How to Approach Assessment
While conducting research for this project, I had the opportunity to interview an instructor that teaches an Assessment course to Education students. She provided me with an efficient and user-friendly way to approach planning assessment. The basis of this assessment framework is that no matter what grade or subject you are planning assessment for, you should always directly correlate it to the curricular outcomes. One of the biggest mistakes that teacher make when it comes to assessment is that they make elaborate assessment pieces that either do not align with the curricular outcomes, or they focus on a smaller scale outcome that could have been assessed in a much simpler and less time consuming way. This framework is featured with more detail below, as well as an exemplar of what curriculum mapping could look when using this framework when planning assessment for Grade 8 Language Arts.
Planning Assessment Process:
To ensure that you are aligning your assessments with the outcomes, follow this simple four step process:
1. Outcomes: Start by looking at the outcomes that you will teach and assess your students on. 2. Verbs: Look at the verb(s) included in the outcomes. The verb(s) tell(s) you how the outcome should be assessed. With this verb knowledge, change the outcomes into "I CAN" statements (curriculum mapping). Plan your desired assessment based on these statements. Refer to the Bloom's Taxonomy graphic on the right for assistance. 3. Instruction: Teach your students with the end in mind. Plan your lessons/teaching in a way that will get your students to the assessment that directly aligns with the outcome that you are instructing them on. 4. Resources: Look for resources last. Teachers often start with resources, which is why outcomes are often left behind or not made the main focus of the learning. |
The document below provides an example of what curriculum mapping can look like. When the outcomes are turned into "I CAN" statements, these statements can then be transferred into assessments, which then guide instruction and lesson plans, as well as research for resources that should or can be utilized.