Designing the Classroom Curriculum Designing the Classroom Curriculum | Page 96

Designing the Classroom Curriculum Chapter 7: The Types of Assessment Strategies This chapter introduces and examines the types of assessments available to the teacher when assessing their classroom curriculum. In more specific terms the chapter outlines four assessment groupings -- tests, performance assessments, product assessments and self assessments --- which describe the scope of what the teacher draws upon when planning their assessment regime. This outlining lays the foundation for a detailing of the associated topics, the centrality of the syllabus and a revealing of the verbs in associated learning outcomes that define what to teach and assess. As we outlined previously, the teacher plans the assessment of student learning by engaging Learning Management Question 7 (LMQ7: How will I check to see that students have achieved the defined learning outcomes?). Reflecting on Chapter Three, where the Learning Management Design Process was outlined, it can be appreciated now that when developing assessment strategies at LMQ7, the teacher is guided by the defined learning outcomes at LMQ2 and the content that lies within each outcome statement. The key point is that there is a direct correlation between what a teacher intends their students to achieve (i.e. the Learning Outcomes at LMQ2) and what is to be assessed (detailed at LMQ7). By association, the reporting of student learning (planned at LMQ8) also occurs in a context of the defined learning outcomes (LMQ2). In such statements the ‘key verb’ is ‘key’ in the process. More on this later. Teachers conduct assessments at various stages during the teaching of the classroom curriculum. These assessment stages can be described as formative, summative or diagnostic. Formative assessments are conducted during a teaching program and provide students with feedback intended to enable their improved performance on current or subsequent tasks. Formative assessments typically have the development of students' understanding or skills as an objective and so the teacher uses formative assessments to inform (or review) their teaching approaches. Formative assessment can also be viewed as a process of reporting (see Chapter Six). According to Marzano (2006, p. 11) “research supports the conclusion that formative classroom assessment is one of the most powerful tools a classroom teacher might use” and has the following feedback to student characteristics: (a) Provides students with a clear picture of their progress on learning outco mes (LMQ2) and how they might improve (b) Encourages students to improve (c) Occur frequently (adapted from Marzano, 2006, p. 11) Summative assessments typically occur at the end of the classroom curriculum and are used to ascertain the extent to which the defined learning outcomes (LMQ2) have been achieved and generally lead to a score and/ or award of grade (Brady and Kennedy, 2009, p. 4). 96