This week we read about assessments, in light of the digital age in which we live. Assessments is a topic that has fueled many debates in the United States. There are a variety of opinions on how, what, and when to assess students. As far as I have seen, there has been very little common ground that allows different perspectives a place to be heard. Perhaps the use of formative and summative response is a place where people can find some commonality in this technology driven age.
I think it is important to note that formative response and summative response, though different, aren’t mutually exclusive. Both have a proper time and place in education. After reading about formative response, it is assessment for learning that utilizes the social practices and is metacognitive by design. I enjoyed the “Think, Write, Share” strategy the authors shared to help students through this process. Do you have any ideas that could aid students in metacognition concerning written response?
Formative response assessments can also be used to promote self-assessment by students. This is similar to what Dr. Beach had us do when responding to her blog this week. We evaluated how we felt we were doing in the implementation of the six social practices. We had to vocalize our thinking. Here is an example of a group of assignments one teacher made involving the social practices. Check it out: http://youthvoices.net/grid . This website is full of templates to help guide these types of assessments. I also thought figure 10.1 was quite helpful to explain A Taxonomy of Reflection.
BABR talked about two kids of formative responses: static and dynamic. Static electronic feedback include intertextual commentary. When I began working on my masters program, I had a professor that used this type of formative response. The professor looked line-by-line making edits to texts of rough drafts. This was done in MS Word. Then there were marginal and end commentary. I found this type of response to be a bit more helpful than line-by-line. The professor could comment about wording or the point being made. Some of these responses are predetermined and just a quick fill in for a specific type of error. Have you ever been a part of this type of assessment? Do you think this could be an effective assessment? Why or why not?
Dynamic formative response involves more interaction between the writer and reader. One example of this is oral response. There are many tools available to make this possible. VoiceThread, Kaizena, Pirate Pad, etc. Screencasting is an interesting tool that is fairly new to me. This is a method of annotating, but it can be done with recorded video comments. I teach second grade and haven’t had the opportunity to explore this tool. Have you all explored screencasting? What do you think? How do you think we should go about teaching students the appropriate ways to respond to peers in this setting?
Another thing mentioned regarding assessments was the use of rubrics. Most teachers or soon to be teachers have used this tool or participated in its use. Rubrics usually lead up to a summative assessment. It can be based off of specific skills specified by standards or those agreed upon by students and teachers in collaboration. What do you think the difference is between holistic rubrics and analytic rubrics? Rubistar is a great tool for teachers to create rubrics. Have you all used this before?
Rubrics can have both positives and negatives. Another type of summative assessment is dynamic criteria mapping. This is assessment that is based off of student work (inductive) not broad dictated goals. I view this as a type of individualized education plan. The assessment is specific to the student and the opportunities or challenges that a particular student may face. I could see this as a very complex process that requires a bunch of time. It also seems a bit subjective to me. Do you think this type of summative assessment has a place in the primary classroom?
The chapters and articles were full of information about assessments. What were your favorite? How do you see yourself applying them in the future as an educator?
I thought I would go ahead and get on and share how my writing group did small groups. We used Google hangout. One person started it at a set time. The day before our meeting we each shared a Google doc with our resource project so others could view it before the meeting. As we discussed our project we kept another google doc with what we discussed in it throughout our meeting then shared it with Dr. Beach. I thought it went very well.
ReplyDeleteI have used google docs similar to that in another class with Dr. Beach. It is a really effective way to check out people's work!
DeleteHow did you guys complete your writing group small group meetings? We are meeting again soon and may want to try something different.
DeleteOur group is going to meet this upcoming week. Our Hangout meeting went well. We answered each others questions and got Dr. Beach to clarify the ones we needed more clarification on.
DeleteOur group is going to meet this upcoming week. Our Hangout meeting went well. We answered each others questions and got Dr. Beach to clarify the ones we needed more clarification on.
DeleteAs I was reading about aiding students in metacognition I tried to reflect on anything I have done in the past that would work for this. I think I am always lacking in the example department since I have the least amount of experience in the higher grades, meaning even 2nd grade! I did think about authors chair and how the reflection and collaborative pieces of it could help a student in metacognition.
