Assessing Assessment

There are two things that worry me most when thinking about assessment (especially with writing assignments):

1. The length of time that it will take me to fairly grade each paper
2. The effect that my assessment will have on the student

To address the first issue, I dread thinking about how much time I could spend reading and assessing papers. I know that it is part of the job, but I would much rather spend my time in the classroom with students, or preparing for class. But, assessment and grading is a necessary part of the job. Not only are grades required by schools and school districts, but it is also important to give students feedback by way of grading. Students have the right to now where they are in terms of the grading scale. As a current student I know the frustration of working and working and working and not being assessed. All I want is a little validation for all the time and effort that I have spent completing assignments. Is this too much too ask.

With this said, I think it is of the utmost importance to not just think of assessment as grading, but instead to think about all of the categories outlined in Writing Process: responding, assessment, evaluation, and grading. Students need more than just a letter grade. They need to know how the grade was earned. Where did they have problems and where did they excel? There are many ways to provide students with this type of feedback, grading is one way, another is writing workshop, or mini-conferences. Giving students personal feedback is an important part of the assessment process, especially for writing assignments.

This brings me to my second fear of assessment: the reaction students will have to my assessment of them. In Boy Writers Ralph Fletcher makes the point that we as teachers need to be sensitive to what we tell students. We need to make sure that our feedback is given in a constructive manner and that we are not attacking students. If our words are judgmental, students will shut down and become non-responsive. At this point, nothing we say will have any affect. For this reason, it is very important to think about the affect of our words on our students, even in casual conversation.

Link o' the week: This weeks link is to the National Teaching and Learning Forum's page on Classroom Assessment Techniques.