This week’s readings in Bridging English (Milner et al., 2012), Classroom Assessment (Russell and Airasian, 2010), and Language and Reflection (Gere et al., 1992) focus on the pros, cons, and methods of evaluating student learning. All three texts agree that the focus on standardized testing in schools is troubling and that students probably take too many tests in school. However, assessing students is a central part of learning. This is why it is important to keep in mind that teachers have multiple means of evaluating students outside the realm of traditional tests. After all, according to Milner et al., tests are not appropriate avenues through which students can engage with “deep thinking” questions and placing too much emphasis on tests molds students into a “generation of robots” (2012, p. 393). For testing to be effective, teachers must recognize and demonstrate to the students the purpose of assessments.
Also, teachers should give students appropriate time to evaluate themselves in order to let students become aware of their own progress as learners (2012). One particular assessment method I found interesting that Milner et al. discuss in this chapter is the “teacher-parent-student conference” (2012, p. 402). These conferences are student-centered and especially beneficial for the student because he or she is allowed to participate in a conversation about their own progress. This gives the student a sense of control and involvement in his or her education. When the teacher addresses the student directly, the student sees that the purpose of education becomes about something more than just pleasing adults.
Assessment too often becomes grade-centered instead of improvement-oriented. Gere et al. explore this pitfall in the beginning of their Chapter Nine (1992). Depicted in personal stories, Gere et al. find that students and teachers comment that grading causes problems between students, with parents, and in the classroom. They also admit that grading sometimes is not even accurate. This begs the question, are grades about assessing learning or about receiving the best letter? Both Gere et al. and Russell and Airasian discuss ways in which teachers can improve grading and the all-important and stressed summative assessment. One of the hardest tasks I think I will face as a new teacher is learning when to comment on a student’s writing and when to not make a “big deal” about small errors I might encounter. Gere et al. warns us that comments on students’ writing should be used wisely and constructively while highlighting student strengths. Do not be nit-picky. Comments, therefore, like summative assessments according to Russell and Airasian, must be carefully devised and treated like valuable tools in assessing and aiding student learning.
The “deep” thinking aspect of modes of evaluation outside of traditional testing is not something I touched upon in my post, but it is so important. It is easy to forget that education is not necessarily for education’s sake, but to actual prepare students for their adult life. Milner, Milner, and Mitchell point out that one argument for grades and high stakes testing is that it “provides reality testing for students who must enter a competitive culture (2012, p. 396). At the same time, all three of our texts referred to the benefits of “process of product,” which promotes critical thinking and creativity, which are also valuable skills for adults. Do you think we can find a balance between what Gere et al. refers to as “problem-centered” and “answer-centered” learning (1992, p.249)?
I also worry about effectively and appropriately commenting on student work. We have discussed in class that we should keep comments in general minimal and only focus on what is most important, but I often wonder how to keep equilibrium between concepts and mechanics, which I believe are both necessary skills in “the outside world”. On page 266 Gere et al. provides a list of “The General Principles of Evaluation (1992), and I find numbers 4 and 5 to be most pertinent to this discussion: not only should we strive to write comments and evaluate our students in a way that is instructional, but that are helpful as well!
This week’s readings are all about evaluation and assessment. While the three had much in common, each of them also had something a little different to offer. It is certain, however, that how a teacher decides to grade is a complex series of decisions that begin with the very philosophies they hold about teaching and learning. While I personally feel that grading is overvalued and is in some cases harmful to students I also see its place in the classroom after reading these texts. It is a “necessary evil” that I will have to deal with in my own classroom and I hope that I can do it in a way that promotes student learning.
The point in Bridging English that “the only evidence that things are improving as a result of testing is that test scores are gradually going up” (Milner, Milner, & Mitchell, 2012 p. 392) is proof that we need to be introspective about the actual purpose of our assessments, particularly when administered in the form of traditional pen and paper testing. Classroom Assessment gives some very practical advice on how to determine not only what should be tested, but how much focus each topic/concept deserves. Most importantly, evaluation should be based on “objectives and the actual instruction that took place” (Rusell & Airasian, 2012, p. 130). Gere et al. points to other methods of evaluation that cause the student to reflect on their own learning process and highlight “growth, not ‘final judgment’” (1992, p. 241)
I am familiar with many of the alternate forms of evaluation that were discussed this week; however, the concept of “contracts” was new to me. This is a more open ended style of instruction that allows the student to choose the direction they would like to go in with their learning. In this format the teacher truly takes on the role of a coach or facilitator. Students decide the topic of discovery, so in theory are more invested and more likely to engage with their process. I like the idea of this, and the teacher does give some basic guidelines and help the students set goals, but I am left wondering if this would work in a class with less motivated students? Would they be more likely to participate because it interests them, or see the less rigid structure as an invitation to slack off?
