In modern education, there is an especially bright spotlight on assessment. There are many different ways assessment is viewed: as a way to give students a score of how well or poorly they are doing, to sort students into groups, or even as a way to “grade” schools and evaluate teachers. Teachers, parents, administrators, and stakeholders are all invested one way or another on the assessments and the data they provide. With this hyper-focus on testing, assessment literacy should be made priority for schools, to not only help students “do well” on what an assessment can measure, but more so to help teachers learn to improve their instruction and assessments, analyzing the data and using it to help student growth. According to the Michigan Assessment Consortium, “Assessment literacy is the set of beliefs, knowledge and practices about assessment that lead a teacher, administrator, policymaker or student to use assessment to improve student learning and achievement” (Michigan Assessment Consortium, 2015). It is those beliefs in assessment literacy that will drive improvements in assessment and data usage in classrooms, made stronger by the nurturing care of compassionate teachers who clearly care for the students they work with.
Assessment literacy is important because assessments are an integral part of the culture of education, and if they are going to stay an integral part, they need to be done well. There are ways assessments can be very beneficial and significant for students and teachers. For example, “The assessment must have value other than "because it's on the test." It must intend to impact the world beyond the student "self," whether it is on the school site, in the outlying community, the state, country, world, etc. Additionally, the assessment should incorporate skills that students need for their future. That is, the test must assess skills other than merely content. It must also test how eloquently the students communicate their content” (Wolpert-Gawron, 2012). Assessments provide educators with valuable information that can inform how lessons are taught and how classes and lessons can be planned with differentiation scaffolds and other strategic approaches to help students learn. Decisions can be driven with data from assessments to benefit students and districts overall. These types of planning and positive intervention are the changes schools need to see for positive improvement.
Website editor: Amanda Rodgers - Murdock Middle School
arodgers@winchendonk12.org