1. CITATIONS : Development, Organization forEconomic Cooperation and. Policy Brief- Formative Assessment: Improving Learning in Secondary Classrooms. November 2005. E. Caroline Wylie, ETS. "Formative assessments Examples of Practice." 2008. THE COUNCIL OF CHIEF STATE SCHOOL OFFICERS . 24 June 2015 <http://www.ccsso.org/Documents/2008/Formative_Assessment_Examples_2008.pdf>. Ellis, Ken. "Comprehensive Assessment an Overview." Comprehensive Assessment an Overview. Edutopia.org, 3 August 2010. Improvement, The Center for Comprehensive School Reform and. "Using Classroom Assessment to Improve Teaching." 30 April 2014. education.com. 24 June 2015 <http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Using_Classroom/>. K. Michael Hibbard, Linda Van Wagenen, Samuel Lewbel, Stacey Waterbury-Wyatt, Susan Shaw, Kelly Pelletier, Beth Larkins, Judith O'Donnell Dooling, Elizabeth Elia, Susan Palma, Judith Maier, Don Johnson, Maureen Honan, Deborah McKeon Nelson and Jo Anne Wis. "Chapter 1. What is Performance-Based Learning and Assessment, and Why is it Important?" K. Michael Hibbard, Linda Van Wagenen, Samuel Lewbel, Stacey Waterbury-Wyatt, Susan Shaw, Kelly Pelletier, Beth Larkins, Judith O'Donnell Dooling, Elizabeth Elia, Susan Palma, Judith Maier, Don Johnson, Maureen Honan, Deborah McKeon Nelson and Jo Anne Wis. Performance based Learning and Assessment. ASCD, 1996. Munoz, Roberta. "Highstakes testing pros and cons." 4 December 2014. Education .com. 24 June 2015 <http://www.education.com/magazine/article/high-stakes-testing-pros-cons/>. Progress, Measured. "The Formative Classroom." The Formative Classroom. Measured Progress, 13 January 2011. Stiggins, Rick. "Assessment for Learning Defined." September 2005. Assessment Training Institute. 24 June 2015 <http://ati.pearson.com/downloads/afldefined.pdf>. Wilbert, Mark. "Auhentic Assessment in Action." 19 April 2013. Eduotpia. 24 June 2015 <http://www.edutopia.org/blog/sammamish-4-authentic-assessment-in-action-mark-wilbert>. Wormeli, Rick. " Formative and Summative Assessment." Formative and Summative Assessment. Stenhouse Publishers, 30 November 2010.
2. Authentic
2.1. Definition
2.1.1. “Authentic assessments analyze student learning in a manner that is consistent with how our disciplines function outside of an academic environment.” (Wilbert)
2.2. Purpose
2.3. Advantages
2.3.1. Students feel their work has real value outside the classroom.
2.3.2. Students are motivated
2.3.3. Students hold themselves accountable for their learning
2.3.4. Students are able to measure their learning
2.3.5. This type of assessment is beneficial for students in Learning Support that they can work in groups,contribute,build connections ,, share ideas hence enhances their learning.
2.4. Disadvantages
2.4.1. Takes time to plan the assessment. Delivery of assessment should be planned in detail to avoid students getting off the goal of the assessment. Can take away time from instruction.
2.5. Assessment FOR
2.5.1. This is an assessment for learning as it teaches students skills that are transferable to real life. The feedback given through the process develops student skills.
2.6. Example
2.6.1. It is similar to performance assessments. The English class had a debate based on a literature book titled “Refugee Boy” and connecting it to the debate topic of “ Open migration and refugee status”- viable or not. The students were assessed on the research done for the debate, delivery of information.
2.7. Authentic assessment, also called direct, alternative or performance-based assessment, gives students other opportunities (Improvement)to show what they know.
3. Portfolio
3.1. Definition
3.1.1. This is a systematic collection of student work and material that depicts student activities, accomplishments.It also gives evidence of student reflection and self evaluation,guidelines used to select portfolio contents
3.2. Purpose
3.2.1. These portfolios represent student capabilities and tells stories of their school achievement.
3.2.2. Two types of portfolios:
3.2.3. Process Portfolios- Teacher uses these to help students identify learning goals, document progress overtime and demonstrate learning mastery
3.2.4. Product Portfolios-
3.2.5. Demonstrates the mastery of a learning task that contains the best work student have accomplished.
3.3. Advantages
3.3.1. Promotes student self evaluation, reflection and critical thinking.
3.3.2. Provides flexibility in measuring how students meet their learning goals.
3.3.3. Teachers and students are able to set learning goals and evaluate progress towards it.
3.3.4. Facilitates cooperative learning activities,includes peer evaluation and turoring.
3.4. Disadvantages
3.4.1. Requires extra time to plan an assessment.
3.4.2. Gathering the data and work samples can make portfolios bulky
3.4.3. Scoring portfolios can be subjective- as rating scales and professional judgement is used.
3.4.4. This limits reliability.
3.4.5. Individual portfolio conference need to be scheduled. Hence time consuming.
3.5. Assessment OF /FOR
3.5.1. This is an assessment of and for learning. It encourages a real world experience that demands organization, decision making, and metacognition. Used in a thoughtful, carefully planned way, portfolio assessment can foster a positive outlook on learning and achievement.
