Assessing Student Work

Moreover, grading causes students to be risk-prone. Research finds that students of all ages who have been led to concentrate on getting a good grade are likely to pick the easiest possible assignment if given a choice. Folks, 'F' is really the new 'A.'

Feedback is at the gist of a revolutionary assessment system. Notice the word "assessment." Assessment, unlike the current system, is an ongoing process directed at improving a student's learning. Iteration and failure are packed in.

"Assessment is not a spreadsheet -- it's a conversation." I propose that classrooms have daily crit sessions where fellow peers constructively criticize each other's work. This is a simple, yet very attainable solution.

Research has found that cheating is more common when students find their academic tasks to be boring, irrelevant, or overwhelming. This “drill, kill, bubble fill” culture is dangerous and inappropriate.

Interestingly, in progressive schools, where projects and real-world experiences often dominate learning, cheating is far less common. As educator John Dewey has noted, “School must represent present life.” If schools adopt this mantra, they probably will never witness a cheating incident on their grounds ever again.

The cadets are suspected of using an online math program called Wolfram Alpha, which markets itself as a “computational knowledge engine.” The system can offer answers to math questions similar to the way Google searches for websites based on a few words.

Moreover, grading causes students to be risk-prone. Research finds that students of all ages who have been led to concentrate on getting a good grade are likely to pick the easiest possible assignment if given a choice. Folks, ‘F’ is really the new ‘A.’

Keep the answer book open in the back of the room.  The practice isn't graded anyways.  This sends a message that the homework is for learning, not grading.

But why would a student do the work if it isn't graded?  Because your homework is directly aligned to what will be on your assessments.  

Our goal with both programs is to get completed work, not punish kids.

Through repeated practice, you can create a rigorous driving question that is open-ended, complex, and at the same time kid-friendly. A driving question is not “Google-able” but may contain many “on-the-surface” questions.

If the project is for an outside audience, the purpose may become more complex, because that audience’s lens and needs are unique and challenging. If you pick an audience outside of the classroom and a purpose that is rigorous and challenging, then the project will require some critical thinking.

Don’t forget that when you demand critical-thinking skills, then you must scaffold these thinking skills with lessons, modeling, and so forth

It’s important that the teacher helps the learner to understand what it is they are trying to achieve

It is also important that the teacher (as expert) provide feedback, helping the learner to understand where they are at and how to progress.

If enough opportunities for discussion, collaboration, reflection and evaluation have been offered, in a supportive environment, then I believe that all learners can develop invaluable meta-cognitive skills. Like the first relationship, trust is of high importance here. Trusting yourself is difficult. It takes time to reach a point where you can be effectively self-critical, where you can trust your own judgement. Helping learners to do this is the final piece of the puzzle in helping them to become independent learners.

A group of faculty members, students and administrators at Dalton last year devised what Ms. Waller called a “five-week assessment rotation,” in which major tests and papers are spread out over five weeks, after puzzling over why students had some weeks that were reasonable and others packed with exams and due dates.

We realize the pressures on them, and to the degree that we’re complicit, we need to own that.”