The Challenge of Assessment

While teachers are continually assessing students throughout the year - marking books, observing students at work, monitoring through quizzes - there are key times when student progress needs to be reported on and teachers are met by the challenge of providing tasks that will accurately determine student learning and performance.

When facing this challenge, there are many things to take into consideration. Below are some of the things that I work through when planning this type of assessment.

Timing
It can be difficult to get the timing right with assessment. I want my students to have the best chance of achieving the material, but also need to prepare the reports by about mid-term. This means that most of the final assessment needs to take place early in the term - before I get a chance to review the material with my students one last time. I develop an assessment schedule to help me plan out how I will gather the appropriate information in the remaining time.

Differentiation
In part due to the timing, but mostly due to the differences in learning styles, it is helpful to give students opportunities to show their learning through different means. Some children may like to complete a written test, others would prefer to demonstrate their learning, or present it orally.

More than one sample
This next consideration is related to the last. As much as possible, it is useful to have more than one sample that is used to determine a grade. For example: A handwriting textbook is great for showing how a student performs in formal handwriting lessons, however it is worthwhile to also consider how this translates to their writing in other curriculum areas as well.

Scope of Assessment Items

When developing a piece of assessment it is important to provide scope for students of differing abilities. My assessment task cannot only test for the outcomes that I taught toward. I need to include parts for students of lower ability and parts that will challenge students with greater ability.

For example, when testing for year 1 Maths outcomes, I use questions relating to Kindergarten outcomes, Year 1 outcomes and Year 2 outcomes. If students can only answer the Kindergarten outcomes, they are performing at an E level. If they can answer K and 1 outcomes, they are performing at a C level. If they can answer all questions, they are performing at an A level. Students who achieve a C level have been successful at meeting the grade standards.

Sometimes I find a test will be too easy and won't give an accurate spread of students. When this happens, I use other work samples or assessment items to assist my decision.

Rubrics
Developing rubrics may be time consuming as I prepare my assessment schedule, however it saves me time in the long run and helps me to become more objective when comparing students across the class or grade level. When I am moderating with other teachers, a rubric will help with consistency in marking.

Moderation
Communication is important when preparing assessment and reports. Teachers of the same grade level can talk about their opinions of grades and discuss what they see when they look at a piece of work. I often find that one teacher will notice something valuable about a piece that I may have overlooked. The insight of others helps me to make more thorough judgements.

Acceptance!
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges I find with assessment and reporting is acceptance. At the end of the year I feel confronted by my failures. Despite all the work that I've put into my teaching throughout the year, I never feel that I've quite done enough. During moderation I will see that some students in another teacher's class have achieved a higher standard in some areas of the curriculum and I'll begin to second guess my own methods. I'll be frustrated, particularly when I realise that there is so little time left in the year to 'fix things'.
I think that somehow (stupidly) I feel that I am the last chance for this child - that if they haven't learnt everything by the end of the year, they will never learn it - which of course is false. As I head into this time, I need to accept that I have done my best for my class. I need to accept that I cannot control everything in my classroom all of the time. (Some of it comes down to the kids' personalities, interests and abilities as well!!!) And, I need to honestly reflect on my achievements through the year. There will be things that I can try to do differently next year - there always is - but there are also some great things that were done in this year.

Let me know what you see as the biggest challenges with assessment.