One thing I’m unsure of is whether I will rely more on holistic scoring or analytical scoring. On one hand I like looking at a whole piece of work, but on the other, I think we should give our students criteria so they know what we are looking for. Is there any way we can merge these two concepts? Russell and Airasian suggest that the method used should “depend on the purpose of assessment” (2012, p.167), but I feel like even when looking at a portfolio of work, which in theory should be holistic, we still need to have some sort of goal for students to work toward or at least keep in mind.
Trish, I see you as a holistic grader. The idea of contracts was not new to me but I'm a bit more hesitant than you are. I had a "contract" in one of my classes back in high school and I remember thinking what a joke it was. I knew my teacher was just manipulating me to eventually come the topic he wanted me to come to. He was not subtle about it either. I think if contracts are used genuinely it can be a good thing but it is unrealistic. We, as teachers, can barely control what direction our curriculum goes in. If we have little control over what is to be taught, can we honestly tell our students that they have control, that they get to choose? I feel like this is just another form of deception. In the right circumstances it could work but I'd rather not lead my students along just to tell them that they have to read Huckleberry Finn. Its a bit misleading.
Chapter 9 of Language and Reflection: An Integrated Approach to Teaching English tells us that “the purpose of test is instruction and management (Gere, Fairbanks, Howes, Roop, & Shaafsma, 1992, p. 239). This mention of “management” is an important one, as it reminds us that a great deal of instruction in this country revolves around management, not teaching. Grades, then, seem to be used more to supervise adolescent behavior and report back to parents rather than to assess growth. Chapter 13 of Bridging English reflects this point as well, calling America’s fixation with grading “an addiction” (Milner & Milner, 2007, p. 402). I hope that we can reach a day when students, parents, administrators, and the general populace realize how little grades actually tell us. Until then, we will have to find more original – and effective – ways than tests to evaluate our students. Bridging English makes the case for portfolios and learning logs, along with other more original ideas. I like that the chapter recognizes that there are times when a test actually is the best way to evaluate learning, and goes through how to make the most of written tests. Creating “constructed responses,” for example, allows students to form their own answers rather than simply selecting them from a list, thereby ensuring that students will show what they have learned rather than arbitrarily picking at random from matching or multiple choice options.
The reading from Classroom Assessment: Concepts and Applications covers a lot of familiar ground, particularly in terms of formative and summative assessments. While familiar, though, the chapter gives us some new ideas to consider and original ways to look at constructing tests (such as the table of specifications that breaks this process down in ways a bit too technical for my liking). My favorite quote from this chapter states: “Not all students can demonstrate their strengths in the same manner” (Russell & Airasian, 2012, p. 137). As future teachers, we must remember that this fact holds as true with tests as it does with any other form of instruction. It reminds me of the old mantra that if you judge a fish based on its ability to climb a tree, it will go its entire life believing it is stupid.
Scott, I really agree with your comments. Management is exactly what an evaluation, a test, and a grade will become if we as teachers are not balanced in our approach to evaluation. And then we continue to feed into the "grading addiction." I also hope that one day we will no longer have such a stress on grading, or even no grades at all. Until then, we as teachers can look to alternative forms of evaluations that really help us to evaluate students in ways that reflect their true abilities. I've sadly seen so many students and my own classmates dismiss themselves as learners because they didn't meet one teacher's specific expectations. Hopefully our knowledge of the grading addiction impact will help us to prevent students from going down the same road of self-doubt and lacking self-efficacy in the future.
And the final sentence of your post really rang true with me. Poor fish. :(
Chapter 9 of Language and Reflection discusses evaluation, a topic we have encountered many times before. Despite having covered this subject again and again, I did like the summation Gere et al. included at the beginning of the chapter. They state several themes of grading, “an intense competitiveness among grade-seekers, the inevitable subjectivity of grading, the tension between measuring growth and measuring ability, the inability to capture complex performances with a letter grade” (1992, p. 238). This chapter is spot on in terms of naming evaluations as a form of management. Evaluations should serve the teacher in gauging students’ readiness, abilities, and levels of comprehension. It is when we twist the purposes of evaluations to fit the mold of accountability and standards that they lose their positive impact.
Relating back to our reading in “The Teaching of Writing,” I liked the points in Bridging English in which Milner et al. discuss students evaluating their own performances. The chapter discusses “student-maintained records.” Through use of these records, students are able “take responsibility for their own work” (Milner et al. 2012 p. 401). In line with student’s evaluating themselves are clear objectives. It is up to the teacher to be clear about the overarching learning goals that will shape how student’s work and progress throughout the class.
