How to Make the Perfect [Assessment] Cocktail

Assessment can be a sticky issue.  We know best practice is not a multiple choice test, yet that is the preferred method state standardized tests use--due simply to the ease of grading, way to lead by example ;)  So, do we use best practices or inferior methods that prepare students for a bogus test designed primarily for PR and political fodder?  Tough choice right? While it may be an easy philosophical decision.  The pressure from administration can often complicate things.  My general belief is that if a student can pass my assessment, they will do fine in a multiple guess test.


We often sit around and talk about assessment, specifically 'what is the best way to know what students know'.   I think we've concluded that it depends on the situation.  What is best in a science lab is not what is best in twelfth grade AP English.  While the specific assessment models don't always hold true across all the disciplines and developmental levels, the concept usually do.  Such as the concept of self-assessment.  I think this is a powerful assessment concept that should be worked into nearly every activity you wish to use as an a recorded assessment (grade).  However, it isn't always the most reliable option.  Self-assessment is best when balanced by a teacher assessment.  Obviously the teacher provides a needed perspective in the overall assessment of a given activity, and probably should be given the highest weight.  That being said, another valuable perspective are the students' peers.  If the student presents their work to the class, the class should have a say in the assessment.  The same is true of working in groups or presenting to an authentic audience.  A group assessment is a great ingredient to authentic assessment.

If you are truly interested in really learning what your students know its good to account for multiple perspectives.  If you are looking for a fast way to grade... well... find another profession because you're making all the rest of us look bad.  And while we're on the subject its OK not to grade everything you do in your class.  I once met a teacher who took 55 grades in a 9 week period---thats 1.2 grades per day!  To sum up, assessment is best thought of like a cocktail.  One part self assessment, one part group assessment, and one part teacher assessment... and, it should always be used responsibly.

Authentic Assessment and Professional Development

I made the complete switch to authentic assessment two years ago.  Since then, I haven't given a traditional quiz or test for a grade.  My students demonstrate their knowledge and skills by creating authentic projects and presenting them to an authentic audience--other teachers, community members, professionals--when time and personel allow.  Designing the projects and assessments has taken a great deal of time and effort, but my students have definitely reaped rewards of engagement and enthusiasm, as well as opportunities to build their collaboration and communication skills.  This is a tall task for many teachers.  Its hard to know where to begin on a journey to authenticity.  An article I read may supply an answer.

Recently Edutopia published a great article by Bob Lenz of Envision Schools.  Titled How Authentic Assessment Heightens Accountability in our Schools, the article explains how Envision Schools have their students create a public showcase of their work in a museum-style exhibit throughout the school.  Lenz extols authentic assessment, as opposed to traditional assessment, because it publicizes student work and by extension, teacher support.  Teachers feel the pressure of facilitating student growth that will be on public display at least twice each year.  When everything is in plain view, students and teachers both work harder to demonstrate their competencies.  Does this practice help students memorize facts and facilitate higher scores on standardized tests.  Probably not, and I'm Ok with that.  Just as I would not pander to a dictator, I won't indulge an inferior assessment model at the expense of authentic learning.

Another fantastic idea in this article is the idea of "instructional rounds".  Teachers, administrators, schoolboard members, community members, and other stakeholders...

"gather at each school in the Envision network twice a year to help each school investigate a "problem of practice." The school opens all of its classroom doors for observation from the group assembled in the morning. In the afternoon, the group works with the school to move from observations to action -- concrete next steps. Envision Academy asked the question, "How are teachers moving students towards more independent learning?"

This strikes me as a great professional development model.  When we train doctors, we don't stick them in a classroom for six years and then rush them right into surgery.  Doctors are constantly observing and evaluating their peers to learn new practices and hone their skills.  Teachers could learn a great deal from taking guided rounds through the school.  For teachers who want to learn authentic practices, observation is invaluable.  I've sat through several project-bases learning training sessions, but nothing prepares you more than experience.  I would have loved to be a fly on a wall of a few classrooms that were using project-based learning before I actually took the plunge.  The teachers being observed will also work that much harder to ensure their project goes smoothly because they are being authentically assessed by their colleagues.  This could completely change the climate of a school if exercised on a regular basis.

