Test Less Assess More

A K-8 Guide to Formative Assessment

Lisa Mc Coll, Leighangela Brady

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN:
  9781596671300
• eBook ISBN:
  9781317925330
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Learn assessment strategies that provide you with a real representation of student progress – without the need for excessive testing. In Test Less, Assess More: A K-8 Guide to Formative Assessment, authors Leighangela Brady and Lisa McColl show you how to turn daily classroom lessons and activities into valuable opportunities for assessment, eliminating redundant tests as you increase the effectiveness of your overall assessment schedule. Brady and McColl explain ways to apply meaningful assessment methods in line with current curriculum standards. Teachers will be able to clearly define learning goals for students as they plan their assignments. Test Less, Assess More is for teachers and administrators who want to shift their focus away from by-the-books tests that do not accurately measure learning levels. This book will help you begin to take steps toward meaningful, activity-integrated assessments.

1
So Many Tests—What's the Purpose?

A shift of thinking regarding testing and assessment raises essential questions for educators. How do we know that students are learning what we are teaching them, and if they are not, what is our next step? DuFour, Eaker, and DuFour (2005) clearly state their premise that “students will be better served if educators embraced learning rather than teaching as the mission of their school” (p. 5). For those ready to embark on such a shift in thinking, we suggest taking a moment to first clearly define the jargon of testing and assessment. Too often we use words synonymously that have very different definitions. Take a minute and quiz yourself to see how clear you are on the key terms listed in Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1. Pop Quiz: How Well Do You Know Testing and Assessment Jargon?

Match each term with its definition

1. Assessment	A. A type of assessment consisting of a set of questions administered at a given point in time.
2. Test	B. A test that reports results according to how others in the group perform.
3. Formative Assessment	C. A form of performance assessment structured around a real-life problem or situation.
4. Summative Assessment	D. A full range of procedures used to gain information about student learning and the formation of value judgments concerning student learning.
5. Norm-Referenced Test	E. A type of assessment usually occurring at the end of instruction or unit used to measure extent to which skills have been mastered.
6. Criterion-Referenced Test	F. A test designed to measure performance of a clearly defined learning goal.
7. Authentic Assessment	G. Assessment occurring during the learning process that provides ongoing information regarding student progress.

Answers: 1. 0, 2. A, 3. G, 4. E, 5. B, 6. F, 7. C

Even with the nonthreatening pop-quiz format of matching answers, one can begin to see how easily the waters become muddied when trying to define assessment. A test can be a type of assessment, but every assessment is not necessarily a test. A criterion-referenced test can be summative, but not all summative assessments are criterion-referenced tests. Authentic assessment is an example of formative assessment, yet formative assessment can be designed in different formats. Additionally, definitions are open to perspective and interpretation by researchers and educators alike. These examples illustrate the case in point: Defining the key subtleties between the different ways we assess student learning will help us to use each to their maximum effectiveness.

We understand there is an enormous amount of jargon regarding testing, but it is imperative to understand the purpose of each type of assessment. There is a time and place for all forms of assessment whether it is formative or summative but how do we as professionals determine that purpose? Most of us would agree that true assessment is the complete array of activities we perform with students. It is what we use on a daily basis to get a clear picture of what each student knows and is able to do as opposed to a test that is only one type of assessment. We need to differentiate between an assessment and a test and determine when it is appropriate to use each tool. How do we use continuous assessment throughout the year to inform our instruction?

In today's schools you will most likely hear discussions of teachers using both formative and summative assessments to track student progress. In the book Classroom Assessment for Student Learning: Doing it Right—Using it Well (Stiggins, Arter, Chappuis, & Chappuis, 2004) summative assessment is best described as the assessment of learning. This type of assessment usually occurs” after learning is supposed to have occurred to determine if it did” (Stiggins et al., p. 31). In contrast, formative assessment is referred to as the assessment for learning. Unlike summative assessment, formative assessment “happens while learning is still underway; that we conduct throughout teaching and learning to diagnose student needs, plan our next steps for instruction, provides students with feedback that they can use to improve the quality of their work” (Stiggins et al., p. 31). Yet, although educators may be saying the words we want to hear and abiding by the same definitions, upon closer introspect, we realize that there is still not a universal understanding of what formative assessment looks like in the classroom. Most formative assessment is still coming in test format, and in many cases what educators believe is a formative assessment is really summative.

Additionally, when we give a formative “test” as an assessment, it is only one piece of the assessment puzzle. One isolated task is not nearly enough information to give us a complete picture of what students know and are able to do. Wiggins and McTighe describe assessment as “the umbrella term for the deliberate use of many methods of gathering evidence of meeting desired results” (p. 6). Because many of the different types of tests and assessments overlap in their descriptions, we define the word assessment to be the full range of procedures used to gain information about student learning.

