Chapter 3 Working Together

Introduction

Now that you have analyzed your evaluation program, it is time to think about how your program could be combined with those of your colleagues. This is an important step for several reasons.

The more wide-ranging type of student evaluation program that you have developed in Chapters 1 and 2 represents, at least to some degree, new territory for you and your students. You will find that checking your perception of what constitutes appropriate student evaluation with that of your colleagues will reassure you that you are on the right path.
Students and parents/guardians can become confused when teachers in different grades and different subjects use differing student evaluation programs. Working with colleagues will develop a useful degree of commonality among your program and those of your colleagues.
Each school needs to develop its own policy and shared understanding of the role student evaluation should have within the total operation of the school and of how that role can be operationalized.

This chapter offers you a process for coordinating your student evaluation program with those of your colleagues in adjoining grades or in the same subject area as well as for developing a school student evaluation policy.

Integrating Your Evaluation Plan With Those of Your Colleagues

We will make use of our financial planning metaphor one last time! Now that you have developed your personal financial plan, you will benefit from working with others to achieve common financial goals. One way of doing this is to form an investment circle with other investors who have similar goals and who can draw upon much the same resources for achieving them. Within the context of student evaluation, we will call the counterpart of this the student evaluation circle. It can be a source of support, of efficiencies, and of a more coherent overall evaluation plan for your students.

Begin by considering which colleagues constitute a natural or logical group with whom you need to integrate your student evaluation program. In the elementary school, the circle membership will probably comprise other teachers teaching the same grade or teachers teaching adjoining grades. The same sort of aggregation might be appropriate in the middle years, too, although subject matter groupings might be appropriate as well. In those high schools that have a departmental structure, the department is the obvious unit. In other high schools, the subject area may dictate the grouping. In smaller high schools, teachers may need to consider grouping by related or complementary areas (e.g., math with science, or English with social studies). In small schools all teachers may be involved.

Preparing for the First Meeting

Obviously, the issues that concern you and your colleagues will depend upon your unique situation. However, the following aspects will probably be common to all situations. Prepare copies of these items so that they may serve as organizers for the first meeting of the student evaluation circle.

the Student Evaluation Summary Inventory Sheets, developed in chapter 2, outlining your overall student evaluation plan and listing the techniques that you have incorporated into them
copies of any assessment instruments that you have developed or adapted
copy of your school’s student evaluation policy (if available)
copy of your school division’s student evaluation policy (if available)
your handout on student evaluation practices that you make available to students or parents/guardians. This will be particularly useful if it contains your philosophy of student evaluation. (refer to Chapter 2.)
Weighting scheme for establishing the overall final grade. (refer to Chapter 2.)

Meeting with Your Colleagues

The evaluation circle meetings will provide you with some of the following opportunities.

Comparing student evaluation philosophies
If each teacher has written down her or his philosophy of student evaluation, then these can form the basis for drafting an evaluation circle philosophy. In all likelihood this will be a matter of choosing one philosophy that has the broadest appeal and modifying it so that it encompasses the ideas of all members. Treat this as a working document to which you can refer during the subsequent discussions. Ultimately, it should be formalized because it will become an important reference for you, for other circle members, for future members, and in the preparation of a school policy on student evaluation.
Verifying the appropriateness of the chosen student assessment techniques
Each member of the evaluation circle can explain to the others the reasoning behind the selection of the particular techniques in his or her student evaluation plan. A starting point can be the topics on your copies of the Student Evaluation Summary Inventory Sheet.
Validating student evaluation plans by considering individual students
At several fixed times during the year, teachers often meet to consider the progress of particular students. Not only are these meetings opportunities for teachers to focus on the 'whole student', but they can also be opportunities to compare student assessment and evaluation practices.
Comparing student evaluation plans
Your plan will be unique, owing to the decisions you have made during its construction and the specifics of the courses you are teaching. You will find that most of your colleagues in your evaluation circle have had to solve similar problems. Their ways of solving them may result in a somewhat different emphasis or a different selection of techniques, but those differences will probably look more significant than they really are. You and your circle colleagues should, in turn, explain your overall student evaluation plan and verify that it accords with the group's philosophy. If there are points of discrepancy, then either the circle philosophy or your student evaluation plan should be amended. Whatever direction the discussions take, they should be conducted with sensitivity to the collegial nature of the evaluation circle and to the need to respect each member's professional integrity.
Developing common student assessment techniques
The evaluation circle offers an opportunity and a mechanism to explore the potential for standardizing the ways of assessing your students. Some reasons for doing this are:
- to minimize the investment of student time and effort in introducing a technique. Some student assessment techniques require quite a bit of 'setting up' with the students. For example, preparing a class to use assessment stations effectively takes a few trial runs. Circle members may decide that agreeing to use assessment stations over several grades or in several subject areas saves in the time required to orient the students to a new assessment technique.
- to construct long-range profiles on student development. Some student characteristics such as lifelong learning or communication skills are so incremental that even one school year is not really enough time to assess evidence of student progress through the program of study. You and your colleagues may be able to plan a long-term program of collecting information over a period of years. For example, you may agree on certain items to be included on all your observation checklists.
- to construct common examinations in order to ensure that teachers who teach the same subject at the same grade level are all teaching much the same things at much the same level. In the same way, evaluation circle members may wish to develop a wider repertoire of common instruments so that they can develop an understanding of how their students are performing on a wide range of objectives.
Deciding what you would like to see in a school student evaluation plan
Every school needs to develop a policy on student evaluation along with a system of communications to transmit this information to students and parents/guardians. Each evaluation circle will contribute to this process. You and the other members should prepare a working summary of what you feel is important for the school to include in its overall policy on student evaluation, within the context of provincial and school division policy.