I also enjoyed the suggestion in Bridging English to involve students in parent-teacher conferences. I’m not exactly sure how achievable this would be, however the concept of involving a student in their own learning seems very appealing. After my own high school experience, I felt as though I was completely against involving parents in the school setting, period. My personal thoughts were that the child is going to school, not the parent. At the high school level, I felt as though this was especially true, and that involving parents simply crippled students in the sense that they wouldn't learn to be their own advocates. Now that I have been immersed in the education program at UML, I understand that parental involvement can be beneficial when used in an appropriate, balanced manner. To join both sides of the issue, I believe a parent-student-teacher conference would unite both of my opinions and benefit the student greatly.
I like your points about parental involvement in the school. I think it really depends on the community or the school you end up teaching in. Depending on the area, you might end up with tons of helicopter parents whose influence might be oppressive to you. On the flip side, you might have a classroom of students whose parents pay little attention to them at all. A little more involvement there would be welcome, I'm sure. I think your idea of a "balanced manner" is the right path - as you say, it's the student going to school, not the parent.
"Twisting" is a good use to word in your first paragraph. It's sad how much hangs on tests of accountability and standards. Not merely graduation (which is, of course, huge), but scholarships and admissions. I recognize that there needs to be some way to measure students against each other across the board, but there needs to be a more efficient way. As you say in your post, our current system sucks out all the positive impact of evaluations and creates a totally negative association with them.
Test. All in all, the most intimidating word to a student. The connotations of just the word “test” are mostly negative and imply that teachers and test administrators are judging you. Students need to feel like there is a point to testing other than judgment. What if we told our students what we were really doing? What if we told our students that we wanted to assess their growth and that grades are nowhere near as important as improvement? Would anything change? What if we changed assessment entirely? Why not use student’s journal entries, projects, papers, and class participation to assess them? Oh? We do that? Oh, right! We do! So then why do we have multiple choice, true or false, all or nothing testing? I understand the basic value of these kinds of test but I believe that that value does not outweigh the negative effects it has on individual students as well as the education system as a whole. They place way too much pressure on students and teachers and place way too much value on fact recall rather than critical thinking. According to a study by Hillocks in 2003, test questions barely scratch the surface of what students might know. The questions asked are vague and only require low-order thinking skills. If we want to keep testing students like this then we need to revamp the tests. They need to be used to test broad skills such as critical thinking. They need to be used to test abilities that are used in more than one field such as supporting a claim, writing a thesis, analysis, and critical thinking.
Despite all the research done, I’m still against high-stakes testing. I prefer portfolios, projects, and journals. I believe these methods provide students with a plethora of opportunities to demonstrate what they are capable of. I believe that students should be able to demonstrate their strengths through creative means and high stakes testing does not offer that. Hillocks examined several tests used across the country and not a single one of them allowed for creative writing to be used. I suspect the reason for this is assessment. It is hard enough as a teacher to assess a creative piece let alone a test grader. They know nothing about the students and may not be required to know anything about literature, poetry, drama, or creativity in general.
I found myself nodding in agreement with every single sentence in your post. Your statement that “Students need to feel like there is a point to testing other than judgment” is spot on (I’m British today); too often, students don’t realize that the entire reason that tests exist – or are supposed to exist – is to measure progress and improvement. Like you said, we can do this a myriad of ways other than high-stakes testing, and I completely agree that portfolios, journals, and other activities can and should be used instead of traditional tests. These kinds of assessments a) reduce stress and therefore allow students to better perform; b) shift the emphasis from grades to learning; and c) give a far more thorough analysis of student growth. So why do we still use mundane multiple choice/matching/fill-in-the-blanks tests to evaluate knowledge and growth? Is it because our society is so afraid of progress and change that we stick to the “old ways” rather than buy into something new? That’s a Shirley Jackson-esque thought, and a frightening one.
The first section of Milner’s chapter is extremely depressing. If this semester has taught me anything, it’s taught me that I’m against high-stakes standardized tests. One segment of the chapter was particularly depressing to me, that educators are being required to “administer state exams to students with disabilities… and to students who speak little or no English” (392). I had experience with this last year having to administer MCAS to students at work. Kids who were so hyperactive that they were physically unable to sit still for sixty seconds, kids whose families had been involved in gang violence the night before, kids with narcolepsy who passed out mid-test, and kids hearing disembodied voices were all forced to sit and take MCAS. It would have been comical if it wasn’t so sad. That experience with MCAS only made those students all the more conscious of their disabilities and made them feel more defeated than I’d ever seen them, even though many of them were wonderfully creative and effective in other subject areas. Obviously this is an extreme example, but those students will still be affected by the scores they received. I recently read Diane Ravitch’s book Reign of Error, and it appears that this situation is only getting worse. It’s somewhat comforting that, as Milner writes, “good practices” and “common sense” (394) will ultimately win out and help a student perform well on these tests, but it’s still frightening that standardized test scores will be held over both our students’ heads and our own. I wonder if the use of standardized tests will reach a breaking point in our society.
