(TRANS)FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
MAKING FEEDBACK EQUITABLE
By Veronica Torres Education is a common and important thread that binds us all. For some, the student experience provides exactly what is needed developmentally and shapes who the individual becomes as a functioning adult in society. For others, the years spent in school stifle and ultimately fail to prepare the student for real world experiences. In fact, many exit high school uninspired, unmotivated, and unchallenged. They have missed the opportunity to fine tune and polish their work, or even worse, accept feedback necessary to make revisions to the work they produce, all of which are foundational skills critical for success at the college level and beyond.
BUT WHY IS THAT AND WHAT CAN BE DONE TO CHANGE IT? Many of these challenges that manifest in classrooms today result from the well-intended No Child Left Behind Act of 2002. Following implementation of NCLB, the focus en masse could no longer be on project-based learning, research, or application of skills or 10
knowledge. It became the nearly impossible task of getting students to mastery of convoluted curriculum benchmarks or standards as measured by some form of “standardized” assessment. Standardized assessment became a threatening but national marker for a student’s academic success versus failure. As a result, the classroom has become, for many, a source of tension and anxiety. Nowadays students are subjected to the completion of assessment after replicated assessment with every bit of energy, focus, and commitment they have in them. Teachers rarely have the time or opportunity to stop and fill in gaps as they know they should because the next assessment looms. Those who see this practice in action are likely haunted by an overwhelming feeling that this approach simply isn’t working. This “drill and kill” methodology, while seemingly student-centric as it provides much needed standardized assessment practice, is absolutely not that and is in fact a disservice in the long run.
Accessibility, Compliance & Equity in Education