Reflection from Reading Carol Ann Tomlinson's article
"Learning to Love Assessment" in Educational Leadership.
Carol Ann Tomlinson discusses in her article the journey she
took as she developed an understanding of what assessment is. As I
read, it really reminded me of my own journey to understanding what, why, and
how we assess our students. It was as natural a progression for me
as it was for her. Ultimately she came to the conclusion that we all
hope teachers and students can come to, that assessment can help everyone “push
learning forward” (Tomlinson, C., 2009, p.13).
The understanding of Carol’s that resonated with me was
number eight, “informative assessment isn’t just about students readiness” (Tomlinson,
C., 2009, p.12). Although it is true that assessment can help drive
our instruction and let us know if students are ready to begin delving into a
new topic or need more background knowledge, we also want to remember that
assessment can tell us more than that. “When I could attach what I
was teaching to what students cared about, they learned more readily and more
durably. When I could give them options about how to learn and
express what they knew, learning improved” (Tomlinson, C., 2009,
p.12). I have always been a believer that we need to find some way
to tie our instruction into a meaningful learning experience and allow our
students a creative outlet to express their understanding. In
looking at summative assessments, I often do inquiry-based learning activities
where students are able to choose their knowledge output be it creating a
movie, glog, online scrapbook, digital story, or any other idea that may cross
their mind. Students become more engaged and take ownership over
their product when they can have more options. They care about what they
are sharing and/or creating.
I can’t honestly say that any of Carol’s understandings
transformed my view on assessment but rather affirmed what I already knew. This
was actually a confidence builder and something I can use to back up the
information I pass on to the staff in my buildings. We have really
shifted our districts viewpoint on assessment to not so much focusing on the
summatives but rather sharing what our learning objectives are and using
formative assessments (or instructional assessments) along the way to help gage
the students understanding. We have also looked at a more
personalized learning approach. I believe that Carol’s article tells
us that we are moving in the right direction.
There is a benefit to technology’s place in assessment too. It
allows us to do more instructional assessment s even when students are not
within our school walls. Tools like Edmodo allow them to share with
their collaborative groups, or Socrative allow for a quick pulse check at the
beginning of class or exit slip at the end of class. Thinking about
incorporating technology into assessment allows us to open the doors even
further. I think my love of technology is what helped me to move
along the path of assessment understanding quicker. I was already
looking at a variety of ways to assess students in different settings both online
and real time. The options help to address the needs of all our diverse
learners allowing them to share their learning in a format that suits them
best.
References:
Tomlinson, C. (2008). Learning to love assessment. Educational
Leadership, 65(4), 8–13. Retrieved from the Walden University Library
using the Education Research Complete database.
