The purpose of the Assessment of and for Learning Standard is to ensure that Virginia’s teachers are employing assessments and giving appropriate student feedback. The Assessment Standard is important because it guarantees Virginia’s students receive an exceptional education that is based in the effective use of assessment and teacher feedback. The Virginia Department of Education (2011) recommends the teacher meet the Assessment of and for Learning Standard when she:
1) Involves Students in Setting Learning Goals and Monitoring Their Own Progress
2) Gives Constructive and Frequent Feedback to Student on Their Learning
3) Uses Pre-assessment Data to Develop Expectations for Students, to Differentiate Instruction, and to Document Learning
1.) Involves Students in Setting Learning Goals and Monitoring Their Own Progress
Professor of Educational Psychology James P. Raffini suggests students monitor their own progress in an “I Can” can. Raffini adapted this idea from Jones and Jones’s book, Comprehensive Classroom Management. Each student is asked to bring in a metal can and writes what they can do after instruction (Raffini 1996). I adapted this activity while student teaching. I had several students keep an “I Can” notebook. Students filled out the “I Can” notebook after a lesson.
The “I Can” notebooks helped the students monitor their own learning progress. I also asked students to add questions they had to their “I Can” notebooks so they could set their own learning goals. I wanted them to make a connection between how their questions drove their learning.
2.) Gives Constructive and Frequent Feedback to Student on Their Learning
Educational author Grant Wiggins (2011) defines feedback as “information about how we are doing in our efforts to reach a goal.” He distinguishes feedback from both advice and praise. Wiggins defines feedback as being goal-referenced, timely, ongoing, and user-friendly.
After an extension activity for the book What If the Shark Wore Tennis Shoes, students wrote a passage about a shark who did something preposterous and the consequences of the preposterous act. This tied into the larger two-week unit on identifying cause and effect in texts. I provided feedback to this activity in a timely fashion. I gave clear and simple feedback directly on the student’s writing for spelling. On the back, I provided general feedback about their writing, addressing SOL standards expected for second-graders.
3.) Uses Pre-assessment Data to Develop Expectations for Students, to Differentiate Instruction, and to Document Learning
During student teaching I planned a two-week unit on poetry. On the first day of the unit, I gave a pre-assessment to measure how much the students already knew about poetry. Near the end of the unit, I gave the same assessment as a post-assessment to document the students’ learning over the course of two weeks.
Poetry Pre-Assessment
Poetry Post-Assessment
References
Raffini, James P. (1996). 150 Ways to Increase Intrinsic Motivation in the Classroom. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Wiggins, Grant. (September 2012). Seven Keys to Effective Feedback. Educational Leadership. pp. 10-16. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept12/vol70/num01/Seven-Keys-to-Effective-Feedback.aspx
Virginia Department of Education. (2011). Guidelines for Uniform Performance Standards and Evaluation Criteria for Teachers. Retrieved from: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching/regulations/2011_guidelines_uniform_performance_standards_evaluation_criteria.pdf