The portfolio as a form of assessment has been mentioned in many of our readings and is extremely appealing to me. Milner mentions one school that maintains portfolios for the entire duration of high school (403), and I think that’s a fantastic idea. A student can achieve incredible growth over one year. Consistently maintaining record of that growth over several years can only benefit the student. (Plus, it’s just fun to look at old writing when you get older.) I also like the idea of a student-maintained record (401). We do this in a minor form at the school where I work, and even in small-scale it fosters independence and self-reliance.
The major points from Gere and Russell have been made in other readings, but they’re so important that they bear repetition. Teachers must carefully weigh the objectives of their instruction and formulate ways to measure them effectively in evaluations. Gere’s analogy of a teacher as a coach during formative assessment (239) and as a referee during summative assessment (241) was an interesting concept to think about. This reflects on the idea of how many roles a teacher needs to occupy in the classroom.
I completely agree with your feelings on standardized tests. I cannot even imagine being in your classroom as you had to administer these awful things to students who are so bright when it comes to other things. It is just not fair that they are subject to this judgement. To answer your question about society breaking away from standardized testing, I really hope we do someday. For students who have test anxiety or are just not made for testing, it is a really unfair way to be judged. Also the fact that John Brown made a few weeks ago, that students should be judged by the teachers they work with everyday and not some stranger who knows nothing about them is always circling in the back of my mind when this topic comes up.
As for the portfolios, they are becoming a favorite of mine as well. I also thought the idea of keeping a portfolio over the whole of high school would be a great way for students to review their growth and see how they have changed and developed. Any way you present the idea of a portfolio is very interesting. The one thing I have always thought was that students should not be left to their own devices when it comes to the work in portfolios. Teachers should always keep tabs on how far the student is in the work, or just set dates were work will be checked so that it is not all left until the end. That can be the worst for students!
This weeks reading in Russell was such a drag for me. I was and still am not a fan of testing. Tests in high school and college were always something I had to fight with myself to prepare for. This might be because I was not a great test taker, but it was also the fact that I knew that I understood the information and tests were not my best way of proving that. Nonetheless tests are still a large part of the teaching curriculum and even if we do not use them in our classrooms, students are going to be faced with testing at the state level and in college. The section on preparing students for official testing was a great review of how we can help our future students, but I do not want my future curriculum to be about the test. I feel like we will never be able to escape it.
Chapter nine in Gere covered something I have grown to love, evaluations. One quote that really struck me though was “they [politicians, community leaders, parents, principals, and teachers] sometimes lose sight of a central purpose of schooling – to create independent learners and citizens capable of detailed, accurate, self-assessment” (Gere et al., 1992, p. 239). If all of these people are losing sight of what is important, how are our kids possibly getting a good education? The fact that teachers was included in this group really freaked me out; I’d like to know how many teachers out there are burnt out or just teaching because they can’t get a job in their field. These teachers need to go, but I understand that isn’t always easy to do. Getting back to the point of the quote, I feel like this is something that we fail to address in a lot of our classes, the fact that schooling is supposed to be preparing these kids for the real world, but it seems like we are failing to do that. We have to make some kind of change so that we can get back to the real goal of learning.
Milner’s chapter on evaluating learning started off talking about testing like in Russell. I was glad to see that it went on to talk about alternative ways of evaluating students. The many different ideas that were mentioned i.e. self-evaluation, learning logs, portfolios, and parent-student-teacher conferences, are all things that we have discussed in this class and in others. It made me recall the parent-teacher conferences we simulated in Adolescent Development over the summer, something we were all nervous about didn’t end up so bad and they are a great way to learn more about our students. As a future teacher I want to make sure that I consider and implement different ways of evaluation, not just testing.
I can definitely relate to your feelings about tests. I hated test days in school. I always felt like I studied harder than most other students because testing just did not come easily to me. They made me feel uneasy and nervous and sometimes even made me feel a little sick. On test days, I was one giant stress ball. I understood the purpose of tests, though, so I tried to push aside my personal fears and just do them. Until I learned better study skills—ones I taught to myself—tests challenged me most in school both academically and emotionally. However, I do not think we can totally eliminate tests because for some students, tests are indeed comfortable forms of assessment.
Like you, however, I am a fan of non-test evaluations. I love the idea of allowing students to show off their learned skills through various creative means. Tests, I believe, usually demonstrate one, maybe two, skills. These skills are general test taking strategy and mostly likely memorization skills. I do not consider these skills to be higher level thinking processes. I would much rather use assessments like the ones we presented in class today. These give students the chance to really show what they know and are a better representation of what students will have to do when they enter the “real world.”
