Assessment for Learning

Following my 490 practicum, I wrote a paper on my understanding of assessment thus far. Included, are some examples of assessment for learning:

“Learning to Fly”: A Summative Demonstration of Learning

Shelby E. Meaney

Department of Education, University of Northern British Columbia

EDUC 421: Assessment and Motivation

Gretchen Vogelsang

December 11, 2020

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“Learning to Fly”: A Summative Demonstration of Learning

            I have titled this paper “Learning to Fly” because this particular Pink Floyd song (Gilmour et al., 1987) has been running through my head for weeks, and the ideas encompassed within the lyrics are exactly where I feel I am at in my learning and teaching journey right now. The song is about learning to break free of the mechanics of learning to fly an airplane, burdened by fears and weaknesses, but pushing forth with determination and passion. For myself, I have acquired so much knowledge and theory in my student life; I have most of the “mechanics” to move forward as an educator, and now it is time to let those mechanics inform me, but to really be present and intuitive with my approach. This is important because, as educators, we must always be responsive to the learning environment; it is a living and moving entity (Vogelsang, 2020). This paper is an assessment of my own teaching and learning, which is living and moving itself. I will first discuss an overview of main learning points and understandings from the semester, then delve into a sort of compare and contrast of two different assessment methods I employed in my practicum (Life Sciences 11), concluding with goals for the future.

Overview of Learning

What is assessment?

I grew up thinking that “assessment” and “test” were one and the same. It was only really in this class that I began to think otherwise, and this simple switch in definition has truly transformed my teaching perspective on an enormous level. I know now that assessment is data collection, “a procedure for making inferences about student learning” (Black & William, 2018, p.553). It is how we measure learning, but it does not need to be associated with a number. This is difficult to grasp when you have spent your whole life being given a number, but is necessary to comprehend if we are to “change the assessment paradigm” (White, 2017, p. 37). My current understanding is that assessment is a cycle in which: 1) learning targets are identified, 2) meaningful learning opportunities are provided, 3) learning targets are assessed, and 4) data are used to set new targets. In a nutshell, we collect data to describe learning, and then use that evidence to ask: “have the learning intentions been met?” Once proficiency is demonstrated consistently, we can move onto new targets. Most importantly, learners must be invited into this process, and this is done by giving them feedback that aligns with the learning goals. This is also key to building relationships, and eventually getting to a point where assessment is the learning.

Assessment of learning, Assessment for learning, Assessment as learning

            Hilariously enough, I did not understand the difference between these ideas until a few days ago, when I was completing an outstanding assignment. I was asked to read a chapter out of Inclusion of Learners with Exceptionalities in Canadian Schools (Hutchinson & Specht, 2020), and summarize my findings. This chapter turned out to be focused on assessment, and illustrated many ideas beautifully, and just…in a way I could access. Assessment of learning is “the extent to which students have achieved intended learning outcomes” (Black & William, 2018, p. 553) (ie. summative assessment); Assessment for learning is what we refer to as formative assessment; and Assessment as learning is what we strive for as educators – when learners are self-motivated, self-directed, and truly take responsibility for their learning (Hutchinson & Specht, 2020). A notion that was reinforced for me from this reading is that assessment can really be used to create an inclusive classroom by creating different entry points for learners. All three types of assessment can contribute to learning if approached with intention, and in the right balance (Hutchinson & Specht, 2020). All of these approaches did come to fruition in my practicum, but they were not balanced well. By far, learners were more successful in the latter two, which will be outlined more thoroughly in coming sections.

Pre-assessment

Pre-assessment is a type of assessment that invites learners into the learning, and acknowledges what they already know and can do (White, 2017). It helps the educator determine “the content, skills and strategies you need to teach; the misconceptions students may bring to the unit (whether misconceptions of content or of themselves as learners); how to group students for instruction; the kinds of activities that will support various students (Hume, 2008, p.7). Once information is collected, we must decide how it will be used. A goal of mine during my practicum was to use “formal” pre-assessment, and I did…once. It was not hugely successful, as I gauged the learners’ knowledge to be far beyond what it was based on where they “should be” in the curriculum. Learners became a bit frustrated, but it did inform me as to where I should begin with them. This was a lesson learned, and I will be sure to approach my pre-assessment with more care next time.

