English Essays – Grade or Assess? Done or Keep on Improving?

Today I returned my English students first essay. In my formative assessment manner,  I carefully explained that I want them to improvement in their writing during the course and to do so, I had to identify what they have done well and what they need to improve. Í  reminded them that the rubric  checklist has a plus (+) for doing well, a question mark (?) for inconsistent  work, and negative (-) for needs improvement.  I marked 20+ items on their checklist.  I did not give them a grade like a B since the grade tells them nothing about what they did well or have to improve in.  I also explained that, for each student,  I have identified the three areas that will lead to the greatest improvement. I stressed that I expect to see improvement in those three areas on the next essay.  They copied these three improvement areas on an Essay Improvement sheet that they will hand in with their next essay.  I explained that I will provide new strategies for those  learning gaps demonstrated by the greatest number of students at the beginning of each class.   More ideas are in my Successful Student Writing Through Formative Assessment

How do you help your students  to continually  improve?

My book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Your Students, is available through Eye on Education.

Also, my  book,  Successful Student Writing Through Formative Assessment, is available through Eye on Education.

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Assessing Learning with Web 2.0: Social Bookmarking

I was talking to  teacher who was so proud of the social bookmarking his students had done. They had collected over 60 links about the topic they were studying. I asked him if they had agreed on what tags they were going to use; he said that they used whatever tag they wanted.  Next,  I asked him what categories they had divided the links into; he said that the 60+ links were neatly organized in one long list.  Then, I asked how much they had annotated (explained about the importance of each link); he proudly said that they listed the title of  each website. Finally, I inquired how they students used these bookmarks;  he mentioned that the activity was to collect them.  He was so excited about using the Web 2.0 tool of Social Bookmarking.

In my opinion, he wasted his students’ time. The students did not  learn about the academic topic; they learned how to collect information.  They did not know the topic in a deeper or more comprehensive nature  anymore than when  they started their social bookmarking.

Even if each student found two links about the learning topic  and compared and contrasted the information  on those two links, they would have learned so much more in a very little time.

How do you use social bookmarking?

My new book,  Successful Student Writing Through Formative Assessment, is available through Eye on Education.

My book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Your Students, is available through Eye on Education.

Digital Age Assessment: Learning in Web 2.0 (NECC 09)

How do we assess  students’ learning in these in Web  2.0 environments? We want to go beyond assessing the mere mechanics of using these tools; unfortunately, most current rubrics for Web 2.0 learning devote only a minuscule amount (usually 16% or less) to actual student academic learning. We want to refocus our assessments to reflect the students in-depth and comprehensive standards-based learning and the 21st Century Skills.

Change Web 2.0 assessments to assess standards-based learning and 21st Century learning!

With minor changes, the following assessments can be modified for any Web 2.0 tool.

Pre-assess your students’ Web 2.0 projects to raise the academic learning and 21st century skills.

The following are  “rubrics” that assess  standards-based learning and 21st century skills.

Wiki/Blog

Images/Photo/Flickr

Video/YouTube

Podcast

Social Bookmarking

Twitter

Videoconferencing

General Assessment: Prensky’s 21st century skills

General Assessment: enGauge’s 21st century skills

General Assessment: Partnership for 21st century skills

I welcome your reaction to these assessments as we try to help students improve in their academic content and develop 21st century skills.

My book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Students, is available through Eye-on-Education.

Assessing Learning With Web 2.0: Videoconferencing

As students use Web 2.0  tools such as videoconferencing/Skype, etc. to interact with peers and experts, we need a tool to assess their learning. This digital age learning rubric focuses on expert videoconferencing.

Harry Tuttle's Web 2.0 Videoconferencing Rubric

My book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Students, is available through Eye-on-Education.

Assessing Learning with Web 2.0: Blog/Wiki Rubric

As more and more teachers have students use blogs or wikis,  the teachers benefit from having a rubric that assesses student learning rather than the mechanics of a blog or wiki. This rubric focuses on the communication skills that students demonstrate in using a blog or wiki.

Harry G Tuttle's Web 2.0 Blog Wiki Rubric

My book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Students, is available through Eye-on-Education.

Assessing Learning with Web 2.0: Podcast

Many teachers want to involve their students in podcasting yet they are unsure of how to evaluate such Web 2.0 digital age learning.  I offer this podcast rubric as a useful tool to focus on learning, not the technology.

Harry Tuttle Web 2.0 Podcast Rubric

My book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Students, is available through Eye-on-Education.

Assessing Learning with Web 2.0: Movie Producing/YouTube

As teachers begin to have their students produce videos and share them about learning topics, teachers can benefit from having a digital age rubric that assesses the learning and not the mechanics of producing a video. Here is a Web 2.0 rubric on producing a video that focuses on 21st century skills.

Harry G. Tuttle Web 2.0 Movie/YouTube Rubric

My book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Students, is available through Eye-on-Education.