ReplyDeleteYou should share the http://youthvoices.net/grid directly on our Google community for those that need a quick click to get to it! There was so much there I was overwhelmed!
I would have to say that I have mostly experienced being a part of static assessment, but I have had a few teachers that used marginal and end commentary and feel like it shows that they cared more about my work and wanted me to learn from the experience rather than get a grade and just move on. I have never used or been a part of screencasting but I would LOVE to see it done by a teacher in a classroom. I think if you were to do it you would need to have a lesson in the beginning just as you do for proofreading and editing. The expectations of behaviors would need to be set from the beginning. If you already have an effective community going in your classroom this should be manageable.
Since I have always taught in younger grades I have no experience with rubrics past ones I have made here in the program at OU. I really like when teachers give them to me because I have a better understanding of their expectations. I have had many teachers say that they don’t do rubrics because there are so many different ways to complete the project. I understand this but feel that there are still certain objectives they will always want met.
I am a huge fan of using portfolios for assessment and as I was reading about keeping eportfolios I was reminded of a project I recently graded for some undergraduates in an assessment class last week. I had always been iffy about switching them to the computer but once I saw what they were able to do and how they could share it quickly with others and parents I was hooked! I should see if I could get permission to share it- it’s a great example of how to maintain it online.
I think portfolios are great for assessing also. In addition to making sure all the work asked for is in it, students can personalize them with their own special touches, especially on elementary level. I guess e-portfolios would be perfect for sharing with parents and classmates. Using this technique of portfolio compilation students can always store, review, make changes and even retrieve (print) it in the future if the need arises.
DeleteI think e-portfolios offer a ton of benefits. People can view the files with permission, and the assessments and artifacts aren't compromised. It gives the teachers opportunities to take material with them that needs to be reviewed. Students and teachers could work or comment on this from a variety of locations and times. This also offers the opportunity to set-up grade level portfolios that are similar in standards, and the students provide the supporting artifacts supporting those standards with teacher guidance. This is a tool that I think is gaining momentum in educations as we speak.
DeleteJust imagine too, not having to lug around a huge cart of artifacts! Or the ability to take a picture of students work and send the original home with them for the family to enjoy!
DeleteBARB mentioned that “Assessment for learning is designed to foster students’ meta-cognitive reflection about their use of social practices to achieve certain goals” and it went on to give the example of the “…use of hyperlinks in a blog post to their peers’ post to build social connections.” After reading this I thought back on what Dr. Beach had us do last week with inserting the hyperlink into our posts. It was really difficult at first and I couldn’t find a way to get it done, but eventually I found a way and shared it with my classmates. I was really ecstatic to see that my peers had not only used the link that I shared but they were very appreciative of the fact that I shared it as well. So, I guess that through Dr. Beach’s wanting to see if we could insert a hyperlink (Assessment) and I being able to complete it, I was able to reflect meta-cognitively, which was her goal all along.
ReplyDeleteYour writing about formative responses made me think about all the times I wrote papers in undergrad and even now as a graduate student. In one my undergraduate courses I had a very meticulous professor. She read everything in its entirety and made corrections using the intertextual commentary line-by-line editing. For her class I think it was the best way to do it. I’ve also had other professors who would just use the static marginal and end commentary, and this too was okay for me because of the type of writing I gave. As a result I can say that I have been a part of both types of assessments.
Consequently, I would say that both of these can be effective types of assessments but it depends on a number of things. For example, the subject and the type of paper being assessed. Is it an essay, poem, story or short paragraph, an article review or a research-based paper? Also, knowing your students allows teachers to use specific techniques thus making their choice of assessment easier. Some students may be overwhelmed by the intertextual commentary line-by-line editing while others may not, like myself and the same thing may go for the static marginal and end commentary. Students take this kind of (assessment) information differently and in order for students to benefit teachers need to know their students. There are many factors that should be considered before using these types of formative assessments.
