Tuesday, January 15, 2013

How would you characterize the difference between assessment for learning vs assessment of learning?


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39 comments:

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  2. Assessment for learning is the teacher guiding the student to do better along away. Assessment of learning is at the end and this is the scores we use at the end to guide us, but we need to use assessment for learning should prevent this at the end. Success is the motivator and in today's classroom motivation is the hardest part.

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    1. I agree we are struggling in our classrooms with motivation of our students.

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    2. I agree. Stiggins comments that the "for learning" assessments help students see "What success looks like" and I feel that we have many students that really don't care about success as long as they are "passing". Passing does not necessarily mean success...it just means "I did the bare minimum, and I passed"..."D -YES!! I passed", etc. While there are many students that do strive for success, I believe the definition of it is different between the teachers and many students. This makes the assessment of US as educators difficult, as it is getting increasingly difficult to motivate those that do not care to be motivated in the first place. At least I haven't cracked the code yet. Whatever happen to being responsible for yourself and your own actions?

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    3. I agree motivation is a problem in the classroom with students but I think a bigger problem that feeds into it is the emphasis and expectation placed on education in their primary environment whatever / where ever that might be is resulting in the low motivation towards education or understanding the importance of education and the want to accomplish work. I think the for learning assessment could help build up a ground work for students to show them their successes and growth then when the big assessment of learning comes they continue to be successful.

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  3. Assessments for learning focus more on learning targets that will help a student demonstrate they have achieved the learning standard. Assessments for learning should focus on the skills needed to reach learning standards.

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    1. Agree...and the assessment of learning is the final test, project, district assessment, etc.

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  4. I know it seems basic just using for and of but it helps so much in categorization. "For" or formative assessment takes place with the students not just to the students. I like his comment of achieving a balance between formative and summative assessment in our classrooms.

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  5. Assessment of learning is something I feel we do very consistantly as a school, district and state. Assessment for learning is something, I personally need to develope more in my classes. I liked his distinction of how motivation plays a role between giving the students extrinsic rewards or punishments for grades in assessment of learning and in assessment for learning students should be able to see the intrinsic value of success and be more motivated.

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    1. I agree that we do a good job of assessment of learning as a school district.

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    2. We do spend quite a bit of time on assessments of learning and we hope those assessments are designed well. But if the assessments are not aligned well, the results are just a bunch of numbers.

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  6. An assessment of learning is for testing (standardized tests, district assessments, end-of-term testing, finals) to assess if students have mastered the objectives of that "section."
    An assessment for learning includes small assessments to make sure students are understanding the material in order to "pass" the summative assessment.

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    1. I agree completely. I have found that I use formative data to guide my instruction but I haven't communicated my finding with students enough so they can be more accountable for where they are in relation to a unit objective. Sometimes its hard to give students comments and more than just a grade on formative assessments when you have four different preps each term.

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  7. The assessment of learning is for example a chapter test. The assessment for learning is what we do to help them along the way.

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    1. And the trick is to make the assessments for learning similar to the assessments of learning without making them exactly the same.

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  8. Assessments for learning is the tool teachers use to scaffold students learning toward the curriculum standard. We use assessments for learning to help students see small successes on the way to achieving the standard. They can help us teach perseverance and working to achieve which helps motivation.

    Assessments of learning are the gatekeeper assessments we use to assign course grades, report to local and state administration, and as entry into higher level courses and colleges.

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    1. Well said. Scaffolding for students is impossible unless you know where the students are at academically. I agree that assessments for learning is essential for this purpose.

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  9. Assessments of learning are summative and useful for communicating with students, parents, the community, etc. how well students have mastered certain subjects.

    Assessment of learning on the other hand involves seeing where are students are so we adjust instruction as necessary. While I feel that I employ plenty of formative assessment to help guide my instruction, I need to do a better job of using formative data and communicating it with my students so they can self-reflect more and see where they are in relation to a given objective.

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    1. Ugh....I meant assessment for learning on the bottom.

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  10. Th assessment for learning is testing the process of what the student has learned on the way to actually learning the material. So you can go back and adjust what you are doing to make students understand the material better. And when the student has done the learning then you do the assessment of learning to check to make sure they have done so.

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  11. The difference in the two is that assessment for learning is what you use to guide you through your teaching and helping reach those that are not "getting it", or, the formative. From learning is what we use at the end, the summative if you will.

