As the details of the RTTT assessment requirements are unveiled, dare we ask that the two major assessment options create authentic measurements for performance-based evaluations? In a day-and-age where an employees' performance is measured by what we produce--the job we do--the things we create--the ways in which we perform-- dare we ask that the performance of students be measured the same way?
The CCSS ask us to graduate students who are college and career ready, who know how to perform--not take tests. If employers wanted good test-takers, then they would likely not get creative individuals. For some reason, I see a disconnect.
I love the Common Core. The content is scaffolded, well-developed, rigorous and relevant. The key anchor standards within the CCSS ask teachers to teach in an Inquiry based learning environment, challenging students to think, create, debate, conclude, investigate, synthesize, and problem solve. This is all higher-order Bloom's taxonomy. Good 'ole Blooms...Long live the King.
Dare we speculate how computer-based assessment will ever graduate from the bottom floor of Blooms triangle? Rote and recall, here we come. The latest unveiling from the PARCC group doesn't inspire me to great confidence that we will move away from rote and recall. Despite the threat of low-levels rote and recall testing, we need to teach at the top. I refuse to stoop to teaching to the test. If good instruction is planned and student-directed research assignments are prevalent, research shows that students perform better on rote and recall tests. Therefore, please encourage teachers to return to creative teaching, research-based investigations, Socratic questioning, debates, student-owned projects and more. This is the only way we will graduate career-ready individuals who are ready to perform--regardless of what form the assessments take.
See your librarian cybrarian today, and plan a student-centered inquiry investigation. This is 21st Century Learning. This is crafting instruction for the Common Core. This is how to foster student-achievement. This is real learning. Long live the King.
So... RTTT is coming, and I understand I will be evaluated on my instructional efficacy? Ugh. No one likes additional tests, so this posting will challenge you to try alternate forms of assessment that are easy, quick and directly linked to student achievement. Pre-assessment? Why do I have to do that? Well, duh. If you haven't determined what they do or do not know, how can you proved you taught them anything at all? Thus the need for pre and post assessment. The following web 2.0 tools offer a quick way to capture data on the incoming and outgoing student:
* Wall Wisher - Virtual Sticky notes! (Ask your EQ on the way in. Can students answer a vital question? Have 2 questions ready for posting. Ask the same question after instruction and see the notes learned. Archive the site. Print for portfolio or sample report to administrators.
* Polleverywhere.com (Use cell phones for covert assessment....Shhh--Don't tell anyone you are using contraband in the school.)
A non-Web 2.0 tool that is effective is to use "butcher paper" frequently. Catch the students on the way in the door, and ask them to write the answer to your EQ on the way in. Chances are that they do not know it. Or, their understanding is slightly flawed. After instruction, give them a different color pen and tell them to modify their answers. Chances are they know the correct answer and you have archived direct data for student success.
Stay tuned over the next few days as we share innovative ways to assess, document and archive evidence of student learning in the library.
* Posting Video assessments. Way out there, but this captured student learning:
