To Give Teachers Information to Modify and Differentiate Teaching and Learning Activities

Hello everyone! Today I will be discussing assessment in education. There are three different types of assessment a teacher can perform on his or her students. There is: assessment for learning, assessment of learning, and assessment as learning. Today I will be focusing on assessment for learning.

What is assessment for learning?

Assessment for learning is used to improve students’ learning by giving the student constructive feedback during the learning period (Drake et al., 2014). Students will demonstrate their learning with the teacher there to help coach for improvement (Growing Success, 2010). Feedback is very important in assessment for learning. It should be descriptive, constructive and should relate to the student’s performance (Drake et al., 2014). The assessment should be visible to both student and teacher in order for the teacher to identify any weak areas the student may have (Earl & Katz, 2006). A demonstration of assessment for learning can be viewed in the example Youtube video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ4lJXxb4jI

As we can see, the teacher is individually working with a student to see the student’s progress. The teacher is performing assessment for learning by assessing the student with various work sheets. These work sheets have been used before because she shows the students how far they have progressed since the first time they did the work sheets together. I remember in my elementary class when my French teacher would individually take us aside to read a paragraph in French. I now understand this was assessment for learning to see how we have progressed in reading French and speaking French as well since we had to read to the teacher out loud.

“The wide variety of information that teachers collect about their students’ learning processes provides the basis for determining what they need to do next to move student learning forward”(Earl &Katz, 2006)

It is important that the focus is on the individual student’s growth; this can be done by giving the student feedback that focuses on the student’s strengths and weaknesses (drake et al., 2014). Identifying any areas of confusion the student may potentially have will help the student progress to the next level of learning. There are many examples of assessment for learning. These examples include: presentations, portfolios, multimedia projects, exit cards, and many more.

The next video is an example of a teacher using a traffic light approach to assessing for learning.

We can see the teacher assessing her students on the topic of global warming. The traffic light approach shows the teacher that the student understands (green), does not understand (red), or is unsure (yellow). I remember doing a similar approach in elementary school, but instead of doing the traffic light, we used our thumbs. A thumbs up meant we understood, a thumbs down meant we did not understand and a thumb to the side meant we did not know.

What are some examples of assessment for learning that you use in your classroom?

Do you remember being assessed in a similar way as a student?

Thanks for reading!

References

Drake, S. M., Reid, J. L., & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving               Curriculum and Classroom Assessment: Engaging the 21st Century Learner. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.

Earl, L. M. & Katz, S. (2006). Rethinking classroom assessment with purpose in mind: assessment for learning, assessment as learning. [Toronto, ON]: Western and Northern Canadian

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2010). Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools.