Providing timely, specific, and actionable feedback.

Assessment Tools for Improving Participation in Text-Based Discussions

Are these formative or summative assessment tools?

Let's take for a moment the origin of the word assessment. Assess (v.) is from the from Latin assessus “a sitting by,” past participle of assidere/adsidere “to sit beside.” According to Margaret Heritage (2010), “this word origin implies that in assessment the teacher sits with the learner and assessment is something teachers do with and for students rather than to students.” Heritage goes onto explain what happens when effective formative assessment is occuring:

• teachers make adjustments to teaching and learning in response to assessment information
• students receive feedback about their learning, with advice on what they can do to improve; and
• students are involved in the process through peer and self-assessment

Therefore, these are formative assessment tools first.

They are intended to be used by students as they learn to improve their discussion skills with just as much intention as many students have on improving their writing skills because, like writing, discussion is a powerful means to improving comprehension, interpretation and analysis of complex text.

For example, the teacher might select a focus area from the "Criteria for Participating in Meaningful Text-Based Discussion" and show a video clip of a student discussion. Then, she can model and support the class as they practice collecting evidence and providing feedback using the "Peer and Self-Assessment Sentence Starters." Another example could include a student group selecting their improvement focus, having a process observer collect evidence and provide feedback, then having students reflect on both the discussion and thier learning as that day's entry in their digital learning log.

While evidence of students meeting one or more of the criteria can be included in the gradebook, it is far more important that throughout the year, students use the "Criteria" and the "Sentence Starters" for the purpose of providing feedback in addition to reflecting upon the peer and teacher feedback that has been provided to them.

Works Cited

Heritage, Margaret. (2010). "Assessment With and For Students." Formative Assessment: Making It Happen in the Classroom. Corwin: Thousand Oaks California.