Assessing teachers with a one-time class visit will create a dog-and-pony show.  Using test scores and other quantitative data will encourage teachers to teach to the test.   Regular instructional rounds will create a more authentic assessment of a teacher's classroom.  The added benefit of using this a as supportive teacher observation/professional development process makes this a win, win, win.  A process is often defined by the method of assessment, so too is education.  In the famous words of Will Richardson, "if we don't assess what we value, we will only value what we assess."

Group Project, Individual Grades

Collaboration is a 21st Century skill, and despite the social nature of today's youth, it doesn't come easy.   Leaders need to learn how to delegate work and direct people in an effective way.  Shy students need to learn to speak up.  Socialites need to learn to stay focused on the task at hand.  Group projects are a great opportunity to learn collaboration skills, but they can also be disastrous, especially when it comes to grading.  Its inevitable--someone doesn't pull their weight in the group, the group gets a low grade, and suddenly its 'not fair'.  While the old adage is true, life is not fair--group grading should be.

Last year I experimented with a grading style that helps to avoid this.  Rather than grading the entire group at the end of a project, I grade the students individually based on their contribution.  I formatively assess throughout the project, and by the end of the project I usually have a pretty good idea of who has done their work.

In addition, I like to design my projects so that each group member is responsible for an independent part of the whole final product.  In the end, the group must find a way to put all of their work together into one presentation.  Its important to make each independent part so that the other group members don't rely on the completion of another student's work.  For example in my recent project Exploring the World Project, students had to research the most amazing physical features in the Eastern Hemisphere.  They each had to make several presentation slides, create a map, and create a written explanation of how each physical feature formed.  The group had to combine their work into one presentation, map, and written paper.  Of course Google makes this very easy.  When the group presented, each group member presented their independent parts.  When they were finished, we graded out individually.  Life was finally fair.

Creative vs. Mechanical Intelligence

Last week my students were learning how to read charts and graphs.  We were identifying the parts of a  graph and learning how to approach complicated charts before we created our own infographics next week.  I prepared a few graphs for the students.  I cropped the title and X and Y axis labels off of one line graph.  I asked the students to suggest what the title SHOULD be based on the available information on the graph.  Obviously, there wasn't a specifically right or wrong answer, and most students chose something related to the key words still on the graph.

To my surprise, there were a few students who struggled with this.  There were several more that left it blank because they couldn't "find" the answer.  One student in particular really blew my mind and opened my eyes to different types of intelligences.  This student was a straight "A" student last year.  The conversation went something like this:

student-"I don't get the question"
me-"Based on what you can see, what SHOULD the title be?"
student-"I don't know because you cut it off"
me-"I know, I want you to use what you do know and create a new title that is appropriate."
student-(frustrated)"How can I get the right title if I can't see it?"
me-"I don't want you to guess the original title, I want you to be creative and write a totally new title that explains what is going on in the graph"
student-(looking away from her computer, sitting in silence, visibly frustrated now)
me-"Don't worry, there are lots of right answers"
student-(no response, bell rings and she leaves)

The next day, I sat down with her to "grade out" as we call it.  She had left the question blank.  I told her that I expect every question to be answered.  I tried to explain that there won't always be a clear answer this year, that she will need to be creative.  She seemed to accept it, but I could tell it bothered her.  This is a fantastic student, clearly very smart, but befuddled when a clear answer is not presented in the text.  I think this situation is a symptom of traditional education.  For too long we have told students there is only 1 answer.  This has created students that are mechanically intelligent, but lack creativity when given more open ended questions.  The world demands creative thinkers, and this student is not being served by an education that tells her there in only 1 answer to every question.