Developing a School Student Evaluation Policy

School policy issues are beyond the scope of this teacher handbook. Nonetheless, since you may be involved in formulating a school policy on student evaluation, you may find the following observations and the statements concerning policy on the next page useful.

Every school should have a written, formal student evaluation policy in order to facilitate communication among teachers, parents/guardians, students, and the school board.
The principal and the school staff should be crucially involved in developing the school policy. This does not mean that they are the only people who should be involved. Parents/guardians, students, administrators, board members, and Saskatchewan Education can all contribute to the process. It does mean, though, that the principal and the teachers, because of their professional preparation and responsibility, must take the leadership in developing the policy.

At a minimum, every school policy on student evaluation should incorporate the following aspects.

a statement of the school's vision or philosophy on the purposes behind the evaluation of students. Saskatchewan Education's set of guiding principles of student evaluation, outlined in the Introduction section of this document, makes a useful starting point.
a general description of the way in which students will be evaluated
specific requirements of all teachers in the school. Some examples might be: development and communication in writing of a student evaluation plan, formal procedures for storing information developed during student assessment activities, and formal requirements for communicating with parents or guardians in certain crucial situations.
a grading policy. The final grade is far from being the only purpose of student assessment but it is an important one. The school policy should address such issues as the role of grades in continuous assessment or promotion policies, grading for modified classes, and adaptations of assessment and evaluation procedures for identifiable groups such as exceptional students.
a general description of how the school's evaluation policy and the student's progress will be communicated to parents /guardians. Equally important, it should include a delimitation of what will not be evaluated or reported to parents/guardians.
a step-by-step procedure whereby parents/guardians and students can discuss reported student progress
a protocol on what records will be kept at the school level and at the division level including the length of time the raw information on student evaluation (e.g., data sheets, portfolios) should be kept at the teacher level, at the school level, and at the division level.
a formal description of leachers' authority in evaluating students. Student evaluation places a great degree of responsibility on the individual teacher. It opens the teacher to challenges to his or her professional competence in the area, and it reduces the opportunities for the teacher to shelter behind 'objective' grading practices ("Kim got 48% on the test and there is nothing I can do about it"). Teachers need to know that they have the authority to draw upon their professional expertise in evaluating students. They must also feel secure with the policy if this professional expertise is questioned. As well, it is essential that teachers, parents/guardians, and students know the source of teachers' authority.
an adjudication and review process. For the protection of all parties - teachers, students, parents/guardians, administrators, and boards - some kind of adjudication or review process should be developed and put into place in every school. From the teacher's point of view, school division processes should be established to resolve conflict in the area of student evaluation. This element may well be the most important and most enabling aspect of a school's student evaluation policy.

In Summary

As a teacher, you never really stop learning how to teach more effectively. You try new approaches and modify old ones. You learn how to meet the demands of new curricula. You adjust to the needs of each particular class and of each particular student. Student evaluation, as a part of the teaching process, must become another one of those aspects of teaching that you submit to continual review and reconsideration. Treat it as an opportunity for your professional growth and you will find that forcing yourself to think through your student evaluation program will have an impact on your whole approach to teaching.

The final chapter is devoted to specific student assessment techniques.