Assessment In My Classroom

Assessment is one of those things in progressive schools that can be hard to see. We don't give grades. We don't give "tests." There are no pop-quizzes.

Recently, I asked the kids to create advice columns with answers for the characters problems in "Clarice Bean Spells Trouble." I did this because as much as I love writer's workshop, my kids are at an age where publishing means they want to write a twenty-page story and publish their "novel." I've not had as much time to edit these enormous stories, and therefore, do not have as many teaching opportunities to discuss spelling, conventions, plot, and so on with them. I decided to give them shorter one-day assignments more frequently, so they could then publish shorter pieces more often, in addition to their novels.

They had been giving some excellent advice. Some of the kids actually asked for grades on this assignment. I had been thinking about how I would do that... or if I would, or if they could grade themselves. This is not something I would make a habit of, but often kids this age want grades and will ask for them, especially since most have never had a grade, a report card or anything like that before. Writing, of course, being so objective is the hardest thing to grade! The problem with grades, for many, is that students will do the minimum needed to get a good grade. I was reading an article by Alfie Kohn, who writes about educational issues, and this is what he said about grades, "I’d been looking for an alternative to grades because research shows three reliable effects when students are graded: They tend to think less deeply, avoid taking risks, and lose interest in the learning itself."

In subjects like math, which I can look at in a more quantitative way, I will often give a more formal assessment. Often, this is simply a worksheet similar to the others they do on occasion, but I give it out with the intention that I will use it to gauge what they understood formally- meaning I will not help them as much, and they work alone instead of with their friends. I will measure this against what I have taught, how much of it I taught, and how well they seemed to understand it during the lessons and practice activities. Other times, I have given an assessment where I ask the kids to write a story problem they feel is tricky, but not so tricky they can't solve it. This is very revealing, not only about their skill level, but also about their confidence. I have had kids go back and revise original story problems because I thought they were being too hard or easy on themselves. It's a very different way of assessing a student. In addition to these more formal assessments, I watch the kids play games, and work through problems, listen to them talk to their table mates about what they are working on, or the questions they ask during discussions. These are all wonderful ways for me to see what they understand and what skills they need practice in. Sometimes I do "math conferences" where I sit with a child and ask them about math, and do an assessment on the skills we have worked on thus far, but one on one, verbally, rather than written.

During reading, I am constantly assessing the ideas and questions they ask during shared reading of our periodicals and read aloud. During conferences about their self-selected book, I discuss plot with them, their connections to the book, questions they have, words they may or may not understand and so on. We have written responses to books and articles as well, and I am able to see how they understood the article by the responses they give to specific comprehension questions. I also often ask that they form opinions on what they read and use evidence from the text to back up their opinions. This helps me see how they are understanding and connecting to what we read. I also do a "running record" about every 4-6 weeks, which measures how accurately they can read a passage in a minute, how many words per minute they read and how they comprehend the material. These are "grade level" passages, simply because they are made by a company that looks at grade level, but I am mostly looking for progression over time. I have the students self-assess their reading often, by asking them how they feel about their reading, their choice of book, their understanding of a book and whether or not it feels easy, just right or challenging. They are often very thoughtful in their responses.

Writing is the hardest to assess. So many things go into a good piece of writing. I look at conventions, of course, such as spelling, grammar, capitals and periods. The students use a checklist to correct these on their own, or with my help. They are to correct these and write them correctly in their final draft. This is a skill students need to learn to do, and often, once they have corrected it with me, if they don't get everything right on their "final draft" I don't always make them correct it again, depending on their age and experience. This is a skill that takes time and requires careful tracking from one page to the next. It's difficult for many younger kids, especially as they begin to write more and more on a page. Aside from conventions, I look at their voice, organization, sentence fluency, word choice and ideas. I also look to see if they wrote about what was asked and if they followed directions if the assignment had directions, rather than was a published piece from their journal. I want each child to be putting forth their best effort on all of their tasks. Writing is an area that is looked at over time. From their first journal entry, I can see where a child is at, and use that information to make sure the skills I teach are going to help the child move onto the next phase in their writing development. Word "study" is the easiest part of writing to assess for me, because it becomes clear as I correct work, how many new spelling words, patterns and conventions or increased vocabulary a child has acquired. It's always fun toward the middle of the year, when we have been working on spelling for awhile, when I can hand a child back their rough draft and tell them there are no or hardly any words to correct!

Lastly, one of the things I assess is how much the child is working to his or her capacity. I can look at a homework assignment or an in-class task and see when a child has put forth as much as they could into a project. I am not below sending a child back to fix something again and again, if it seems to me that they are rushing something, or trying to get as little out as possible, especially if it is a subject that comes easily for them. More than any academic skill, having the ability to stick to something when it is hard put thought into it when it seems easy and do it even when you don't really want to, are some of the things I think will make a child a strong student when they leave our school. (Of course this along with creativity, open-mindedness, curiosity, etc. etc.)

Oh, and as for the graded advice columns? It never happened. We got so busy with a borrowed science kit from a museum that a week went by and they went untouched. I gave the students a choice to edit and revise the advice columns, or work on their journals. Many finished the advice column, but no one asked again about grades.

Complete Alfie Kohn Article