Utilizing Student-Centered Assessments Shawna longo Durban Avenue School shawnalongo@gmail.com
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ver the past few years, there has been a focus toward studentcentered classrooms and increased student engagement. Arts’ classrooms typically exemplify these focuses. That’s part of the reason why arts integration has picked up such “STEAM” (pardon the pun!). Integrating the arts with other contents is frequently used as a strategy for increasing student engagement. A key component to authentic arts integration is the equitable assessment of both content standards (arts and non-arts). It is through this assessment that teachers can collect data to track their students’ growth and attainment toward mastery of the standards. TRADITIONALLY CREATING ASSESSMENTS Most often, teachers create assessments. The teacher determines the task, criteria, and what they will measure. This assessment may be in the form of a rubric, checklist, or other evaluation tool. For example, when using a rubric, the teacher: 1. Defines the categories in the first column. 2. Assigns point values or mastery levels across the top row.
3. Creates the various components to define the level of mastery within each category. WHO’S WORK IS IT ANYWAY? But, why do we, as teachers, do this in isolation? I don’t know about you, but even when I go over the rubric in detail with my students when we are beginning a project, they don’t always hear every point or pay attention to the details within each box. Regardless of what I tell them, there will still be questions about what components need to be included within the project or what I will be “grading” them on. There is no true ownership of their work. This got me thinking…how can I empower my students while increasing their pride and connection to the standards and components that I will be assessing? TURNING THE TABLES The solution that I came up with was going to turn the tables. Why am I telling them what I want? How can I make assessments more student-centered? The answer was simple, albeit potentially scary for many teachers! In fact, I had a few colleagues ask me if I had lost my mind!
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I decided to have my students assist me in creating my assessments. Yes, you heard me right! The benefits were seen and felt immediately. • Students were more connected to the content. • Students were more invested in their success. • For the first time, there were no questions of what I was looking for or what they needed to do! BREAKING DOWN ASSESSMENTS There are three types of assessments. • Diagnostic Assessments are utilized to determine what the students already know. This will allow teachers to move forward and make informed decisions in terms of student knowledge, differentiation, and extensions. • Formative Assessments give teachers data on how the students are progressing through the lesson. Formative Assessments are “for” learning! Teachers need to know what their students have learned in order to effectively move forward with their lesson. • Summative Assessments give teachers data on what the students have learned. They are JANUARY 2020
