Assessment and Evaluation
Instructional
approaches must activate, respect, and amplify students’ prior
experience, and we must develop assessment methods
that do not see the problem in the child.
Aboriginal Education:
Fulfilling the Promise
Kathy Hodgson-Smith, 2000
Although the evaluation process is not necessarily sequential, it can by seen as a cyclical process including four phases: preparation, assessment, evaluation and reflection. The evaluation process involves the teacher as a decision maker throughout the process.
In keeping with the nurturing philosophy of Native Studies 10, the assessment and evaluation of Native Studies students takes the developmental approach. Instead of telling students what they are not capable of, the developmental approach shows them how to get there. The sample rubrics, beginning on page 61 of this curriculum guide, illustrate developmental assessment. Development assessments can improve cognitive ability and enhance self-esteem.
Assessment and evaluation are key components of teaching and Education. Assessment and evaluation serve to enhance student Education and to improve teacher instruction. It is important; however, that teachers, students, parents and guardians differentiate between assessment and evaluation.
It may be appropriate to see assessment as the preliminary phase in the evaluation process. It is the gathering of information on student progress. Various techniques are employed to collect the information.
Evaluation, on the other hand, is the weighing of assessment information against a standard (such as a curriculum learning objective) in order to make a judgement or evaluation.
There are three main types of student evaluation:
Recognizing the value of evaluation in the process of teaching and learning, Saskatchewan Learning has developed five general guiding principles, which are
linked closely to the Evaluation in Education, 1990, report and provide a framework to assist teachers in planning for student evaluation. For extensive information see Student Evaluation: A Teacher Handbook.Saskatchewan Education (1991).
Keeping accurate, up-to-date records of student achievement is crucial to meeting the principles of evaluation. Easy access to accurate data facilitates student confidence and teacher decision making.
Teachers are encouraged to use a wide range of assessment techniques to track student progress and facilitate future learning. The teacher determines the instructional strategy and method that will be used to achieve the Education objectives and correlates them to the appropriate type of assessment strategy.
Suggested organization methods are included in this section. The assessment techniques are suggestions only. Teachers use their professional judgement to decide which strategies will best suit the specific purposes of the evaluation. Just as no one teaching strategy will apply, nor will one evaluation formula.
This exercise also gives students, parents and guardians the language they need to discuss learning progress. When parents understand educational jargon, they feel more comfortable asking questions before, during and after summative evaluation. Clear communication of expectations and evaluation can help parents and guardians support student achievement.
Self-assessment is a basic metacognitive function. It is a form of appraisal that fosters life long-learning. In Native Studies 10 students establish personal learning goals, aside from those the curriculum sets for them.
Hence, it is important that students have opportunities to develop the skills necessary for self-assessment. The teacher can assist in this process by modelling goal setting and helping students to articulate their own objectives. While some students are unrealistic about the quality of their work, Dynesson and Gross 1995, agree that the value of self-assessment out weighs the difficulty. They concur that, "… studies of self-evaluation indicate that correlations between students’ and teachers’ marks are .60 to .80, certainly high enough to justify self-grading, especially since students learn from such opportunities." (p. 391)
Even so, students need clear guidelines and structure to experience success in self-assessment. Developing the evaluation should be part of the exercise. Students, working alone or in groups, make the initial suggestions and these are modified in consultation with the teacher.
Like self-assessment, peer assessment is used with an emphasis on student growth and self-understanding, rather than on arriving at a final grade. Having students involved in developing criteria also serves to deepen their knowledge of the expectations concerning their work. Engaging students in consultation about each other’s performance and making suggestions for improvement requires them to think analytically. In turn, their analytical skills may extend their thinking to their own work.
Peer evaluation should be structured to ensure that students are descriptive rather than judgmental. Students are encouraged to be consistent, realistic, positive and reflective when providing feedback to one another. Teachers can assist peer evaluators by modeling the behaviour and the language used in their own assessments.
Self and peer evaluation should be reserved for those situations where student self-knowledge about the Education process is important. Major projects involving a mix of Education skills such as researching, planning, drafting and bringing to completion are good examples. A high degree of interaction is encouraged in Native Studies 10, so students have a number of opportunities for peer evaluation.
In order to achieve the principles of evaluation it is important that students, parents and guardians are well informed about the evaluation process. The teacher can facilitate this process by establishing expectations from the start. Native Studies 10 teachers are encouraged to involve students in the development of their evaluation plan. Students will want to know what will be assessed, how it will be assessed, why it is to be assessed, when it will be assessed and how it will contribute to an evaluation of their progress. Establishing an evaluation plan with students allows students to invest in their achievement. Doing so also establishes an atmosphere of trust between teachers and students, parents or guardians.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to evaluate students’ solutions to a problem or a decision. There are; however, particular skills students develop in the process. Teachers may consider the following when assessing problem solving and decision making.
(Mills, Sheryl, Editor, 1996, Adapted with permission.)
