Assessment Bill of Rights
Review of Grant Wiggins Bill of Rights
1. Worthwhile intellectual problems that are validated against worthy “real-world” intellectual problems and situations.
Students want to see the value in what is being taught and how they can use it to solve real world problems. I agree that assessments should focus on the student’s ability to use the information and apply their knowledge in other courses or in the future outside of the school environment.
2. Clear, apt published, and consistently applied teacher criteria in grading work and published models of excellent work that exemplifies standards.
It’s important that the teachers grading should be consistent and students understand what is required and see the grading as fair. The teacher needs to give the students good examples and write behavioral objectives and what they would accept as authentic evidence.
3. Minimal secrecy in testing.
Teachers should not test on small unimportant facts in the course to see if students have read the assignments, as this is unproductive in the students learning objectives. Teachers need to be open about what the testing will cover so the students can prepare and are not left wondering what will be on the test which can be frustrating and lead to poor cooperation. Test should focus on the desired results or thinking skills not just testing a set of facts or bits of information that the students will never use again.
4. Ample opportunities to produce work that they can be proud of (thus, ample opportunity in the curriculum and instruction to monitor, self-assess, and self-correct their work.) Utilizing a Formative Assessments, referred to as "educative assessment“ is used to aid learning and are diagnostic not necessarily used for grading purposes. Teachers or a peer can give feedback on a student’s work. Provide students ample opportunity to practice, refine, and master a task.
5. Assessment, not just tests: multiple and varied opportunities to display and document their achievement, and options in tests that allow them to play to their strengths.
Performance-based assessments that provide varied opportunities that allow students to demonstrate based on performances, portfolios and projects. Using these methods as well as tests provide ways for different learning styles to successfully express themselves and gain insight.
6. The freedom, climate and oversight policies necessary to question grades and test practices without fear of retribution.
I agree that creating a safe environment the allows the students to challenge a grade or a test builds confidence in the student as they demonstrate and explain their point of view or how they arrived at their answers. As they discuss errors they maid will allow them to understand their mistakes. The student may have found an error in the test itself or if the question was unclear and needs to be restated.
7. Forms of testing that allow timely opportunities for students to explain or justify answers marked as wrong but they believe to be apt or correct.
Assessors respect the student and allows for explanation when they’ve made mistake. Teachers need to be respectful of the learner and patient and sympathetic.
8. Genuine feedback: usable information on their strengths and weaknesses and an accurate assessment of their long term progress toward a set of set level standards framed in terms of essential tasks.
Learning requires feedback that is descriptive yet not evaluative. It must be friendly and learning centered. Giving students, timely, accurate, and helpful feedback rather than just a score will promote learning. Providing timely feedback and assessment is very important in improving performance.
9. Scoring/grading policies that provide incentives and opportunities for improving performance and seeing progress against exit-level and real world standards.
The purpose of the assessments is to guide improvement and will make the learner focus to help them reflect and adjust their thinking as they apply prior learning to new situations. Summative tests that are given at the end of the course by assigning a letter grade may not be sufficient to help students gain understanding and develop higher level thinking skills. A better approach is Formative assessments that include observations, interviews, projects, surveys, as well as tests to encourage and prepare students for their futures. This will also help insure that the students understand and can use the knowledge from this course in their future both in school and after leaving school.
1. Worthwhile intellectual problems that are validated against worthy “real-world” intellectual problems and situations.
Students want to see the value in what is being taught and how they can use it to solve real world problems. I agree that assessments should focus on the student’s ability to use the information and apply their knowledge in other courses or in the future outside of the school environment.
2. Clear, apt published, and consistently applied teacher criteria in grading work and published models of excellent work that exemplifies standards.
It’s important that the teachers grading should be consistent and students understand what is required and see the grading as fair. The teacher needs to give the students good examples and write behavioral objectives and what they would accept as authentic evidence.
3. Minimal secrecy in testing.
Teachers should not test on small unimportant facts in the course to see if students have read the assignments, as this is unproductive in the students learning objectives. Teachers need to be open about what the testing will cover so the students can prepare and are not left wondering what will be on the test which can be frustrating and lead to poor cooperation. Test should focus on the desired results or thinking skills not just testing a set of facts or bits of information that the students will never use again.
4. Ample opportunities to produce work that they can be proud of (thus, ample opportunity in the curriculum and instruction to monitor, self-assess, and self-correct their work.) Utilizing a Formative Assessments, referred to as "educative assessment“ is used to aid learning and are diagnostic not necessarily used for grading purposes. Teachers or a peer can give feedback on a student’s work. Provide students ample opportunity to practice, refine, and master a task.
5. Assessment, not just tests: multiple and varied opportunities to display and document their achievement, and options in tests that allow them to play to their strengths.
Performance-based assessments that provide varied opportunities that allow students to demonstrate based on performances, portfolios and projects. Using these methods as well as tests provide ways for different learning styles to successfully express themselves and gain insight.
6. The freedom, climate and oversight policies necessary to question grades and test practices without fear of retribution.
I agree that creating a safe environment the allows the students to challenge a grade or a test builds confidence in the student as they demonstrate and explain their point of view or how they arrived at their answers. As they discuss errors they maid will allow them to understand their mistakes. The student may have found an error in the test itself or if the question was unclear and needs to be restated.
7. Forms of testing that allow timely opportunities for students to explain or justify answers marked as wrong but they believe to be apt or correct.
Assessors respect the student and allows for explanation when they’ve made mistake. Teachers need to be respectful of the learner and patient and sympathetic.
8. Genuine feedback: usable information on their strengths and weaknesses and an accurate assessment of their long term progress toward a set of set level standards framed in terms of essential tasks.
Learning requires feedback that is descriptive yet not evaluative. It must be friendly and learning centered. Giving students, timely, accurate, and helpful feedback rather than just a score will promote learning. Providing timely feedback and assessment is very important in improving performance.
9. Scoring/grading policies that provide incentives and opportunities for improving performance and seeing progress against exit-level and real world standards.
The purpose of the assessments is to guide improvement and will make the learner focus to help them reflect and adjust their thinking as they apply prior learning to new situations. Summative tests that are given at the end of the course by assigning a letter grade may not be sufficient to help students gain understanding and develop higher level thinking skills. A better approach is Formative assessments that include observations, interviews, projects, surveys, as well as tests to encourage and prepare students for their futures. This will also help insure that the students understand and can use the knowledge from this course in their future both in school and after leaving school.