Hence it is vital that we explore a variety of ways that students can demonstrate their understanding of a skill or concept using various types of assessment. The key idea is that we are constantly assessing what we are teaching. When we continue teaching without stopping to assess along the way, we lose multiple opportunities to reteach, differentiate, clarify, or provide interventions. Lastly, once we have assessed students either formally, or informally, we need to know what to do with the data we collect. If students aren't learning, we need to address any difficulty as soon as possible, and do something different than we did the first time.

What we do different is the catch. Consider doing the following activity with your fellow team members or with your entire staff. This activity will help teachers narrow their focus and streamline the use of assessment in their classrooms. It will help to reduce the layers of “testing” that have overwhelmed teachers for years. By examining pitfalls of assessment and implications for instruction, teachers will become skilled at setting achievable goals, planning, pacing, and providing appropriate intervention as opposed to remediation.

Reduce the Layers of Assessment

Step 1: Write Down Tests

Acknowledging that most of the assessment that currently occurs in classrooms is given in the form of a test, the first step in reducing the layers of assessment is to identify all of these different tests given to students throughout the year. This process can be completed by an individual teacher, but is much more powerful when done as a grade-level or content-area team. When brainstorming this list, be sure to include all of the state-level tests, district-level tests, and classroom-level tests. Think about not only the common assessments across your team, but also the quizzes and individual “checks” that each teacher gives to the students in each classroom. When we start to look at the overwhelming number of tests that are given each year, it is easy to see why educators think that they don't have enough time to teach.

After writing down all of the tests you can think of that you give to students each year, you should end up with a chart that looks something like Figure 1.2 (page 6).

Figure 1.2. Chart of Tests

Step 2: Highlight Nonnegotiables

Knowing that we don't have complete control over the type or number of tests that we give students, the next step in this process is to begin sorting through the lists and determine which of the regularly given tests are nonnegotiable. For example, we know that all public schools are subject to the No Child Left Behind federal requirements for assuring that all children are meeting achievement standards. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires annual testing for each state. States have flexibility in testing practice of whether to create criterion- or normreferenced exams. In addition, there is variance between states as to which tests are given which years to select grade levels. Yet despite the varying testing requirements across the nation, each state requires that standardized tests be given to all students at a designated time in the year as part of this regulation.

Likewise, district tests are often designed as ways to track progress by trimester. Perhaps your district has also set common assessments at time intervals that everyone must give to their students such as a trimester math assessment or an end of term final. These tests, either centrally created or curriculum embedded, are used to provide benchmark data to districts. These tests, like the state tests, are usually nonnegotiable for teachers and students alike. These are the tests that absolutely need to be given, and they need to be set aside as we finish this layer of reduction.

Typically, the nonnegotiable tests are the summative tests. These are the tests that help to measure program effectiveness. They answer questions such as: How effective is the curriculum that is being used in the classroom? How effective is any given department or grade level? Summative tests are typically given at the end of a chapter or unit of instruction and help to define which students made it or didn't. These are the “dipstick” measures of how the students in a particular classroom did on a specific unit of study. These tools become an assessment “of” learning.

More often than not summative test results are recorded and we move on. This is not to imply however that summative tests have no place in our education system, they absolutely do. They help to provide equity in program delivery to all students. This type of assessment can be used to provide a starting point for collaboration between and among educators, and ensure that grade levels and departments are addressing the standards that are necessary for success for all students.

In contrast, formative assessments in the classroom tend to measure more of the individual student's knowledge. They are the benchmark assessments that occur during instruction. Formative assessments are the things that are being done on a daily basis to get an understanding of whether or not students are learning the skills that are being taught. Formative assessments provide the real time, immediate feedback that is so critical to the success of all learners. We now have a tool that is used as an assessment “for” learning. When used correctly, formative assessments are given in small steps along the way as pieces of a larger assessment process in which the sum of the information is used to guide our instruction.

Having highlighted the nonnegotiables, your chart should now look something like Figure 1.3 (page 9).

Figure 1.3. Nonnegotiable Tests

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Also Available from EYE ON EDUCATION
• Meet the Authors
• Contents
• Free Downloads
• Foreword
• 1 So Many Tests-What's the Purpose?
• 2 Applying Data-What's Stopping Us?
• 3 Streamlining the Assessment Process-Identifying Learning Objectives
• 4 Streamlining the Assessment Process-Collecting the Data
• 5 Recording Evidence
• 6 Refining Instruction
• Conclusion
• Appendices
• References