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  12. The statement that sticks out to me is, "Assessment of learning is not something that should not go in the grade book." Some skills need to be practiced and revised before assessing the quality. Assessment for learning is what I hope happens when I give a summative unit assessment.

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    1. That was a key distinction, but I'll take suggestions for keeping track of progress without using a grade book. I have a general idea of who's getting it in class and who's not but I can't go more detailed off the top of my head so I feel I have to look at the paper grades to keep my head from exploding.

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  13. Assessment for learning is the ticket out the door, and the determining if they got the purpose for the that day and which relates to district assessments which is the of learning assessments. To have students successful at the of learning assessments for learning assessments need to be done and then that information presented to the students and used the following class or classes.

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  14. Assessment of learning is the final product where assessment for learning is the practice taking place to reach the final product.

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    1. Key word: Practice. Students don't see the value in practice or preparation. Tell me how and I'll do it. I don't want to understand; I don't want to spend the time to get it right; I just want to do it and get it over.

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  15. The key feature of a formative assessment (assessments for learning)is that is providing feedback that is used to inform an individual on what to do next. The most effective feedback should be provided to the student and go beyond the correctness of the work. It should be as close to immediate as possible. Formative assessments that guide a teachers planning are helpful but not effective in helping a student know if they have a misconception.

    People frequently refer to video games as being good at doing exactly this. A true assessment for learning actually helps the student gauge their own understanding of material and gives them another chance to apply the learning in a new way right then.

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  16. Assessment for Learning should happen many times a day, and should drive immediate decisions about the level of understanding that students have. In my US History class, Assessment of Learning happens 4 times a trimester, and the grade earned goes a long to determining the final grade for the class.

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    1. I agree. Assessments for learning should be done continually throughout the day so that you can adjust/differentiate your teaching to meet the needs of yours students.

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  17. The assessments for learning should be quick and specific (one or two skills): a ticket out the door (solve this equation), a warm-up question (how do you find slope?); take a moment to do this problem (and quickly check it individually or in a group). They are not things that need to be graded, but can be to reflect progress.

    The assessments of learning will be longer and more in depth, encompassing many related skills and concepts: end of lesson quiz that has three distinct problems about exponential growth, District Assessment that has seven problems, some of which have multiple parts, about statistics. These are graded or scored somehow and show mastery.

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  18. Neil Postman has compared teaching to health services. Doctors and nurses seek to figure out what health needs patient may have. Teachers likewise need to be able to identify student learning needs. This is what assessments for learning are geared to accomplish. What I find very difficult to accomplish, even as a special education teacher, is developing the teacher student partnerships that Mr. Stiggins describes.

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  19. Assessment for learning happens all the time, constantly, on an informal basis in my classroom. We talk, they talk, I listen. They make little mistakes, we talk through them. There are, though, also assessment for learning that takes place in my class in the form of written work that students do. It is sometimes in the form of a participation grade, sometimes as a practice assignment on the grading scale. With our grading policy at CBCSD, the students' scores on these practice assignments have a negligible effect on the grade. Therefore, even though they are graded, practice work is not for a grade, simply to do assessment of where the students are in terms of classroom learning.

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  20. Formative assessments are "for" learning in cooperation or partnership between the teacher and student. Summative assessments are "of" learning and students are rewarded or punished as a result of their performance. The goal of a summative assessment is to get the highest score. The goal of a formative assessment is to gain knowledge or skills or patterns of reasoning necessary to master the material. There should be a balance emphasis on each of them.

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  21. Assessments for learning allow students to "practice" and build upon skills and concepts before having to "perform" on the assessment of learning. For learning assessments in my opinion are most effective when they are open ended and allow the student opportunity to succeed or fail, and then learn from their success or failure.

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  22. I agree with James, assessment for learning does allow students to practice and build upon skills and concepts before they are to perform them. The problem is we have developed a culture that sees it unnecessary to practice. The students are lead to believe that practice is not required so they dont.

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  23. Assessments for learning are designed to inform teachers/students so that adjustments can be made in instruction/learning process to help students learn and understand. Assessments of learning are those that inform others about student learning, typically in the form of a 'grade' that summarizes how much of something was learned by a student or group of students.

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  24. Assessment for learning = Formative assessment.. quick questions, statements, and polls about what was learned.
    Assessment of learning= summative assessment... Meaning standardized tests.district assessments.

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  25. Assessment of learning is used to check achievement and grading.
    Assessment for learning is used to help students learn more.

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