Chapter 4: Assessment FOR Learning: Building a Culture of Confident Learners

Citation: Stiggens, R. (2005) Assessment FOR Learning: Building a Culture of Confident Learners. In R. Dufour, R. Eaker & R. Dufour (Eds.) On common ground. (pp. 65-83) Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree

Abstract:
This chapter is all about assessment. It was basically a refresher of what we learned in our practicum class last semester. Assessments have two primary functions: to motivate learning and to gather evidence of student achievement to inform instructional decisions. Assessments can be really good if used properly. Assessments can be a motivation trigger. Part of the importance of it is that each student knows they are being assessed to become competent in the a content area. The big thing is assessment FOR learning, not assessment of learning. There's a big difference here. Assessment for learning occurs WHILE the learning is happening, not just after the stuff is supposed to have been learned. There's some guidelines for the teachers role in assessment for learning: 1) Start by clearly understanding the standard to be mastered 2) Deconstruct it to enable classroom achievement into targets 3) Create a student friendly version of the standard and targets 4) Create high quality assessments 5) Use assessment to track students improvement over time. There are four specific conditions for assessment for learning. Teachers must be prepared and understand specific instructional decisions students make. Clear and appropriate expectations are very important. Also, assessments must be accurate and feedback has got to be timely. If assessments are done the right way, they can trigger confidence, positivity and enthusiasm.

Reflection:
I felt like a lot of this chapter was just a refresher of the stuff that we learned in practicum last semester. Obviously, the most important thing to understand about assessments is that they need to be for learning. I thought it was interesting that the chapter talked about using assessments to trigger confidence. That's a really interesting idea. I think in a lot of ways we look at assessment in a negative light. Especially with all the NCLB and high stakes testing, confidence and assessment aren't words that necessarily are used together very often. I think these standardized assessments make students and teachers a lot more nervous than they make them confident. I think that assessments can be used in a really positive way if they are done right. I also liked at the end of the chapter how it talked about the possibility that assessments may be unique to a single classroom or a single student, and aren't always "common". I think this is an idea that a lot of people don't think about when they think about assessments.