Self-assessment

To have a meaningfully reflection for this final paper, and to tie in what I did in my practicum with my learning of assessment in this class, I decided to re-read a few chapters of Softening the Edges (White, 2017). Aaaaaaand I’m crying. White’s story about teaching water colour painting, and the learners’ reflections and re-attempts of their landscapes (p. 112) has me thinking just how important self–assessment is, and that I did not support learners as I should have in my practicum. This “act of remembering learning and feedback, and applying those rememberings to an evaluation of learning” (Vogelsang, 2020) can be so powerful. In my practicum, I did provide opportunities for self-assessment, but I did not teach the necessary skills for successful self-assessment. Nevertheless, I did see some self-respect and self-efficacy arise from it: Learners advocated for their hard work, and gave themselves a grade based on their proficiency level of multiple learning targets. In the future, I would like to give more attention to self-assessment.

Formative-focused vs. Summative-focused Teaching: A Case Study

 Since the secondary cohort was given a unique opportunity to teach one group of learners for the last two weeks of their semester, and a new group of learners for the first two weeks of the new semester, I decided to do an experiment. With the first group, I used backward design, keeping in mind the holistic assessment principles we learned in this class, and with the second group, I followed the lead of my coaching teacher (CT) in terms of assessment. WHAT. A. DIFFERENCE.

Formative-focused

The design

I created a “Science Notebook” for each learner, with a rubric attached to the inside cover of the notebook. I collected these every few days to provide feedback, and this was kept as a sort of dialogue between learner and teacher. The rubric ended up morphing from a 4 point rubric (I still used this for my own reference) into a more simple continuous rubric (which I have attached if you’d like to see). Using colour coding, I wrote feedback below the different learning goals, and learners applied this feedback to future assignments. Each time I collected, learners had (mostly) grown in each area, and the final grade was an evaluation of where they ended up on the scale. This was worth 50% of the mark, and the other 50% was a summative demonstration of learning in which learners chose any animal of interest, and were given the option to display learning in the form of: A brochure, a poster, a Bloom ball, or something of their creative choosing. I ended up creating a single point rubric for this, which was co-assessed.

The outcome

I had so much buy-in from this method. I will definitely re-work it to give it more clarity if I use it in the future, but some of growth that I saw brought tears to my eyes. Back to the Pink Floyd lyrics: “There’s no sensation to compare with this suspended animation, a state of bliss” (Gilmour et al., 1987). It was amazing. And this was only in two weeks! From the journal, based on the feedback I gave, learners rewrote paragraphs, and refined the organization of their work to make communication more clear. At the end of the semester, I even had many learners come back to collect their notebooks. Relationships were built through individual feedback right before my very eyes.

In the summative demonstration, I also had great buy-in. I heard learners talking about it to their peers in other classes, and really excited by the creative room they were given. I even had the “underachievers” (I hate that word, but, the learners that did not apply themselves, were often disengaged, and had received low grades from my CT) buy in. One boy came up to me and asked if he could bring a bear skull in to supplement his demonstration. I had another learner bring in earwigs from his house to pass around the room. Another girl made a fold-out jelly(fish) that was the actual size of the jelly in real life! Feedback I received from learners told me more time was needed, especially considering the condensed quarterly system, but it was a huge success overall. Learners took great pride in their work, and their findings even taught me about the animals they chose! One girl titled her poster “Bone Crushing Queens”, and went into great depth about hyena female hierarchies (I did not ask for this info in the criteria) because she was so fascinated by the social dynamics of the species. Win!

Summative-focused

The design

The second two weeks of my practicum was an entirely different experience, and I believe this was due to a few different things: First, obviously it was a completely different group of learners, so it was going to be different regardless of anything else. Second, guidelines were not implemented clearly enough, which probably did not create a safe feeling for learners. Based on feedback I got from learners, the learning objectives were also not clear enough, so learners did not know where they were supposed to “end up”. But probably the biggest contributing factor was the assessment design, which I communicated from day one would be 80% unit test and 20% one or two other assignments. This is my CT’s approach, and I thought it would be a smoother transition for learners to have the same format (not to mention, I did not want to be the student teacher who set up a negative relationship with their actual teacher by “going easy” on them, and then my CT coming in like “Oh by the way, now your tests are worth 80%”). So, yes, I was glad to do this experiment, but also it was just a cleaner transition (I think…*gulp*).

