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Assess your Assessment !

A few generally accepted thoughts around Assessment

At the end of your day, session, week or term you are quite likely to have some  'Assessment' to do. But why do we do it, who do we really do it for, what do we do it for and probably the most difficult question When? do we do it? Well this post aims to help you in different ways and at different levels, mainly it aims to help us to reflect on, or Assess our Assessment, perhaps make it more effective and efficient and in the best of scenario facilitate the process and give you some extra time on your day, weekend or half term.

I have come to understand Assessment as a measurement of learning or attainment at a given point. Although it is aimed at the learner it also informs our teaching. We mainly evaluate skills and knowledge but also attitudes can be weighed up. To answer the why? question we tend to agree with the criteria that we assess "for" learning and that there is also an assessment "of" learning. This means that we assess so that learning takes place ("for learning") and we assess to ensure that learning has taken place. So when do we assess? As you probably already know, we assess all the time, and although it seems like you are "marking" every minute of your free time, what this means is that there is a Diagnostic Assessment which is usually the first thing you do when you check for previous knowledge, a Formative Assessment which is a permanent and ongoing process and a Summative Assessment which is the formal and final stage of assessing the achievement of  learning and gives the learner a grade or mark.

There are Ten well known Principles of Assessment for Learning: 

1. It should focus on how students learn
2. It Should be recognized as central to classroom practice
3. It is regarded as a key professional skill for teachers
4. It needs to be sensitive and constructive because assessment has an emotional impact
5. It takes into account the importance of motivation for learning 
6. It promotes commitment to learning goals and provides shared understanding of the criteria by which learners are assessed
7. It needs to be provided and received as constructive guidance about how to improve
8. It develops learners capacity for self assessment so that they can become reflective 
9. It should recognize the full range of achievements of all learners
10. Its part of effective planning, teaching and learning

From the above there is one, point 8, which researchers  such as Tucker (1956) and Harlen (1997)  have extensively written about and what I consider to be the aiming point for us to facilitate. That is "ipsative" assessment. We could define it as an individual process of self assessment that allows the learner to identify their own initial strengths and weaknesses and set self defined targets against which future progress will be measured. It is my professional and personal experience that this assessment is the most beneficial for the learner, since it supports them towards becoming independent learners. 

By now you are probably thinking about Kolb's learning and Gibbs reflective cycles; I will focus on them on my next post. Otherwise you are thinking about assessment, or the marking that you still have to do. Anyway I hope that you have been able to "Assess your Assessment" and if you want to print the image on the top and keep it handy whilst assessing and marking, it might even help you to be more efficient and effective.