Learning About Assessment, Learning Through Assessment (1998) / Chapter Skim
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IV. A Framework for Addressing Concerns
IV. A Framework for Addressing Concerns
Pages 33-41
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From page 33... ...
Participating teachers learn about new directions in assessment while they engage in repeated applications of the assessment process. From the start in assessment-focused groups, teachers are challenged to sharpen their skills in gathering and using evidence to make valid inferences.
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From page 34... ...
An example of a refocusing concern voiced by teachers once they have worked with innovations in assessment for a while might be, "Will the district support us in using gradeby-grade student work analyses to redefine the district's performance standards? " Table 2.
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From page 35... ...
One economical way is to organize the information around the four shifts in assessment mentioned earlier. These were shifts away from basing inferences on single sources of evidence and toward basing inferences on multiple and balanced sources of evidence; · away from reliance on comparing students' performance with that of other students and toward reliance on comparing students' performance with established criteria; · away from relying on outside sources of evidence and toward a balance between these sources and evidence compiled by teachers; and · away from a preponderance of assessment items that are short, skill-focused, single-answer, and decontextualized, toward a greater use of tasks that are context-based; open to multiple approaches and, in some cases, to multiple solutions; complex in the responses they demand~.g., in communication, Table 3.
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From page 36... ...
This is true of individual teachers trying to make changes in their own practice, but it is especially true in settings where widespread assessment change is underway or pending, where concerns include the use of information in and by the community, the handling of community questions, and the use of information to improve programs. "Designing alternative forms of assessment is a real tricky thing.
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From page 37... ...
" Urban district mathematics supervisor "My biggest concern right now is how do we educate the public, especially when the assessment is a visible thing. When changes are happening in the classroom, it can be handled, especially through parent-teacher communication: work gets done, feedback is given, work goes home, and there's a gradual awareness that builds." Urban district mathematics supervisor For those facilitating assessment groups, there are a few important considerations in planning to address these personal concerns: Provide regular opportunities for participating teachers to discuss their progress and concerns.
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From page 38... ...
Stages. Management concerns Once teachers invest themselves in trying to incorporate alternative approaches to assessment in their own practice, management concerns arise, related to time management; the application of criteria; and reporting procedures.
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From page 39... ...
Consequence and collaboration concerns Even as they grapple with management concerns, teachers who are invested in learning through assessment and adopting alternative approaches to assessment develop concerns related to how their changes in assessment will affect the quality of their classroom work and the learning of their students. Two prominent clusters of such concerns are content and equity.
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From page 40... ...
While portfolios and projects provide avenues for individual expression in assessment, there is another end to the continuum, where assessors must attend to things that society has deemed important and to standard ways of knowing. For example, society expects that, no matter their background, students will be able to perform well on tasks that relate to desired levels of literacy and numeracy in the citizenry, such as the task in Figure 12, administered to 17 year-olds in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
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From page 41... ...
interviewed report a range of concerns in the earlier categories, as well, implying that planning for assessment-based staff development should proceed from a concerns-based perspective, and allow participating teachers over time to begin reconsidering their perspectives on assessment, and to consider more powerful alternatives. The optimal staff-development event is one that addresses current concerns while it foreshadows future concerns.
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