The outcome

Although I spent the entire first block as a “get to know everyone” day (and I thought this was actually quite successful), due to the assessment design, I did not end up building very strong relationships with learners. There was A LOT of anxiety over the test, and just more of an unsupportive energy I got from learners overall. I still assigned some creative learning opportunities: One of my favourite lessons with this group was on Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Western Science working together, or “Etuaptmumk” (Mi’kmaw), or “Two-Eyed Seeing”. Following the lesson, learners were asked to develop a visual representation of this concept. Later, on their unit test, they were given the choice to write about Etuaptmumk, and many wrote beautiful, insightful reflections about the strength of two perspectives, and how Indigenous knowledge can bring more understanding to Science. So… I don’t think I failed at teaching them; there was still meaningful learning, but the room was often filled with frustration, and this was felt by everyone from day one.

Annnnnd there it is people! I am a believer in backward design. I saw and felt it create relationships, I saw the feedback being applied by learners, I saw learners take charge of their own learning with curiosity and creativity! I think there is a time and a place for testing, but I will not be a teacher who gives unit tests worth 80%. Gretchen, Katie, Dylan, y’all were right! AND SCENE.

Focus for Next Practicum and the Future

One of my main goals for my next practicum is to have better communication with learners (and parents!) about the learning. The Science Notebook was a start, but I need to flush this out a bit more. I am yet to teach a group of learners for more than three weeks, so it will be interesting having a whopping ten weeks with one group. I will make sure to communicate with clarity (boy is this a life struggle for me) what classroom expectations are, what learning goals are, and reach out to learners and parents when learners are being successful. I repeat to myself: “at the heart of assessment is clarity” (White, 2017, p.36), because I know this is what I need to work on most as the educator. In terms of feedback, I will give two “wins” for every one thing that needs improvement (Vogelsang, 2020).

Overall, I would say that I have learned a great deal this year about assessment, but I still have a loooooooooooooooooong way to go. I am grateful I was given such autonomy by my CT, as it gave me a chance to experiment and see what worked and what didn’t work for both myself and for learners, but it was difficult being inserted into a content-focused setting. Additionally, I know I am also still focusing too much on teaching and not enough on learning (White, p.44), but I think this will improve in time. One thing I talked to my practice evaluator (PE) about was “fighting the fight”. I had one learner ask for more worksheets “because that is how most people learn”. My PE said that sometimes what is easiest, and what learners are used to, is not always what is best. She said I will have to continue to “fight the fight” if I believe in holistic assessment, especially in upper level sciences. This is also why clear communication is important to parents and learners. If we can explain how and why we are assessing this way, maybe we can get more buy-in overall. After this conversation, instead of reacting negatively to this comment, I took the feedback from the learner to mean that I was not providing enough reinforcement opportunities of key concepts, so I needed to find a way to do that. In truth, I knew this already, because my observations informed me that learners did not fully grasp what we were working on. Unfortunately, I had to move on anyways, in order to cover all of the content I needed to. How do you find this balance?! It truly is an art. Especially in such a content heavy course. So many questions still, but I have come a long way this semester in terms of understanding assessment. I am slowly “learning to fly”.

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References

Black, P., & William, D. (2018). Classroom assessment and pedagogy. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 25(6), 551–575.

Gilmour, D., Moore, A., Ezrin, B., & Carin, J. (1987). Learning to fly. [Song recorded by Pink Floyd]. On A Momentary Lapse of Reason. EMI Records Ltd.

Hume, K. (2008). Start where they are: Differentiating for success with the young adolescent. Pearson Education Canada.

Hutchinson, N. L., & Specht, J. (2020). Inclusion of learners with exceptionalities in Canadian schools: A practical handbook for teachers. Toronto: Pearson.

White, K. (2017). Softening the edges: Assessment practices that honor K-12 teachers and learners. Solution Tree Press.

Vogelsang, G. (2020) EDUC 421 [Course lecture]. Second Year Education School, University of Northern British Columbia.