3.6. Example
3.6.1. In my school students have a portfolio for Drama, Music and Arts subjects. This contains all research, compositions,self reflections done through each unit. This is assessed at the completion of a unit.
4. High Stakes
4.1. Definition
4.1.1. High-stakes tests are standardized achievement tests, It is given to students as a way to measure knowledge and learning potential. They are given at specific grade levels with intervals in between administration.
4.2. Purpose
4.2.1. Teachers can focus on areas that help individual students develop.
4.2.2. The test scores can be used to decide student promotion /retention
4.2.3. The test scores will be used by authorities to decide school and teacher performances
4.2.4. The scores of certain High stakes testings will determine students college entrances.
4.3. Advantages
4.3.1. Less emphasis on drills.
4.3.2. Teachers plan on student learning needs.
4.3.3. Students are taught test taking strategies
4.3.4. Data from statewide testing is almost always publicly available.
4.3.5. Parents are able to monitor how well, or poorly, the child's school is performing.
4.3.6. Parents have access to this information which will help them make more informed decisions about where and how their child will get the best education.
4.3.7. Students can benefit by learning how to handle pressure, and develop the skills and strategies necessary to meet the school's and parents' expectations.
4.4. Disadvantages
4.4.1. These tests can cause anxiety.
4.4.2. prepping for standardized tests can take away from the subject areas that are not tested, including those that foster creativity.
4.4.3. High-stakes tests cause any subject that isn't math or language arts to be pushed out of the classroom. Subjects like science, social studies and the arts are sacrificed to make time for more test prep
4.4.4. Teachers teach to the test and clamp down on student creativity and innovation.
4.4.5. Increased pressure on parents for students to perform which is counter productive
4.5. Assessment OF
4.5.1. Because It tests student current knowledge at a particular time.
4.5.2. It is not a continuous assessment.
4.6. Example
4.6.1. In my school MAP Testing is given once an year for Reading , Writing and Math to test grade level competencies. The scores are used to determine student needs and what teachers can do to enhance learning.
5. Self Assessment
5.1. Definition
5.1.1. Students assess their own work by applying the criteria or a checklist for individual or group work.
5.2. Purpose
5.2.1. Increase student responsibility and autonomy
5.2.2. Students develop metacognitive skills and deeper understanding of the subject matter, skills and processes
5.2.3. Student role is more active than passive
5.2.4. Involve students in critical reflection
5.2.5. Develop in students a better understanding of their own subjectivity and judgement
5.3. Advantages
5.3.1. Encourages student involvement and responsibility.
5.3.2. Encourages students to reflect on their role and contribution to the process of the group work.
5.3.3. Focuses on the development of student’s judgment skills.
5.4. Disadvantages
5.4.1. Potentially increases lecturer workload by needing to brief students on the process as well as on-going guidance on performing self evaluation.
5.4.2. Self evaluation has a risk of being perceived as a process of presenting inflated grades and being unreliable.
5.4.3. Students feel ill equipped to undertake the assessment.
5.5. Assessment FOR
5.5.1. Self assessment if an assessment FOR learning as this enables the student to understand the errors, student realizes the areas that need to be worked on and the progress made and rectify for the next task.
5.6. Example
5.6.1. In the science class the students are given rubric to check against the requirement. They are asked to grade themselves based on the rubric requirements before the teacher gives the correct grade.They compare and realize the areas they have missed.
6. Peer Assessment
6.1. Definition
6.1.1. Students individually assess each other's contribution using a predetermined list of criteria. Grading is based on a predetermined process, but most commonly it is an average of the marks awarded by members of the group.
6.2. Purpose
6.3. Advantages
6.3.1. Encourages student involvement and responsibility
6.3.2. Encourages stuudents to reflect on their role and contribution to the process if they partook in group work.
6.3.3. Focuses on developing their judgment skills. Provides more relevant feedback as it is generated by their peers.
6.3.4. Can reduce the “free rider” problem in group work, because of awareness of contribution.
6.4. Disadvantages
6.4.1. Additional briefing time taken to teach the process to the students.
6.4.2. Students will have a tendency to award the same mark to everyone.
6.4.3. Students can feel ill equipped to undertake the assessment.
6.4.4. Peer pressure, friendships can influence theassessment
6.5. Assessment FOR
6.5.1. Peer assessment is an assessment FOR Learning as the students are developing judgement skills not only for others but themselves as well.They are able to connect to what they have done in comparison to their peer and assess the task more clearly
6.6. Example
6.6.1. Students when involved in group projects, once the project is complete,they take a gallery walk and peer assess other group work based on a rubric.
7. Formative
7.1. Definition
7.1.1. These are "Checkpoints along the way" Any assessment that is done, where a student is able to revise his efforts in light of the feedback that is given and then be assessed and given credit.
