October- Assessment- Skipper

How did the resources, prompts and discussion shape your thinking, encourage change, or validate what you were already doing in your classroom?

This month's resources made me reflect on my assessment practices over my 20 years as a classroom teacher.  In the beginning, I am sure that I created rubrics that "majored on the minors" instead of focusing on the content.  However, my practices changed to more of a "not yet" balanced approach.  At a conference, a speaker gave the example of "real world" assessment- driver's license exam, paying car payment, assessment for professional licensure, etc.  In each of these examples, we are given more than one opportunity to show that we have mastered the tasks/skills at hand.  While paying a car payment is not an "assessment" it also is an example of a due date with a grace period and then a penalty.  I tried to then create a balanced assessment system where students were able to continue to work towards mastery on  specific standards/skills, but at the same time, having a solid "due by" date.  For example, students could make up minor assignments during the current unit of study; when we moved to the next unit, I would not take any more of those assignments.  In addition, on the unit test, I would divide into standards/skills and students could choose to have the score on that section only replace their quiz grade on that section.  Finally, I allowed students to re-take their unit tests within a two week time period.  The time limits helped me to keep up with grading and not have too much at the end of the quarter, but also allowed students to have the opportunity to show mastery.