Writing in Google Doc's

This year I have really embraced the fact that literacy is the foundation of everything we do in school.  I  am trying to inject more non-fiction reading and formal writing into my social studies class.  As students write, they need formative feedback.  Assigning a paper and waiting a week before we cover it in red ink is assigning students to failure.  Ideally, I would like to sit down with every student, everyday while they write.  With classes as large as 28 this year, I would need to budget 1.7 minutes for each student as I guide them toward better grammar, punctuation, spelling, sentence structure, vocabulary, summarizing, etc. 

Luckily, our school has Google Apps for Education.  Every student has a Google account, so when they write, they do it in Google Docs.  They share their paper with me and I have 24 hour access to their work.  I sit down face-to-face with as many students as I can during class, but I look at every paper, everyday.  For the students I don't sit down with, I insert comments into their paper.  Comments are great ways to have a discussion without marking up their paper.  Students can respond and you can easily have a conversation about their work.  I keep track of who I talk to in person and who I comment on to keep balanced and keep track of formative progress.  By the time the paper is due, I rarely need to do any "grading" and there is no need to turn anything in.   Another major benefit is the "dog" can't eat it, they can't forget it at home, and since it's saved in the cloud any online device can access it.  Revision history is another tool that allows you or students to recover their work in case of a problem.  You can also do research without leaving your doc. 

Managing all of the paper is an issue for many teachers.  If you have several hundred students it can be difficult to manage that many docs.  Its important to use collections/folders and be proactive in managing your files.  I would also recommend teaching student about email notifications.  Every time someone shares a document with you, they can send an email to notify you.  If you are expecting their work, you don't want to clear several hundred email from you inbox. 

The way I manage my student work is by having 2 Google accounts.  I have my school account and my personal account.  When I'm online, I usually operate out of my personal account and forward all my school mail to my personal account.  I have students share their work to my school account, so 90% of the documents in my school's Google Docs account and my personal account isn't cluttered up by other people's work.  I really don't know why every school doesn't take advantage of Google Apps for Education.  Docs and formative assessment is just the tip of the iceberg.  

Grading Scale

Recently a large school district in my area made a major change in their grading system.  Its not the kind of major shift I would like to see, but its a step in the right direction.  I read an article about their change, and in the article they had a picture of the school's old grading scale (below).  I began to look at the "rigorous" grading scale.  A 69.4 is a failing percentage.  What?  How can we call it failure if a kids completes nearly 70% of the material?

A 69.4% is labeled as failure!  This really got me thinking about how and what we grade.  There seems to be this unwritten rule that teachers should grade everything students do.  Why?  Why does every action students take in class need to be documented with a quantifiable score?  I talked to a teacher recently that had 50+ grades in a 9 week period.  There are only 45 school days in 9 weeks!

This whole system, the traditional system of grades, seems to be so punitive.  We seem to use the threat of a low grade to force students to do our work.  Isn't that all grades really tell you... completion percentage?  Wouldn't you like to know more as parents and teachers?  Even if a student does the work, tries hard, but doesn't get it, we still penalize them with a bad grade.  Why?  Don't we learn more from failure than success?  Punishing failure causes a fear of failure, which erodes critical thinking, creativity, and divergent thinking.

I'm curious about other evaluation systems schools are using.  I've heard about standards-based grading, but I don't know much about it.  I'm less concerned about standard mastery than skill mastery.  I've heard of narrative feedback, which I really like.  What is the best system that evaluates in fair way, is manageable by busy teachers, usable to parents, and applicable to higher institutions?  I would love to hear some feedback.

Flipping the Teacher

As educators slowly transition into a more progressive form of pedagogy and assessment our role changes  in many ways.  We become less of an instructor and more of a guide.  We become less a "teacher", and more of a student. The dynamic of how we work is also changing.  In a conversation with my consigliere, Joey Till, he pointed out exactly what we are doing--we are flipping the teacher.

