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 pa rtner 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.