Values objectives in the curriculum guide call for students to respect, appreciate, understand or empathize with aspects of Aboriginal life. While the curriculum does not expect students to adopt Aboriginal values, it does expect students to respect those values.
Historically, Aboriginal values were misrepresented, or not represented at all, in curricula and Education materials. The use of almost exclusively Aboriginal content fills a need that has been missing from curricula.
Assessing students’ values poses the same conundrum as assessing problem solving and decision making; however, it also offers a similar solution.
Rating scales used periodically over the duration of the Native Studies course can give students and teachers a picture of growth and development. Teachers may ask students to self-assess and peer-assess on occasion. Or, teachers my use an observation check list to assess growth and development during selected activities.
(Dynesson and Gross, 1999, p. 389-390, suggest that Story Completion and Role Plays may also be an effective values and attitudes assessment.)
Story Completion and Role Plays
Having students complete or add an ending to a story (or picture interpretation) may assess attitudes. Typically, story completion rests on a criterion related to the students’ ability to comprehend the nature of the social issue or conflict and to deal with it reasonably and effectively. Prior to the story completion exercises, the student would receive instruction regarding the use of democratic processes, or some form of moral reasoning, that could be generally applied to almost any situation involving controversy or conflict. This instruction can be completed individually or in a group through class discussions, in committees or in paired exercises between two students. A valuable modification here is to have students role play the possible conclusion(s) to the story, event or problem being studied. Precise evaluation is difficult, but teachers can gain valuable insights into student beliefs and attitudes by observation and from subsequent class discussion of the action. When such skits or role plays are employed, they can be especially helpful in formative evaluations, indicating emphases and options that may be in order for an entire class or the needs of certain students.
Portfolios are collections of relevant work that reflect students’ individual efforts, development and progress over a designated period of time. Portfolios provide students, teachers, parents and administrators with a broad picture of each student’s growth over time, including abilities, knowledge, skills, processes and attitudes. Students should be involved in selecting the items to be included, setting goals for further personal learning, and self-assessment and reflection.
Teachers can encourage critical and reflective thinking by having students decide which of their works to include in their portfolios and explain why they have chosen those particular items.
Instruction and assessment are integrated as students and teachers collaborate to compile relevant and individual portfolios representing each student’s progress. Some guidelines for developing and using portfolio assessment include:
Consider the following for discussion with students:
Consider the following for organization and inclusion:
both oral and written products, evidence of effort and/or achievement of a process or skill, self-assessment checklists)
Formats for portfolio assembly should provide for easy organization, storage and accessibility. Some possibilities include:
Evaluating Student Portfolios
At the end of the unit, term, semester or year, when portfolios are submitted for summative evaluation, it is useful to review the contents as a whole. Data can be recorded using previously established criteria
outlined on a rating scale or rubric. One example of a portfolio assessment is provided on page 59 of this curriculum guide. Teachers may use this portfolio assessment as it appears, or adapt it to meet the specific needs of their students.
Modelling the presentation procedure will give students a good idea about how to conduct a portfolio presentation.
Giving students the opportunity to rehearse the portfolio presentation with their classmates prior to presenting to parents and teachers may alleviate anxiety some students might feel.
(Saskatchewan Education.)
Anecdotal records are written descriptions of daily student progress. The teacher may decide to keep anecdotal records of students’ ability to work in groups, conduct themselves appropriately for an invited speaker or complete a research project.
Observation checklists, once developed, are a quick way of assessing knowledge, specific skills, learning processes or attitudes. A list of criteria gives the teacher the opportunity to assess several students over a short time. Students should be aware of the criteria before observation assessment takes place.
Rating scales have the same use as observation checklists with one essential difference. While checklists record the presence or absence of a particular knowledge item, skill or process, rating scales record the degree to which they are found or the quality of the performance. A rating scale can easily be adapted into a rubric.
Ongoing student activities include learning activities that students are engaged in on a daily basis.
Teachers may collect student progress information by having students plan, organize, and produce a written product.
Native Studies 10 covers a vast amount of content so students are often asked to present their findings to their classmates. Hence, while teachers may use checklists, rating scales and anecdotal records to assess
presentation, they may also enlist the help of those students acting as audience.
Teachers may collect assessment data on various types of performances. Native Studies 10 students may be asked to role play a discriminatory incident, or create a graphic organizer that displays their understanding of the concept of identity, for example.
Homework may be assigned as an instructional strategy or an assessment technique. The teacher may ask students to watch the news for a week and analyze the Aboriginal content.
Assigning homework is most effective when students are interested in the project and when the teacher requires specific assessment information.
Saskatchewan Education's Student Evaluation Handbook 1991, covers the development and use of quizzes and tests. Quizzes and tests in Native Studies 10 should allow students to demonstrate their knowledge of the subject matter, and, depending on the quality of the test items, they may be used to assess processes, skills and attitudes.
The following pages provide teachers with samples of various assessment instruments. Teachers are encouraged to adapt and refine the assessment tools to meet their students' specific needs.