7.2. Purpose
7.2.1. To improve student performance through feedback
7.3. Advantages
7.3.1. Improves equity of student outcomes {i.e high gains from achieving and underachieving students.}
7.3.2. Builds students “learning to learn skills “ through the processing of teaching and learning where the students are partners.
7.3.3. The instruction methods are altered to include varied approaches to learning.
7.3.4. Verbal or written feedback enables students to strengthen their weaker skills and focus on expanding their strengths.
7.3.5. Descriptive feedback-help students discover/ point it out,relate to the goal and where they are in relation to it.
7.4. Disadvantages
7.4.1. Teachers fear that the formatives could be too resource intensive and time consuming to be practical.
7.4.2. Whole school curriculums need to be adjusted to include formatives as a balanced evaluation.
7.5. Assessment FOR
7.5.1. - Continuous assessment- As students are given immediate feedback it informs them about their learning
7.5.2. Student progress toward meeting the standard is shown through the assessment.
7.6. Example
7.6.1. Traffic Lights-hold up- green-amber or red signs to indicate understanding.
7.6.2. Simple quiz on work/ experiment done the previous day to ensure learning.
7.6.3. A Kahoot game- online collaborative game- designed for the lesson with relevant vocabulary/quiz type questions to help students recall their learning as well as assess the direction of the lesson.
8. Diagnostic
8.1. Definition
8.1.1. It can be used to diagnose the current level of knowledge and skills of a learner. Where the learning activities will be developed along those lines.
8.2. Purpose
8.2.1. It gathers and evaluates student knowledge and skills in a given learning area. This data assists teachers in planning lessons, and scaffolding the learning needs of the class which will in turn improve learning outcomes for all students
8.3. Advantages
8.3.1. Students receive appropriate scaffolding to learn new concepts.
8.3.2. Student frustration to comprehend difficult material will be minimized.
8.3.3. Aids in differentiating lessons based on student pre knowledge.
8.4. Disadvantges
8.4.1. Students might feel that they are not ready/ discouraged if they are unable to perform on the diagnostic
8.5. Assessment FOR
8.5.1. - Informs instructional decisions - Motivates students to try to learn
8.6. Example
8.6.1. In secondary school the teachers give a pretest to check for prior knowledge of students before embarking on a new Unit.
9. Summative
9.1. Definition
9.1.1. Refers to the assessment of a student that summarizes their development at a particular time
9.2. Purpose
9.2.1. Used to evaluate student learning ,skill acquisition and knowledge gained at the end of a particular period of instruction. This could be at the end of a project, semester or end of the year.
9.3. Advantages
9.3.1. Determines to what degree students have learned the lesson.
9.3.2. It does not diagnose but evaluates learning progress .
9.3.3. Measures progress toward improvement of goals
9.4. Disadvantages
9.4.1. Not always an accurate reflection of student learning
9.4.2. Deeper understanding of student knowledge that could be applicable to the real world is not assessed .
9.4.3. Instruction is not remediated to suit student learning during instruction.
9.4.4. An end of unit/semester/ year test adds pressure on students, Gives rise to rote learning which is temporary and not transferable.
9.5. Assessment OF
9.5.1. Assesses which student has reached the top
9.5.2. Tests hold teachers and students accountable to meet standards
9.5.3. Judges sufficiency of learning at a particular point in time.
9.6. Example
9.6.1. An end of semester test is given.A question paper based on all units of student learning done in class.
10. Performance Based
10.1. Definition
10.1.1. “Performance-based learning and assessment represent a set of strategies for the acquisition and application of knowledge, skills, and work habits through the performance of tasks that are meaningful and engaging to students.” (K. Michael Hibbard,1996)
10.2. Purpose
10.2.1. Traditional testing helps answer the question, “Do you know it?” and performance assessment helps answer the question, “How well can you use what you know?”(K. Michael Hibbard,1996)
10.2.2. It is used to develop Student understanding of content
10.2.3. Develop processing skills such as higher order thinking
10.2.4. Develop student work habits such as responsibility, time management and intrapersonal skills.
10.3. Advantages
10.3.1. Time taken to do these is assessments are teaching and learning
10.3.2. The actual conduct of the project is a learning experience for students & the teacher.
10.3.3. It informs teachers as to what they need to do to meet student needs.
10.3.4. Students can analyze multiple perspectives, analyze evidence, be able to critique.
10.3.5. As students work with performance assessment, the quality of their work improves, reducing the time teachers must spend assessing and grading student work.
10.4. Disadvantages
10.4.1. Significant amount of time is taken to plan the assessment.
10.4.2. The grading of the task is subjective.
10.5. Assessment FOR
10.5.1. Students are given continuous feedback on their learning.
10.5.2. Students are motivated by the subject content that interests them
10.6. Example
10.6.1. The grade 7 science class was given a project based assignment to do an “energy audit”. This was also an interdisciplinary unit with a math component coming in for graphing and calculations. The students did an energy audit of their homes and found out how they could reduce energy consumption. They learned to make graphs and project their data. They had to make suggestions to parents on which areas to reduce usage and made connections to real life.