In the 20th Century it was very typical for teachers to put together their lessons while they were in school--preparing materials, making copies, etc.  Of course, teachers worked at home too---usually grading papers of some kind.  What we are doing now flips our work dynamic.  I sit on my wonderfully comfortable couch and put my lessons together.  On nice days, I like to sit outside and smell the flowers and listen to the birds while I think of interesting projects and ways to breath some life into my otherwise boring content standards.

While I'm in school I spend a great deal of time "grading".  Of course, I don't mean I grading papers.  I sit down with groups or individuals and use conversations as formative assessment.  When its time to decide on a grade, we have another conversation.  I ask content questions.  We look at the requirements, I tell them my formative observations, and they decide an appropriate grade, which is almost always right where I think they should be.  Another way I am increasingly "grading" in school is using student presentations.  I blogged about the instructional value of student presentations, but obviously this is also a good time for assessment.

Some of the teachers I have worked with express concern about the additional planning time that  project-based curriculum may require.  Some of the worry could be relieved if they learn that "grading" doesn't mean sifting through stacks of papers at home every night. 

Grades

I have never liked the idea of grades.  The idea that a single letter can sum up the totality of 180 days of learning is absurd.  The difference between a C+ and a B- is a tenth or hundredth of a percent, yet it can make or break a scholarship, educational accolade, or a student's identity.  Does that dramatic effect fairly represent a dramatic difference in learning?  Of course not.  Joe Bower and Mark Barnes have become my assessment gurus, specifically pertaining to the abolition of grades and implementation of narrative, formative feedback.  I can't say enough about their thoughtful blogs and courage to practice what they preach. 

My courage is building, and more importantly my frustration with grades is boiling over.  Right now, I grade everything in a one-on-one conversation with students where I offer formative feedback until the desired outcome is reached.  When the student is finished, they choose the grade they feel they earned.  If I agree, it goes in the gradebook. However, since students revise the activity until it is completed (all objectives met), we usually use things like timeliness, creativity, effort, etc. to determine the grade.  (most kids who do their work end up with A-, A, or A+)  Its all starting to seem pointless--I have so much more to say, than a letter grade.

I would rather have students keep a learning journal as a shared Google Doc where they reflect on the completed activity--what they learned, what they could have done better, effort, timeliness, etc.  I could comment and maintain a conversation about their learning and performance.  We could share this Doc with parents, so they could keep up with how their student is doing rather than looking at a single letter every 9 weeks.

Structuring Class

As adults in the workplace, we all have to manage our time.  We all have required activities, due dates, and a certain level of work time to finish our activities.  This juggling act requires skills.  Better for our kids to learn (and fail, if necessary) in middle school rather than later in life.   

Pic by: Kat Rodenas

My curriculum is organized into 4 units.  Each unit is divided into topics such as 'Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia'.  In each topic, I have created several activities.  Students work their way through the activities.  During the first semester, I let them work at their own pace.  They had to finish all activities, but they could work at their own pace.  If they didn't finish an activity they got a zero in the grade book.  I assumed grades would motivate them.  Turns out, a surprising number of kids don't care about their grade.  This semester, each activity has a prescribed number of days until it is due.  After the due date, students stay after school until the activity is completed. They value their time far more than they value their grades. 

When we start a new topic, I introduce the topic with an intriguing aspect to get the students hooked.  Most days I teach a short mini-lesson that usually matches up with the activity students should be working on.  When we finish a topic the kids take a diagnostic so I can see how effective the activities and mini-lessons were.

Students can mess around in class and work at home, work hard in class and have no homework, they can finish early and enjoy some free time, or waste time and stay after school; the choice is theirs.  They need to learn to manage their time.  Students move through the activities sequentially, where as in Joey Till's math class, the students pick the order of their projects.  This allows me the time to grade everything one-on-one and spend time with the students that need it the most.  In addition, I'm not holding back students that are motivated and learn quickly.  I spend my day walking around helping students, reteaching, checking, and grading. 

After my student-teacher leaves, I plan on building in a few days that won't count as "work days".  Friday will be "video day".  We will learn with videos, movie clips, etc. and discuss the topics.  This will break up the monotony of constantly moving from one activity to the next.  Like the blog's name suggests... its all an experiment.

