Assessment

4 Types of Activities-Assessments That Every Teacher Should Know and Use

Presenter linkElliott Seif
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Categories: Assessment, Instruction, Student Engagement

What kinds of activities best prepare students for a changing and uncertain world? I would like to suggest that four powerful types of activities, each of which can also be used as assessments, should be part of an arsenal of tools that all teachers should develop in order to prepare students for their future. Each incorporates opportunities for students to develop key ideas and understandings, a critical knowledge base, and core reading, research, communication, thinking, and collaboration skills. Each can be adapted for all grade levels.

Open-Ended Assignments

Open-ended assignments pose questions and offer activities that lead students to think and explain rather than give simple yes or no answers (Gardner, 2005). They can be used to provoke interest and curiosity in what is to be learned, to teach content and critical skills, and to provide opportunities for independent and deeper learning. They often provide students with writing opportunities and/or a chance to participate in discussions with multiple possible responses. They are also designed to create new ways of thinking about problems and challenges, allow for alternative possibilities and options, and enable students to be innovative and to think outside the box. Read more

Image with text How to Strengthen Understanding by Design

How to Strengthen Understanding by Design: Five Suggestions

Presenter linkElliott Seif
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Categories: 21st Century Skills, Assessment, Authors, Instruction

I’ve been fortunate to be part of the Understanding by Design (UbD) family for a long time, originally as part of a team organized by the UbD authors Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins to help develop the program. Once the program was developed, I also became a member of the ASCD UbD faculty that conducted training across the country and even in several countries around the world.

I am proud of what has been and is being accomplished through UbD, one of the best curriculum design programs that exists today. But my experiences as a developer and trainer also exposed me to what I consider to be some problems and challenges facing UbD designers. In this blogpost, I suggest five ways that I think teachers and schools that are already familiar with and using UbD can strengthen the design model and make it more powerful, relevant and different from traditional curriculum design. Read more

A Time To Be Wary Graphic

A Time to Be Wary

Presenter linkJeanetta Jones Miller
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Categories: Assessment, Authors, Instruction

“Incessant testing and grading and criticism keep you in a chronic probationary state that breeds low self-esteem.”
–James Moffett & Betty Jane Wagner, Student-Centered Language Arts K-12

Based on The Student-Centered Classroom

We should be concerned about the many students who have been categorized as “behind” because of “COVID learning loss.” The words educators use to describe students have an enormous impact on how they see themselves. Fall 2021 is a time like no other in recent history when we can lift up students or limit them based on how they were able to navigate an unforeseen and incredibly challenging year of education. This is a time when rigid adherence to standardized testing policies and grading practices could have a lasting negative impact on how our students see themselves and on the role they expect school to play in their lives. 

Evaluate each student’s unique progress toward achievement of learning goals

Think about a student who has stayed engaged with learning and grown intellectually and emotionally in consequence. Think about a student who has used this increasingly mature sense of understanding to help siblings and friends engage in learning. Think about this same student receiving grades of C and D. Educators need to read between the lines. This is a time when it is crucial to get to know each student as a whole person and to evaluate each student’s unique progress toward the achievement of important learning goals. If there was ever a time to be wary of standardized tests and averaged grades on one-size-fits-all assignments, this is that time. 

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Is Standardized Testing a Bad Thing?

Presenter linkThomas R. Guskey
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Categories: Assessment, Solution Tree

“Standardized testing” is one of the most frequently used yet most commonly misunderstood expressions in education today. Some consider standardized testing to be an important, foundational component in any school improvement effort. Others believe it is a disruptive process that serves mainly to narrow the curriculum, stifle the creativity of teachers, and limit learning opportunities for students. Read more

Assess Everything, Grade Nothing | Jeanetta Jones Miller

Assess Everything, Grade Nothing

Presenter linkJeanetta Jones Miller
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Categories: Assessment

Based on The Student-Centered Classroom

“Let all parties know that all activities are assessed all the time, but don’t ever give the impression that the assessment is intended for anything but help and encouragement.”

—James Moffett and Betty Jane Wagner (1992)

Across the nation, students stayed home for the spring semester of 2020, as parents and educators rushed to come up with ad hoc programs to keep school going at home and online. Read more