This week’s readings in Bridging English (Milner et al., 2012), Classroom Assessment (Russell and Airasian, 2010), and Language and Reflection (Gere et al., 1992) focus on the pros, cons, and methods of evaluating student learning. All three texts agree that the focus on standardized testing in schools is troubling and that students probably take too many tests in school. However, assessing students is a central part of learning. This is why it is important to keep in mind that teachers have multiple means of evaluating students outside the realm of traditional tests. After all, according to Milner et al., tests are not appropriate avenues through which students can engage with “deep thinking” questions and placing too much emphasis on tests molds students into a “generation of robots” (2012, p. 393). For testing to be effective, teachers must recognize and demonstrate to the students the purpose of assessments.
ReplyDeleteAlso, teachers should give students appropriate time to evaluate themselves in order to let students become aware of their own progress as learners (2012). One particular assessment method I found interesting that Milner et al. discuss in this chapter is the “teacher-parent-student conference” (2012, p. 402). These conferences are student-centered and especially beneficial for the student because he or she is allowed to participate in a conversation about their own progress. This gives the student a sense of control and involvement in his or her education. When the teacher addresses the student directly, the student sees that the purpose of education becomes about something more than just pleasing adults.
Assessment too often becomes grade-centered instead of improvement-oriented. Gere et al. explore this pitfall in the beginning of their Chapter Nine (1992). Depicted in personal stories, Gere et al. find that students and teachers comment that grading causes problems between students, with parents, and in the classroom. They also admit that grading sometimes is not even accurate. This begs the question, are grades about assessing learning or about receiving the best letter? Both Gere et al. and Russell and Airasian discuss ways in which teachers can improve grading and the all-important and stressed summative assessment. One of the hardest tasks I think I will face as a new teacher is learning when to comment on a student’s writing and when to not make a “big deal” about small errors I might encounter. Gere et al. warns us that comments on students’ writing should be used wisely and constructively while highlighting student strengths. Do not be nit-picky. Comments, therefore, like summative assessments according to Russell and Airasian, must be carefully devised and treated like valuable tools in assessing and aiding student learning.
Hi Kate,
DeleteThe “deep” thinking aspect of modes of evaluation outside of traditional testing is not something I touched upon in my post, but it is so important. It is easy to forget that education is not necessarily for education’s sake, but to actual prepare students for their adult life. Milner, Milner, and Mitchell point out that one argument for grades and high stakes testing is that it “provides reality testing for students who must enter a competitive culture (2012, p. 396). At the same time, all three of our texts referred to the benefits of “process of product,” which promotes critical thinking and creativity, which are also valuable skills for adults. Do you think we can find a balance between what Gere et al. refers to as “problem-centered” and “answer-centered” learning (1992, p.249)?
I also worry about effectively and appropriately commenting on student work. We have discussed in class that we should keep comments in general minimal and only focus on what is most important, but I often wonder how to keep equilibrium between concepts and mechanics, which I believe are both necessary skills in “the outside world”. On page 266 Gere et al. provides a list of “The General Principles of Evaluation (1992), and I find numbers 4 and 5 to be most pertinent to this discussion: not only should we strive to write comments and evaluate our students in a way that is instructional, but that are helpful as well!
~Trish
ReplyDeleteThis week’s readings are all about evaluation and assessment. While the three had much in common, each of them also had something a little different to offer. It is certain, however, that how a teacher decides to grade is a complex series of decisions that begin with the very philosophies they hold about teaching and learning. While I personally feel that grading is overvalued and is in some cases harmful to students I also see its place in the classroom after reading these texts. It is a “necessary evil” that I will have to deal with in my own classroom and I hope that I can do it in a way that promotes student learning.
The point in Bridging English that “the only evidence that things are improving as a result of testing is that test scores are gradually going up” (Milner, Milner, & Mitchell, 2012 p. 392) is proof that we need to be introspective about the actual purpose of our assessments, particularly when administered in the form of traditional pen and paper testing. Classroom Assessment gives some very practical advice on how to determine not only what should be tested, but how much focus each topic/concept deserves. Most importantly, evaluation should be based on “objectives and the actual instruction that took place” (Rusell & Airasian, 2012, p. 130). Gere et al. points to other methods of evaluation that cause the student to reflect on their own learning process and highlight “growth, not ‘final judgment’” (1992, p. 241)
I am familiar with many of the alternate forms of evaluation that were discussed this week; however, the concept of “contracts” was new to me. This is a more open ended style of instruction that allows the student to choose the direction they would like to go in with their learning. In this format the teacher truly takes on the role of a coach or facilitator. Students decide the topic of discovery, so in theory are more invested and more likely to engage with their process. I like the idea of this, and the teacher does give some basic guidelines and help the students set goals, but I am left wondering if this would work in a class with less motivated students? Would they be more likely to participate because it interests them, or see the less rigid structure as an invitation to slack off?