Assessing "Math"

For much of educational history, the words "math class" were often said with a glum attitude.  No one ever puts an exclamation point after the words 'math class'.  (Today I went to math class!)  This is tragic because math teaches thinking and logic--something our kids desperately need and the workforce demands. However, dozens of the same math problem every night, lack of real world application, inauthentic worksheets, and rigid solving methods have put a bad taste in the mouth of students when they hear the word math.  Fortunately, many progressive educators are changing this, and Wabash Middle School is lucky to have one. 

When Joey Till designed his class website, he called it "7th Grade ???????".  He didn't even like to use the word math because of the historic negative connotation.  You won't find any worksheets here.  His class is basically made up of math journal projects and math game scores.  He writes the following guest blog:
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"Kids in my class are assessed in two ways: 

My students work on individual projects.  When they are finished they “grade out” with me.  They show me their project.  As I am checking their presentation, they explain the math steps to solve a problem or they explain the math vocabulary they learned.  I close their computer and ask a couple of questions to make sure they can verbally explain the math.  They assign a grade based on the quality of the project, how well they understand the information, and timeliness of their work.

On “Game Day” my students work on math games or online activities that they choose from a list.  At the end of class, the students “grade out”.  On these days, the kids write me a little note and give themselves a grade that justifies why they deserve it.  The grade is based on how hard they worked and their overall production during class.

 
The students in Joey's class personalize every project and find the math in everyday parts of life that interest them.  They stay intrigued and engaged and.... actually look forward to math class.  It even seems weird to type.  Traditionalists might be wondering... "yeah, but how do you know they are learning, what about standardized tests"?  On the last Acuity test (a standardized test similar to ISTEP), 75% of Joey's class are predicted to pass ISTEP.  This is equal to the 2011 state average by the end of the year.  I really look forward to seeing where Joey's experiments will take him in the future.

A Different Take on Assessment

The Digital Age easily lends itself to creating numerical data.  It seems people want to quantify every part of society, especially education.  In fact, we seem to only assign value to quantitative data and shrug at qualitative data as being quaint.  In truth, you can't quantify learning.  You can quantitatively measure a student's score on a single test on a single day, but that, in no way, captures the complete experience of learning in a class, from a teacher, or in a school. 

I have come to realize that grades, just like numbers, do not represent learning.  Maybe they represent completion rates, but not learning.  Inspired by people such as Mark Barnes, I have completely changed how I assess this year, and so far I love it.

When a student completes an activity, we sit down together to assess their work.  We first look at the requirements.  I ask some questions about their work.  I ask them some content-related questions to make sure they understand the material.  The student chooses a fair grade we can both agree on.    I move on to the next student.  While students are waiting to be graded they move on to the next activity, depending on the day.
Students are pretty harsh when they grade themselves.  I have to raise the grade 9 out of 10 times because they are so hard on themselves.  I'm trying to encourage self-assessment and meta-cognitive skills.

When we finish a "topic" (similar to a section or chapter) in my class, we take a brief diagnostic.  The diagnostic is set of 10-15 question on my eInstruction clickers.  I don't take a grade on this, I just use this as a measuring stick for me to evaluate the effectiveness of my activities and mini-lessons.  Generally they kids score 70-90 percent.  This happens about every 2-3 weeks.  Other than my diagnostics, I HAVE NOT GIVEN A SINGLE QUIZ OR TEST THIS YEAR!

In the past I wasted so much class time quizzing, reviewing, testing, studying... not learning and definitely not inspiring a love for learning.  Cramming for the purpose of brief memorization is not learning.  Besides, the State does enough testing.  This assessment system is so much more personal.  Students are not simply dropping a piece of paper in a tray and forgetting it.  They know they will have to sit down with me and be accountable for their work.  It changes the whole dynamic of assessment and provides more time for more important endeavors such as learning and inspiration.