How to Achieve the Principles of Assessment in Primary Education
- 1). Develop shared learning goals with students in addition to your own learning goals for them. As a class, develop a list of things they hope to become better at doing. Explain what your goal is for them, and ask them what they hope to learn from it. For example, your goal might be for them to recite the Alphabet Song, pointing out the letters as they do. Their goal might be to sing it all by themselves to their parents at home. Include these shared goals as part of the activity.
- 2). Show students examples of quality work. Discuss all of the elements that make it successful. Help them to see areas yet to be improved upon in other assignments that are of less quality. Provide them with a range of evaluative criteria to discuss. A drawing for example, assigned to represent what they understood about a mathematical concept might show that a little boy received presents, but without labeling them with numbers. Teachers would point out the need for their inclusion, and correct it together as a class.
- 3). Develop simple scoring rubrics using silly stamps such as frogs or cartoons to demonstrate exemplary work, middle-of-the-road work, and less-quality work by using one, two, or three stamps. Smiley faces can be used to express scoring gradations with a smile, a half-smile, and a frown. Make it routine practice to have students evaluate their own work prior to handing it in, and then discuss these evaluations with them. Other methods can include portfolio development using student-selected material for inclusion.
- 4). Align all evaluative criteria with applicable learning standards. Go to your state's Department of Education website to find your state's standards, and then search by the skills or concepts being taught. Once identified, make sure they are included as evaluative criteria.
- 5). Provide students with regular opportunities to engage in feedback. Let them evaluate each other using the same rubrics and have discussions about their choices. Give them feedback through your conferences with them. According to the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development in Assessment Through the Student's Eyes (May 2007), feedback helps students to "understand what success looks like" and that eventually they will be able to "generate their own descriptive feedback and set goals for what comes next on their journey."
- 6). Use all assessments to inform successive teaching practices. Review all assessment instruments carefully--rubrics, checklists, reported information--especially evaluative information from students. Take notes on the conversations you have with them. Review all evaluation tools for gaps in skills, unmet learning goals, targets missed, and gaps in instruction.