One thing I’m unsure of is whether I will rely more on holistic scoring or analytical scoring. On one hand I like looking at a whole piece of work, but on the other, I think we should give our students criteria so they know what we are looking for. Is there any way we can merge these two concepts? Russell and Airasian suggest that the method used should “depend on the purpose of assessment” (2012, p.167), but I feel like even when looking at a portfolio of work, which in theory should be holistic, we still need to have some sort of goal for students to work toward or at least keep in mind.
Trish,
DeleteI see you as a holistic grader. The idea of contracts was not new to me but I'm a bit more hesitant than you are. I had a "contract" in one of my classes back in high school and I remember thinking what a joke it was. I knew my teacher was just manipulating me to eventually come the topic he wanted me to come to. He was not subtle about it either. I think if contracts are used genuinely it can be a good thing but it is unrealistic. We, as teachers, can barely control what direction our curriculum goes in. If we have little control over what is to be taught, can we honestly tell our students that they have control, that they get to choose? I feel like this is just another form of deception. In the right circumstances it could work but I'd rather not lead my students along just to tell them that they have to read Huckleberry Finn. Its a bit misleading.
Chapter 9 of Language and Reflection: An Integrated Approach to Teaching English tells us that “the purpose of test is instruction and management (Gere, Fairbanks, Howes, Roop, & Shaafsma, 1992, p. 239). This mention of “management” is an important one, as it reminds us that a great deal of instruction in this country revolves around management, not teaching. Grades, then, seem to be used more to supervise adolescent behavior and report back to parents rather than to assess growth. Chapter 13 of Bridging English reflects this point as well, calling America’s fixation with grading “an addiction” (Milner & Milner, 2007, p. 402). I hope that we can reach a day when students, parents, administrators, and the general populace realize how little grades actually tell us. Until then, we will have to find more original – and effective – ways than tests to evaluate our students. Bridging English makes the case for portfolios and learning logs, along with other more original ideas. I like that the chapter recognizes that there are times when a test actually is the best way to evaluate learning, and goes through how to make the most of written tests. Creating “constructed responses,” for example, allows students to form their own answers rather than simply selecting them from a list, thereby ensuring that students will show what they have learned rather than arbitrarily picking at random from matching or multiple choice options.
ReplyDeleteThe reading from Classroom Assessment: Concepts and Applications covers a lot of familiar ground, particularly in terms of formative and summative assessments. While familiar, though, the chapter gives us some new ideas to consider and original ways to look at constructing tests (such as the table of specifications that breaks this process down in ways a bit too technical for my liking). My favorite quote from this chapter states: “Not all students can demonstrate their strengths in the same manner” (Russell & Airasian, 2012, p. 137). As future teachers, we must remember that this fact holds as true with tests as it does with any other form of instruction. It reminds me of the old mantra that if you judge a fish based on its ability to climb a tree, it will go its entire life believing it is stupid.
Scott, I really agree with your comments. Management is exactly what an evaluation, a test, and a grade will become if we as teachers are not balanced in our approach to evaluation. And then we continue to feed into the "grading addiction." I also hope that one day we will no longer have such a stress on grading, or even no grades at all. Until then, we as teachers can look to alternative forms of evaluations that really help us to evaluate students in ways that reflect their true abilities. I've sadly seen so many students and my own classmates dismiss themselves as learners because they didn't meet one teacher's specific expectations. Hopefully our knowledge of the grading addiction impact will help us to prevent students from going down the same road of self-doubt and lacking self-efficacy in the future.
DeleteAnd the final sentence of your post really rang true with me. Poor fish. :(
Chapter 9 of Language and Reflection discusses evaluation, a topic we have encountered many times before. Despite having covered this subject again and again, I did like the summation Gere et al. included at the beginning of the chapter. They state several themes of grading, “an intense competitiveness among grade-seekers, the inevitable subjectivity of grading, the tension between measuring growth and measuring ability, the inability to capture complex performances with a letter grade” (1992, p. 238). This chapter is spot on in terms of naming evaluations as a form of management. Evaluations should serve the teacher in gauging students’ readiness, abilities, and levels of comprehension. It is when we twist the purposes of evaluations to fit the mold of accountability and standards that they lose their positive impact.
ReplyDeleteRelating back to our reading in “The Teaching of Writing,” I liked the points in Bridging English in which Milner et al. discuss students evaluating their own performances. The chapter discusses “student-maintained records.” Through use of these records, students are able “take responsibility for their own work” (Milner et al. 2012 p. 401). In line with student’s evaluating themselves are clear objectives. It is up to the teacher to be clear about the overarching learning goals that will shape how student’s work and progress throughout the class.
