Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Making Assessment Meaningful

Establish Anchors

·        When does the students learning start?  You have to set a start point or an anchor for the beginning of learning. 

·        “By establishing anchors you gain a sense of where students are starting and how far they are going as they work to meet learning goals.” (140)

·        The quality of the learning experience is important

Grades that Matter

·        How will you measure student progress?

·        How will you know that your students completed the learning goals?

·        Design a rubric that is easy for students to follow.  If you have a complicated rubric that is difficult for students to follow they may not complete the assignment properly.

·        “Teachers want a reliable way to assess how well students have mastered key content.” (141)

Ask Students: What did you learn?

·        Ask your students to reflect on the things they learned

·        Have your students give you specific examples of things they learned.

Create something new

·        When the project comes to a close have your students create something new to show what they learned in the project. 

Model Real-World Assessment

·        If the students are doing real world projects then they must be assessed in the same way.

Enter a contest or submit for publication

·        “Taking the idea of discipline-based assessment a step further, some teachers encourage students to submit their best work to a competition or enter it for publication.” (144)

·        Students may find opportunities like this to be motivating and also challenging.