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What
types of assessments are given?
Various forms of assessment are taken throughout
the school year. Perhaps the most significant
is the Illinois State Achievement Test (ISAT).
Although ISAT testing occurs every year, it happens
only in a few benchmark grades. Students are not
tested in every subject area each year. However,
every student takes the district SAI tests, which
mirror the ISAT tests. In addition to these tests,
there are also the traditional classroom tests
and quizzes as well as classroom projects, essays,
etc.
Who
creates the assessments?
The
SAI Tests that are given 3 times a year are created
by district curriculum committees which consist
of administrators and classroom teachers. Following
each assessment, the district collects feedback
on the tests and revises them as needed. Classroom
assessments which include quizzes, tests, and
projects are designed and administered by classroom
teachers.
Why
are students tested before they are given any
instruction? Doesn't this set them up for failure?
Each
SAI cycle begins with district-wide tests of reading,
writing, and math. These SAI tests are designed
to see what students already know about the objectives
they eoll be asked to work on during the upcoming
cylce. The tests are called formative tests because
they are meant to monitor and inform us of a students
progress (Biehler, 1991) Although the formative
tests are scored, they are not actually graded
and do NOT affect students' grades.
The
purpose of these formative SAI tests is to set
students up for success, not failure. The most
important factor in students learning is their
prior knowledge (Ausubel, 1963). Therefore, it's
extremely important to find out what students
actually know before beginning formal instruction.
In addition, the formative tests play a critical
role in discovering student misconceptions which
may hamper students' ability to learn new material
(Wiggins & McTighe, 1998).
The
data collected from the formative assessments
are used to plan instruction for the rest of the
cycle. Think of the formative tests as a spelling
pre-test. In many grade schools, students take
a spelling pre-test at the beginning of the week
so they can identify which words they need to
practice. At the end of the week students are
given a final spelling test that is scored and
graded. In this scenario, the first test is formative
and is used only to provide feedback to the student
and teacher about what needs to be practiced.
The final test is summative and is used to assign
a grade.
If
students have already mastered a specific objective,
why are they assessed on it in a later SAI test
or I Can Do It! report?
Traditionally,
American schools have operated on a "test
and forget" model in which students are asked
to learn units containing lots of facts and skills.
After the test is over, the class moves on to
another unit and never returns to most of what
was learned. Such a system encourages students
to memorize for tests and forget afterward.
On
the other hand, SAI objectives are limited to
knowledge and skills important enough for students
to remember forever. Therefore, once they have
learned, the continue to be responsible for their
knowledge.
What
are the key components of the model that deal
with assessment and why are they important?
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SAI
Tests
As
mentioned earlier, there are SAI tests given
at the beginning of each cycle across the
year. The tests consist of not only multiple-choice,
but also problem solving activities and essays.
When the tests are completed, they are submitted
to the district central office where they
are scored and analyzed. The district provides
both individual and classroom reports back
to the teachers within 2 weeks. |
Daily
Classroom Assessments
These include all the traditional classroom assessments:
quizzes, tests, projects, and essays. They are
important because they provide the perfect complement
to the SAI and ISAT assessments. Together, they
provide the necessary evidence that students have
truly learned and retained what they must know
and be able to do.
ISAT
By law, the annual Illinois Standards Achievement
test (ISAT) is administered in every public school
in the state. This is one of the most important
tests throughout the year because the general
public and the state legislature use this test
as the "measuring stick" for accountability.
That's why we've modeled all of our SAI objectives
and tests after the state test.
Student
Portfolios
Each classroom contains files for storing
students' work. Throughout each cycle, teachers
help students save examples of their work
that demonstrate mastery of each objective.
At the end of the cycle, these portfolios
help students and teachers complete the I
Can Do It! reports and serve as evidence for
parents to understand what their children
have accomplished. |
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Student working on I Can Do It! Assessment
View sample
I Can Do It! sheet
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I
Can Do It
At the end of each cycle, we have students
go through their collections and identify
their best work. After studying their work
samples, formative test scores, and daily
work, we ask them to mark on the I Can Do
It! sheet as to whether they feel they have
successfully mastered each objective. They
mark a "+" if they have mastered
the objective and they use a checkmark if
they have not yet mastered the objective.
Following the students' self-assessment,
they turn in the I Can Do It! sheet and
portfolio to the classroom teacher who then
marks his/her assessment of the students
knowledge.
The
I Can Do It! assessment process requires
students to be aware of the expectations
(the listed objectives) and to collect evidence
of their progress. Then at the end of the
cycle, they use the evidence to judge their
own achievement and prgress.
Why
do we think the I Can Do It! sheets are
so important? First, they faciltate each
student's growth toward being in charge
of his/her own learning. Wiggins and McTighe
refer to this as one of the facets of understanding:
self-knowledge. "Self-Knowledge as
a facet asks us to develop the discipline
to seek and find the inevitable blind spots
or oversights in our thinking." (Wiggins
& McTighe, 1998)
Second,
self-assessment can be just as revealing
as other assessment data. Students who passed
a pencil and paper test may know inside
themselves that they don't yet understand.
Conversely, students who fail a test may
be correct in thinking they actually do
understand.
Last,
the I Can Do It! assessment helps students
to organize, store, and recall what they
learn. Every year, teachers comment that
students seem to forget what they learned
the previous year and they now need to do
extra review. In most cases, the students
actually learned the material, but they
never stored it so that they could find
it when they needed it. The process of the
I Can Do It assessment helps students in
organizing, labeling, and recalling this
knowledge. |
Resources
Ausubel,
D. (1963) The psychology of meaningful verbal
learning, New York: Grune and Stratton
Biehler,
Robert. (1991) Psychology applied to teaching,
Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Wiggin,
Grant & McTighe, Jay. (1998) Understanding
by Design. Alexandria, Va.: Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development
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