Another assessment article I dug up recently was “Assessment Through the Student’s Eyes” by Rick Stiggins.
“The goal of assessment for learning is not to eliminate failure, but rather to keep failure from becoming chronic and thus inevitable in the mind of the learner. Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski has pointed out that the key to winning is to avoid losing twice in a row (Kanter, 2004, p. 251). He meant that if you lose once and fix it, you can remain confident. Losing twice, though, can raise questions, crack that confidence, and make recovery more difficult. So when learners suffer a failure, we must get them back to success as quickly as possible to restore their confidence in their capabilities. This is the emotional dynamic of assessment for learning.”
I love the sports analogy. In something like sports, we so easily make the connection between the emotional state of a team and its successes; any devoted fan will concede a loss here and there, but the more losses happen, the more chronic they usually become.
I feel like teachers don’t really consider the emotional impact of handing back bad grades, or the impact of handing back bad grade after bad grade. Or likewise, they don’t consider the kid has who always scores well and just keeps scoring well; they are both at an emotional advantage and more likely to continue succeeding.
I was a high school student only a mere 6 years ago, so I kind of remember being in that position. I was usually the high achiever though, so it’s hard to remember what it feels like to be a “losing streak”. However, I did always feel that way with regard to math. I was in advanced classes, but math was the hardest subject for me. I “knew” I was never going to do as well as some of my friends in my math classes. I would actually tell people I was “bad at math” even as a junior in Calculus class. Looking back, it’s hard to believe I said that; in college, I actually studied math because I found it challenging and I’d finally found the self-confidence to see that as a good thing.
Maybe it’s the same for a lot of my students. They just keep “losing”, whether losing for them means a D grade or a B grade. The challenge is that I still want assessment to be fair; I don’t want to hand out high grades to everyone just to make them feel good. It would be an interesting experiment, but I think that the students need to feel like they really accomplished the “win”, not just have it given to them. I’ve seen it happen with a few students already this semester… like one who struggled last semester. She did really well on our first test of the semester, and ever since then she keeps proudly telling me how she got all the homework right (rather than her usual “Wait, I’m confused”)… and indeed, her work looks astronomically better.
So what does Stiggens suggest to fairly, and honestly, help more students get on a “winning streak”?
“Assessment for learning begins when teachers share achievement targets with students, presenting those expectations in student-friendly language accompanied by examples of exemplary student work. Then, frequent self-assessments provide students (and teachers) with continual access to descriptive feedback in amounts they can manage effectively without being overwhelmed. Thus, students can chart their trajectory toward the transparent achievement targets their teachers have established. The students’ role is to strive to understand what success looks like, to use feedback from each assessment to discover where they are now in relation to where they want to be, and to determine how to do better the next time. As students become increasingly proficient, they learn to generate their own descriptive feedback and set goals for what comes next on their journey.”
Two specific situations he discusses are:
1. Set Students Up for Success (sharing expectations)
2. Help Students Turn Failure into Success (i.e. test corrections)
I’ve been good at #2. I have already done various types of test corrections and/or relearning type activities. I’m not sure it’s always helped everyone take ownership and learn things better, but I think it has helped some really think about their performance and improve. However, #1 is where I feel I’ve been less strong. It’s not that I want to keep things a secret, but I find that I have given assignments where I expected something and clearly the students didn’t understand that. For example, even with timed testing at my school I ran into a misunderstanding. It’s a small private school and apparently it’s the norm (especially in middle school) to just let students have extra time on tests whenever they want. As for whether timed testing is even the right way to approach things… that’s a whole different discussion. However, given my background, I didn’t think I had to explain ahead of time that a timed test meant you don’t get extra time. I got major backlash from students grades 9-12 who weren’t used to that expectation and even got talked to by the administration. It’s not that they didn’t support me, but students complained. That’s an example of where I could have been clearer with expectations, and I know in the future I will be.
Math for Humans 