I also enjoyed the suggestion in Bridging English to involve students in parent-teacher conferences. I’m not exactly sure how achievable this would be, however the concept of involving a student in their own learning seems very appealing. After my own high school experience, I felt as though I was completely against involving parents in the school setting, period. My personal thoughts were that the child is going to school, not the parent. At the high school level, I felt as though this was especially true, and that involving parents simply crippled students in the sense that they wouldn't learn to be their own advocates. Now that I have been immersed in the education program at UML, I understand that parental involvement can be beneficial when used in an appropriate, balanced manner. To join both sides of the issue, I believe a parent-student-teacher conference would unite both of my opinions and benefit the student greatly.
Cassandra,
DeleteI like your points about parental involvement in the school. I think it really depends on the community or the school you end up teaching in. Depending on the area, you might end up with tons of helicopter parents whose influence might be oppressive to you. On the flip side, you might have a classroom of students whose parents pay little attention to them at all. A little more involvement there would be welcome, I'm sure. I think your idea of a "balanced manner" is the right path - as you say, it's the student going to school, not the parent.
"Twisting" is a good use to word in your first paragraph. It's sad how much hangs on tests of accountability and standards. Not merely graduation (which is, of course, huge), but scholarships and admissions. I recognize that there needs to be some way to measure students against each other across the board, but there needs to be a more efficient way. As you say in your post, our current system sucks out all the positive impact of evaluations and creates a totally negative association with them.
A Test Pour Vous?
ReplyDeleteTest. All in all, the most intimidating word to a student. The connotations of just the word “test” are mostly negative and imply that teachers and test administrators are judging you. Students need to feel like there is a point to testing other than judgment. What if we told our students what we were really doing? What if we told our students that we wanted to assess their growth and that grades are nowhere near as important as improvement? Would anything change? What if we changed assessment entirely? Why not use student’s journal entries, projects, papers, and class participation to assess them? Oh? We do that? Oh, right! We do! So then why do we have multiple choice, true or false, all or nothing testing? I understand the basic value of these kinds of test but I believe that that value does not outweigh the negative effects it has on individual students as well as the education system as a whole. They place way too much pressure on students and teachers and place way too much value on fact recall rather than critical thinking. According to a study by Hillocks in 2003, test questions barely scratch the surface of what students might know. The questions asked are vague and only require low-order thinking skills. If we want to keep testing students like this then we need to revamp the tests. They need to be used to test broad skills such as critical thinking. They need to be used to test abilities that are used in more than one field such as supporting a claim, writing a thesis, analysis, and critical thinking.
Despite all the research done, I’m still against high-stakes testing. I prefer portfolios, projects, and journals. I believe these methods provide students with a plethora of opportunities to demonstrate what they are capable of. I believe that students should be able to demonstrate their strengths through creative means and high stakes testing does not offer that. Hillocks examined several tests used across the country and not a single one of them allowed for creative writing to be used. I suspect the reason for this is assessment. It is hard enough as a teacher to assess a creative piece let alone a test grader. They know nothing about the students and may not be required to know anything about literature, poetry, drama, or creativity in general.
Olivia,
DeleteI found myself nodding in agreement with every single sentence in your post. Your statement that “Students need to feel like there is a point to testing other than judgment” is spot on (I’m British today); too often, students don’t realize that the entire reason that tests exist – or are supposed to exist – is to measure progress and improvement. Like you said, we can do this a myriad of ways other than high-stakes testing, and I completely agree that portfolios, journals, and other activities can and should be used instead of traditional tests. These kinds of assessments a) reduce stress and therefore allow students to better perform; b) shift the emphasis from grades to learning; and c) give a far more thorough analysis of student growth. So why do we still use mundane multiple choice/matching/fill-in-the-blanks tests to evaluate knowledge and growth? Is it because our society is so afraid of progress and change that we stick to the “old ways” rather than buy into something new? That’s a Shirley Jackson-esque thought, and a frightening one.
The first section of Milner’s chapter is extremely depressing. If this semester has taught me anything, it’s taught me that I’m against high-stakes standardized tests. One segment of the chapter was particularly depressing to me, that educators are being required to “administer state exams to students with disabilities… and to students who speak little or no English” (392). I had experience with this last year having to administer MCAS to students at work. Kids who were so hyperactive that they were physically unable to sit still for sixty seconds, kids whose families had been involved in gang violence the night before, kids with narcolepsy who passed out mid-test, and kids hearing disembodied voices were all forced to sit and take MCAS. It would have been comical if it wasn’t so sad. That experience with MCAS only made those students all the more conscious of their disabilities and made them feel more defeated than I’d ever seen them, even though many of them were wonderfully creative and effective in other subject areas. Obviously this is an extreme example, but those students will still be affected by the scores they received. I recently read Diane Ravitch’s book Reign of Error, and it appears that this situation is only getting worse. It’s somewhat comforting that, as Milner writes, “good practices” and “common sense” (394) will ultimately win out and help a student perform well on these tests, but it’s still frightening that standardized test scores will be held over both our students’ heads and our own. I wonder if the use of standardized tests will reach a breaking point in our society.
