well in most tasks, will we avoid really challenging tasks? Will students with high ability be limited? Is praise always a positive force in student learning? (Does it encourage and motivate all students?
A4: Design/selection of assessment tasks requires a clear idea of the curriculum objectives. Children should only be assessed on knowledge, skills, and attitudes their teachers have given them opportunities to develop, and each task should be well within the capabilities of most students.	A4: Does this principle assume that everything of importance is learned only in school? Does it, too, give permission to dumb down tasks for some students? To limit our expectations for them? What are the unique perspectives, ways of knowing and showing learning that students come to school with? How can we build them into our assessments?
A7: The language of assessment must match the language of instruction. If not, then assessment produces unfair and invalid results. Children must be fluent in the language in which they are to be assessed and the level of language used must match their stage of development.	A7: What are the language(s) in which our students can best express their learning? How do we assess learners whose language skills in their first language are limited as well as their second language skills? Will it be equitable if we translate? Will it be quality assessment? Will it be equitable if we give students more time? Is that good assessment?
A9: Assessment should focus on each student's achievements, independently of how other students are doing. Constant comparison/competition with classmates can damage the self-esteem and self-confidence of many students.	A9: Isn't competition a vital part of success in our nation? If students don't know how they are doing in relation to others, what will be the measure of excellence? (This one can lead into discussion of standards-based assessment.)