Unfortunately, I have never heard of Rubistar, thus not being able to use it but I look forward to using it in the future. I think that holistic rubrics gives one validation of one’s overall grade hence the word holistic. The holistic rubric looks at many aspects of a child’s performance, in work, and behavior. On the other hand I would say that the analytic rubric looks more at specific aspects of a child’s work of behavior. For example, as a teacher and using this rubric while looking at a students work (let’s say it’s a research paper on a president-high school) I will assess him or her on areas that may include but not limited to whether or not he or she discussed the presidents background, schooling, past jobs, where they grew up. I would also check to see if they wrote about the president’s accomplishments and downfalls, and even comparisons to other presidents. However, if it were just a holistic rubric I would look at what was presented in the paper, how it flowed and ended. Both holistic and analytic rubrics can be used in the classroom but again, like static and dynamic assessment they too should be used with certain factors in mind.
Your comments on rubrics made me think about the fact that each student who walks into our classroom has a different way of learning, and has different wants and needs. Like you said Cathy, this dynamic assessment caters to each student individually. BARB mentioned that “Dynamic criteria mapping requires time and effort on the part of the writing instructors to review student writing and discuss goals for student writing with other instructors.” Yes, this type of assessment may “yield[s] authentic assessment” (BARB, 2014) but is it something manageable on the part of the teacher? Will he or she have time especially if you consider the amount or work that already needs to be done on a regular basis for each student? I know our classes today are growing and growing and as teachers we have to take some shortcuts in order to keep our sanity, do you agree? With that said, even though I think it could be beneficial to use this type of summative assessment I do not think it is realistic in today’s classroom.
DeleteI agree that teacher's time has a huge strain on it. Not only teacher time, but available classroom time. I can never seem to find enough hours in the day to accomplish what needs to occur in the classroom. For me, I don't think this type of assessment is practice on a large scale. I have done and do writer's workshop. This provides the student with timely feedback, but I have to do this in stride. It would be great to have an authentic summative writing assessment that has dynamic criteria mapping qualities embedded within it.
DeleteI think there is a balance we have to find to use in our classroom regarding all the useful practices we learn. It is just impossible to do it all, and I don't want to go crazy trying to do it all either. Each year you have to decide what will work as best practice to serve your students and families.
DeleteNow we can say that time, balance, and purpose are the three main reasons for the types of assessments teachers use in the classroom. These can also be the reasons why teachers do the things they do in the classroom.
DeleteI don't think I could pick just one of these assessments out as my favorite. They are all so good and can be all effective if used appropriately in the classroom. I think once I have the opportunity to use them and see what the effects are I will be able to pick my favorite. Until then, I'm just ecstatic that I've have been able to learn about them and look forward to implementing them in my future classroom.
ReplyDeleteI also think that the assessment used depends on what is being evaluated and the purpose of the assessment. Is it formative or summative? Is the assessment an artifact in a portfolio? It is really hard for me to choose a favorite as well. I think it really depends on the standards and purpose of the assessment.
DeleteYes Cathy, knowing your purpose for assessment as a teacher makes things much easier.
DeleteWhat are some other ways you guys have practices metacognition with your students? I know in Norman the Marzano scale is very popular.
ReplyDeleteI think this seems easier with the upper grades then PreK and Kindergarten and I wonder if that has to do with their brain development or just that they are used to what school requires of them by that point.
DeletePart of metacognition is developmental. I can't think of specific examples of specific practices in the younger grades in my district.
ReplyDeleteI agree Cathy, metacognition has to do with ones developmental level. As one grows so does their metacognition and I would see why you would say it is easier with the upper grades than the lower ones Tabitha. As we grow, our critical thinking skills and and critical reasoning and overall metacognition does as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your insightful discussion (and for the link, Cathy). Just a note about metacognition--yes, it is developmental but if you adhere to Vygotsky's zone of proximal development, it can also be taught and modeled early on by scaffolding thinking. I've listened to 1st graders tell me about their thinking when they were writing or reading after about 3 months of providing the right questions and modeling it.
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