Triangulation

Traditionally, assessment in math has involved a LOT of paper products. In recent years, technology has enabled us to move away from paper… but we are still primarily assessing products.

According to Ontario’s Growing Success document (2010), assessing only student products is not enough. Yet for many of us - even those with non-traditional classrooms - we primarily evaluate products.

Products tend to be:

• Evaluated at the end of the learning
• Paper or digital products
• Typically assigned a mark, entered into gradebook

Conversations & Observations tend to be:

• Evaluated on the fly
• Not necessarily a tangible item
• Done naturally, but not formally - rarely entered into gradebook

What are some of the conversations with students and observations of students we're already (likely informally) making in math class? Go to this Google Drawing and add some ideas.

How do we know what to look for?

When we create a product-based assessment, we have a very specific learning goal in mind. When we mark it, we know what we are looking for from the students. The same can be said for observations and conversations!

Before we can assess a conversation or an observation, we have to make sure we know WHAT we are looking for.

• Curriculum expectation? Which one?
• Particular part of the problem solving process?
• Global competency or learning skill?

Knowing what we're looking and listening for allows us to recognize it when we see it (or when we don't see it), and assign a level that reflects the student's understanding.

How do we track observations & conversations?

There are many ways - analog and digital, in-the-moment and afterward - to track what we see and hear from the students. Most of the remainder of this session will focus on a few different methods.

Click here to go to the next task: Checklists & Rubrics