Best Practice #1: Ungraded Practice
It may seem ironic to include ungraded practice as a key assessment strategy, but it truly is a necessary part of the process. The logic behind it is that students need time to build confidence and a base of knowledge to draw from as they read and write. Grading them immediately makes the actual learning process stressful and restricting to the point where it is unproductive. Gallagher and Kittle are big proponents of this ungraded practice period. Discussing content practice, they write, "[o]ur students need volume, but being graded before they've had enough time for this volume of practice scorches motivation" (Gallagher, Kittle, Pg. 107). They argue that students need free writing practice to feel confident. Losing confidence early in the year can be catastrophic, so it is important to avoid assessment until students have built up confidence and routine in their writing. I have seen this strategy in my fieldwork through the free reading and writing time my host teacher gives students at the start of every Friday. The period gives them a chance to rehearse their basic reading and writing skills without stress, which gives them the confidence to perform on their assignments. The only measure for these practices should be participation. Getting students comfortable with the act of reading and writing is key to effective assessment done the line. Ungraded practice is an essential part of that process.
Best Practice #2: Frequent Feedback
Another vital practice to employ in the classroom is writing feedback at all points of the writing process. This means expanding feedback to the drafting process of student writing, not avoiding it until it is time to grade. This is designed to help students hone their writing as they work and develop effective thinking habits as they edit. Gallagher and Kittle support this frequent feedback cycle. They argue that "students need to know that we hear and understand what they are writing as they are developing their thinking in writing" (Gallagher, Kittle, Pg. 111). In other words, frequent feedback during the writing process gives students encouragement to dig deeper and try to improve their thought processes. This is an authentic assessment strategy because it encourages students to think critically throughout the process and improve as they work. Unlike other assessments that simply gauge where students are, assessments with frequent feedback seek to teach as they evaluate. This multi-faceted approach has been very effective in my personal experience. I always feel more confident in my writing if I have a chance to run it by a teacher before submission, and I gain more knowledge of where I am as a writer through feedback after submission. In other words, giving students direct evaluations of their writing through the feedback process helps them grow as writers, while also assessing their current abilities in a way that informs instruction.
Best Practice #3: Literary Analysis Essay
One effective assessment that is common in the English classroom is the literary analysis essay. These essays typically involve making an argument or answering a key question about the text. They are an effective assessment practice because they ask students to become familiar with the texts to a degree that they are qualified to write about its themes and key concepts. Gallagher and Kittle are big proponents of this method. In 180 Days, they point out the many different ways that this assessment can be applied to a single text. For example, Gallagher's students were focused on answering an essential question, and they were given a sample essay to work from. On the other hand, Kittle's students watched segments from different film versions of a play and analyzed how their storytelling methods differed. The flexibility of this assessment method is a great asset when it comes to differentiation and engagement. This method also requires a lengthy preparation period, which helps students develop as they work. Gallagher and Kittle found that through a "gradual release of responsibility, students discussed the scenes in class with increased confidence and skill" (Gallagher, Kittle, Pg. 77). In other words, literary analysis essays are an effective assessment practice because they ask students to think about texts in a variety of ways and build their confidence in class discussion.