Conducting Assessment
Assessment Plan
In planning assessment in a cooperative classroom, the teacher has to check the targets to assess, check the procedures to use, and match the targets with the procedures. Three types of assessment can be used: diagnostic assessment that refers to student’s actual level of knowledge and skills, formative assessment that monitors students’ progress toward learning goals, and summative assessment that provides data to judge the final level of students’ learning (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec 1998).
What is assessed |
Procedures used to assess |
____ Academic learning |
____ Goal setting conferences |
____ Reasoning process/strategies |
____ Standardized tests |
____ Skills & competencies |
____ Teacher-made tests |
____ Attitudes |
____ Written compositions |
____ Work habits |
____ Oral presentations |
|
____ Projects |
|
____ Portfolios |
|
____ Observations |
|
____ Questionnaires |
|
____ Interviews |
|
____ Learning logs & journals |
|
____ Student management teams |
Assessment Definitions
Exercise: Alone or with a partner match the definition with the concept it represents. This is an exercise that would enhance the understanding of the following concepts: instruction, learning, rubric, assessment, criteria, and evaluation.
Concept |
Definition |
___ 1. Instruction |
a. Change within a student that is brought about by instruction. |
___ 2. Learning |
b. Judging the merit, value, or desirability of a measured performance. |
___ 3. Rubric |
c. Standards against which the quality and quantity of performances are assessed (what counts or is important). |
___ 4. Assessment |
d. Structuring of situations in ways that help students change, through learning. |
___ 5. Criteria |
e. Collecting information about the quality or quantity of a change in a student, group, teacher, or administrator. |
___ 6. Evaluation |
f. Articulation of gradations of quality and quantity for each criterion, from poor to exemplary. |
(Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec 1998)
Assessment Issues
The table below shows the advantages and the disadvantages of different types of assessment.
Purpose |
Focus |
Setting |
Stakeholders |
Stakes |
Diagnostic |
Process of learning |
Artificial (classroom) |
Students-parents |
Low |
Formative |
Process of instruction |
Authentic (real-world) |
Teachers, administrators |
High |
Summative |
Outcomes of learning |
|
Policy-makers |
|
|
Outcomes of instruction |
|
Colleges, employers |
|
Meaningful Assessment
Two of the biggest problems educators have to cope with in conducting efficient and responsible assessments are making the assessments meaningful to stakeholders and manageable so they actually get done.
Meaningful assessment is created by:
- Structuring positive interdependence in the classroom (see chapter 4 for more info)
- Involving the students in learning and assessment procedures
- Organizing assessment data in a way that can be used later on for remediation and review.
(Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec 1998)
MEANINGFUL ASSESSMENT |
||
Positive Interdependence |
Involvement |
Useful results |
Common purpose |
Setting goals, planning paths to achieve goals, assessing progress, planning for improvement, implementing plans |
Clarity of next steps to improve |
Positive relationships |
Ownership |
Use of results |
According to Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec (p.8:6, 1998) “cooperative learning groups provide the setting, context and environment in which assessment becomes part of the instructional process and students learn almost as much from assessing the quality of their own and their classmates’ work as they do from participating in the instructional activities.”
Reference
Johnson, D., Johnson, R.& Holubec, E. (1998). Cooperation in the classroom. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.