Assessing Your Students’

The purpose of assessing student learning is to answer the age-old question, “How do I know they have learned? “After reflecting on my instruction, do I need to modify or take out anything? We assess student learning both directly and indirectly. Homework, quizzes, tests, essays, research projects, and oral presentations are familiar assessments. Indirectly, we use hands up, hands down, paddle boards, thumbs up, or even standing up when answering a question.

Summative assessments are cumulative and often reveal what students have learned at the end of a unit. It may encompass a large amount of questioning and cover many different concepts. Formative assessments mean students receive responses and feedback on their performance to help them improve. Formative assessments should be used to measure student learning on a daily basis. These assessments often inform the next steps in teaching and learning. Providing feedback is essential to students; more importantly, receiving feedback from other students gives them insight into the mode of learning that may be more effective.

Developing methods for assessing students is important; we must plan assessments with the same vigor as we plan daily lessons. Therefore, we must consider whether our assessment aligns directly with a learning outcome, whether it is time-appropriate, and how it will alter future lessons. We must ask, “How will feedback on student work be provided to help students improve?”

Figuring out what our students really know is a challenge, and to resolve this, we must consider multiple sources of data. A singular data point will only describe one aspect, which is not enough information to help us plan the next step in our instruction. The key to keeping students engaged is asking poignant questions. Asking students to write answers to questions about what they learned is beneficial. Any data that gets at what students are thinking is crucial to assessment.

Assessments where drawing is emphasized is a great way for visual learners to express their newly obtained knowledge. Our observations will lend itself to valuable feedback that students can then take in through another form. It is also helpful for students to understand if something is incorrect. No matter the assessment, do your personal reflection to ensure that you are not only assessing the content but how students respond to the assessments. If it is too complicated for students, then the result isn’t trustworthy.

 Blending assessment with grading is a common act. Assessing students is more than just grading. Assessment connects student performance to specific learning objectives, which provides information to students and instructors about learning and teaching. Grading merely involves affixing a number or letter to an assignment, giving students only the most minimal indication of their performance relative to a set of criteria. It pleases the parents and students but does nothing for instructors who must outline what is being learned.

Without intentional and careful planning, assessments can fall victim to unclear goals, vain feedback, inaccurate assessments, or deficient learning. The following are steps to the planning process that must be adhered to.

1. Defining learning outcomes. An assessment plan usually begins with a clear set of learning outcomes.

2. Defining assessment approaches. Once goals are clear, an instructor must decide on what assignments will best disclose whether students are meeting the goals.

3. Assessment development then teach. Backward design is the model some experts say gives the best use of assessments. You create the assessment, and then you instruct from that assessment.

4. Reflect and amend. Once the assessment is complete, instructors and students can develop plans to improve, and the assignment may be changed as necessary.

Using multiple forms of assessment, including more than one evaluator, when possible, improves the reliability of the assessment data. It also ensures that students with diverse aptitudes and abilities can be assessed accurately and have equal opportunities to excel. Ultimately, when multiple methods produce different messages about the same student, instructors should be mindful that the methods are likely assessing different forms of achievement in the student. Assessing is a process; it must be adaptable and specific to what is being taught.