ReplyDeleteThe portfolio as a form of assessment has been mentioned in many of our readings and is extremely appealing to me. Milner mentions one school that maintains portfolios for the entire duration of high school (403), and I think that’s a fantastic idea. A student can achieve incredible growth over one year. Consistently maintaining record of that growth over several years can only benefit the student. (Plus, it’s just fun to look at old writing when you get older.) I also like the idea of a student-maintained record (401). We do this in a minor form at the school where I work, and even in small-scale it fosters independence and self-reliance.
The major points from Gere and Russell have been made in other readings, but they’re so important that they bear repetition. Teachers must carefully weigh the objectives of their instruction and formulate ways to measure them effectively in evaluations. Gere’s analogy of a teacher as a coach during formative assessment (239) and as a referee during summative assessment (241) was an interesting concept to think about. This reflects on the idea of how many roles a teacher needs to occupy in the classroom.
Ian,
DeleteI completely agree with your feelings on standardized tests. I cannot even imagine being in your classroom as you had to administer these awful things to students who are so bright when it comes to other things. It is just not fair that they are subject to this judgement. To answer your question about society breaking away from standardized testing, I really hope we do someday. For students who have test anxiety or are just not made for testing, it is a really unfair way to be judged. Also the fact that John Brown made a few weeks ago, that students should be judged by the teachers they work with everyday and not some stranger who knows nothing about them is always circling in the back of my mind when this topic comes up.
As for the portfolios, they are becoming a favorite of mine as well. I also thought the idea of keeping a portfolio over the whole of high school would be a great way for students to review their growth and see how they have changed and developed. Any way you present the idea of a portfolio is very interesting. The one thing I have always thought was that students should not be left to their own devices when it comes to the work in portfolios. Teachers should always keep tabs on how far the student is in the work, or just set dates were work will be checked so that it is not all left until the end. That can be the worst for students!
This weeks reading in Russell was such a drag for me. I was and still am not a fan of testing. Tests in high school and college were always something I had to fight with myself to prepare for. This might be because I was not a great test taker, but it was also the fact that I knew that I understood the information and tests were not my best way of proving that. Nonetheless tests are still a large part of the teaching curriculum and even if we do not use them in our classrooms, students are going to be faced with testing at the state level and in college. The section on preparing students for official testing was a great review of how we can help our future students, but I do not want my future curriculum to be about the test. I feel like we will never be able to escape it.
ReplyDeleteChapter nine in Gere covered something I have grown to love, evaluations. One quote that really struck me though was “they [politicians, community leaders, parents, principals, and teachers] sometimes lose sight of a central purpose of schooling – to create independent learners and citizens capable of detailed, accurate, self-assessment” (Gere et al., 1992, p. 239). If all of these people are losing sight of what is important, how are our kids possibly getting a good education? The fact that teachers was included in this group really freaked me out; I’d like to know how many teachers out there are burnt out or just teaching because they can’t get a job in their field. These teachers need to go, but I understand that isn’t always easy to do. Getting back to the point of the quote, I feel like this is something that we fail to address in a lot of our classes, the fact that schooling is supposed to be preparing these kids for the real world, but it seems like we are failing to do that. We have to make some kind of change so that we can get back to the real goal of learning.
Milner’s chapter on evaluating learning started off talking about testing like in Russell. I was glad to see that it went on to talk about alternative ways of evaluating students. The many different ideas that were mentioned i.e. self-evaluation, learning logs, portfolios, and parent-student-teacher conferences, are all things that we have discussed in this class and in others. It made me recall the parent-teacher conferences we simulated in Adolescent Development over the summer, something we were all nervous about didn’t end up so bad and they are a great way to learn more about our students. As a future teacher I want to make sure that I consider and implement different ways of evaluation, not just testing.
Hi Rae!
DeleteI can definitely relate to your feelings about tests. I hated test days in school. I always felt like I studied harder than most other students because testing just did not come easily to me. They made me feel uneasy and nervous and sometimes even made me feel a little sick. On test days, I was one giant stress ball. I understood the purpose of tests, though, so I tried to push aside my personal fears and just do them. Until I learned better study skills—ones I taught to myself—tests challenged me most in school both academically and emotionally. However, I do not think we can totally eliminate tests because for some students, tests are indeed comfortable forms of assessment.
Like you, however, I am a fan of non-test evaluations. I love the idea of allowing students to show off their learned skills through various creative means. Tests, I believe, usually demonstrate one, maybe two, skills. These skills are general test taking strategy and mostly likely memorization skills. I do not consider these skills to be higher level thinking processes. I would much rather use assessments like the ones we presented in class today. These give students the chance to really show what they know and are a better representation of what students will have to do when they enter the “real world.”
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