PME 811- Blog Post #6

I continue to read that a student-centered classroom is all about choice and allowing students to have a voice. One of the biggest ways of allowing this to happen is through assessment. Assessment is attribute #5 on the list of creating a student-centered classroom.

Before I dive into authentic assessment and student-centered assessment, I want to bring attention to a thought/issue that has come up in my classroom last week.

I think we are all aware of the fact that assessments are how we evaluate students learning. Assessment are how we reflect on our teaching, identify gaps in students knowledge, and show understanding. When reading many definition, I continue to see the word "feedback." In my opinion, we have become lost in the term feedback and replaced it with a number or letter.

In my school, we are asked to provide an exit ticket each week in science, social studies, math, and reading. This assessment must be at least 4 questions long and at the same rigorous level (DOK level) as the state testing would be. As teachers, we are asked to collect this data based on instructional groupings and individually look to see if a students has mastered or failed that standard. With 54 kids taking 4 assessments a week, I only have time to input grades and allow the feedback to be that letter number they see in the grade book. I am not saying I agree with how my school does this, but this is the system they have created.

I received an email from a very upset 4th grade student asking if he could re-take the assessment because a C+ is just "okay" and he wanted a "good" score. This crushed me as a teacher. A student who works so hard in class, shows up, participates, and loves school is now stressed, upset, and not feeling like he is "smart."

It made me question a few things:

1. Is it okay for teachers to be placing such stress and value on grades for students at such a young age? This student feels he is "okay" and not "good enough," and to me that is very wrong.

2. When did we shift from giving students written or verbal feedback to just writing letters and percentages at the top of their papers?

3. How can we as teachers help students at a young age understand assessments and grades?

4. Are grades even necessary in elementary for students to see as we are focusing on developing students?

5. How can we create an evaluation system that erases the pressure of success and allow students to learn in a non-threatening environment?

These questions have been weighing on me this week. I hope that in my next post, I can look into student-centered assessments and possibly find a solution to a more creative assessment plan where students are not pressured by marks.