Session Six
Assessment, Feedback and Self-Reflection
Ass-ess-ment : dictionary definition
noun
the act of assessing; appraisal; evaluation.
an official valuation of property for the purpose of levying a tax; an assigned value.
an amount assessed as payable.
What do we think of when we use the term assessment in education?
Evaluation? of what? of a skill? of general knowledge? of specific language skills? of practiced lexis?
In order to assess students properly, we need to think about what our goals and aims of assessment are, how our feedback will be used and how to encourage student reflection on their own assessment. Most importantly, we need to think about how assessment can be used to encourage improvement and not be damaging to the soul.
What kind of assessment do you use in class?
Think of these questions while watching the clip:
- What kinds of assessment are the children giving to Austin?
- Is it helpful?
- The teacher could have said "Good Austin You're done." - he would have felt really good . Instead the teacher said "Austin Good start!" Did you expect that?
- How do you think Austin reacted?
- Question: What is our goal when assessing? Feeling good - encouraging process - evaluating for a report card - all of the above?
First Task:
- Choose 5 students in any one of your classes.
- Write the following instructions on the board: Write an essay about your favorite meal.
- Write on the board "My favorite meal is fish and chips. I like it a lot."
- Have them guide you into a richer, longer, more "meaty" essay.
- Now reflect with them: What did you learn? What did I learn? How did you teach me? What did I teach you?
You CAN make a difference!
In a much more recent study, researchers illustrated just how powerful a single message can be. Hundreds of students were involved in an experimental study of high school English classes. All of the students wrote essays and received critical diagnostic feedback from their teachers, but half the students received an extra sentence on the bottom of the feedback. The students who received the extra sentence achieved higher grades a year later, even though the teachers did not know who received the sentence and there were no other differences between the groups. It may seem incredible that one sentence could change students’ learning trajectories to the extent that they achieve at higher levels a year later, with no other change, but this was the extra sentence:
"I am giving you this feedback because I believe in you."
Students who received this sentence scored at higher levels a year later. This effect was significant for students of color, who often feel less valued by their teachers (Cohen & Garcia, 2014 - see below). I share this finding with teachers frequently, and they always fully understand its significance. I do not share the result in the hope that teachers will add this same sentence to all of their students’ work. That would lead students to think the sentence was not genuine, which would be counterproductive. I share it to emphasize the power of teachers’ words and teachers’ beliefs they hold about students, and to encourage teachers to instill positive belief messages at all times. Furthermore, belief in students alone is not enough (Shouse, 1996). Teachers must couple these beliefs with an academic environment that values open, growth mathematics , mistakes , and high quality assessments.
Teachers can communicate positive expectations to students by using encouraging words, and it is easy to do this with students who appear motivated, who learn easily, or who are quick.
But it is even more important to communicate positive beliefs and expectations to students who are slow, appear unmotivated, or struggle. It is also important to realize that the speed at which students appear to grasp concepts is not indicative of their potential. As hard as it is, it is important to not have any preconceptions about our students.
We must be open at all times to any student working hard and achieving at high levels.
Some students give the impression that English is a constant struggle for them and they may ask a lot of questions or keep saying they are stuck, but they are just hiding their linguistic potential and are likely to be suffering from a fixed mindset; often these students are scared to take a risk or to get anything wrong.
Some students have had bad ESL experiences and messages from a young age or have not received opportunities for brain growth and learning that other students have, so they are at lower levels than other students. This in no way means they cannot excel with good language teaching, positive messages, and, perhaps most importantly, high expectations from their teachers and parents.
You can be the person who turns things around for students and liberates their learning path. It usually takes just one person—a person whom students will never forget.
How to teach your students
to reflect on their own learning
Summative Session Task:
1. View Diane's presentation of Meaningful Assessment above.
2. Choose an assessment that you have used in the past, and would like to upgrade. Create a rubric and an assessment together with your students based on Diane's recommendations.
3. Post a link to the rubric and assessment on your slide in the class slide show at this link. On the slide, explain the process of how you created/ upgraded it.
4. Reflect on the assessment, the results (if you were able to use it already), and the students' reactions to being part of the process.
5. Remember to include the reflection cover page.