Assessing Learning with Web 2.0: Images/Visuals/Flickr

When we apply critical thinking to how we use images/photos/flickr in Web 2.0, we can assess how well our students communicate.

The following rubric applies the “Universal  Intellectual Standards” by  Linda Elder and and Richard Paul which was modified by Gerald Noisch in his Learning to Think Things Through.

Tuttle’s Web 2.0 Assessment for Images

Assessing Learning With Web 2.0: Social Bookmarking

Teachers often have students do social bookmarking so students can share information with the teacher and other students.  Here is a rubric to assess this digital age learning.

Harry G Tuttle's Web 2.0 Social Bookmarking Rubric

My book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Students, is available through Eye-on-Education.

Assessing Learning with Web 2.0: Partnership for 21st Century Assessment

As teachers look at possible projects involving Web 2.0 tools, they can pre-assess using general 21st century skills assessments.  Furthermore, they can use these general assessments during and after a learning experience.

Assessing 21st Century Skills in the Classroom Using Partnership for 21st Century concepts

Hotchalk, Jan 10 2009

http://www.hotchalk.com/mydesk/index.php/hotchalk-blog-by-dr-harry-grover-tuttle-on-teaching/538-assessing-21st-century-skills-in-the-classroom-

According to the Partnership for the 21st Century website, the 21st century skills has four major categories: Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes; Learning and Innovation skills; Information, Media and Technology Skills; and Life and Career Skills

Learning and Innovation Skills Assessment (Use 4 (weekly) -3 (every 5 weeks) -2 (every 10 weeks)-1 (once a year) -0 (does not happen) scale

Creativity and innovation skill

____ Demonstrating originality and inventiveness in work. Example: _________________________

____ Developing, implementing and communicating new ideas to others. Example: _________________________

____ Being open and responsive to new and diverse perspectives. Example: _________________________

____ Acting on creative ideas to make a tangible and useful contribution to the domain in which the innovation occurs. Example: _________________________

Critical thinking and problem solving skills

____ Exercising sound reasoning in understanding. Example: _________________________

____ Making complex choices and decisions. Example: _________________________

____ Understanding the interconnections among systems. Example: _________________________

____ Identifying and asking significant questions that clarify various points of view and lead to better solutions. Example: _________________________

____ Framing, analyzing and synthesizing information in order to solve problems and answer questions. Example: _________________________

Communication and Collaborative Work

____ Articulating thoughts and ideas clearly and effectively through speaking and writing. Example: _________________________

____ Demonstrating ability to work effectively with diverse teams. Example: _________________________

____ Exercising flexibility and willingness to be helpful in making necessary compromises to accomplish a common goal. Example: _________________________

____ Assuming shared responsibility for collaborative work. Example: _________________________

My book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Students, is available through Eye-on-Education.

Assessing Learning With Web 2.0: enGauge 21st Century Skills

Several years ago, enGauge published its 21st Century Skills list. This collection provides the basis for assessing any Web 2.0 tool-based project.

Harry G. Tuttle's Web 2.0 Assessing using enGauge's 21st Century Skills

My book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Students, is available through Eye-on-Education.

Assessing Learning with Web 2.0: Marc Prensky’s 21st Century Skills2.0

Marc Prensky offers his ideas on 21st Century skills which I’ve converted into an assessment tool.

Harry G Tuttle Web 2.0 Marc Prensky's 21st Century Skills

My book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Students, is available through Eye-on-Education.

Formative Assessment Rubric: Different than the Usual Rubric

You probably use a rubric to assess students.  Your rubric is most likely a summative rubric.  It tells the students what they did right or wrong (a score of 4/6).

It probably does not show the students what a proficient answer looks like so that they can improve (a formative assessment rubric). Since a formative assessment rubric includes what a proficient example looks like the students move from the theory of the rubric (what I got wrong or the abstract terms in the rubric) to the classroom practice (what does a “good” answer look like in practice) so that the students can change.

In addition, a formative assessment rubric contains suggestions for improvement for any less than proficient area. Students not only see a proficient response but they learn a strategy that will enable them to do  that proficient response.

The rubric moves from “a grade” to “an improvement”.

My book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Students, is available through Eye-on-Education.

Revisions and Formative Assessment

I find that if I ask students to revise their work based on my formative feedback, some of them do make the changes  and others do not.  However, if the students have to create a Change sheet, they do make the changes.  In the Change sheet, they list the original learning problem, tell what they did to improve, and include an example from their most recent work.  As I look at their revisions, I first look at the original rubric, then their Change sheet, then put their previous work and their revised work side by side. I look for the changes in their revision. I look to see if they have changed all of the items for each formative feedback. For example, if I asked a student to improve his/her topic sentences, I look to see if all the original poorly done topic sentences have changed. If students have made the revisions for the three major areas of feedback and, therefore, reached the level of proficiency or above proficiency, they receive a new higher grade.

How do you help your students to improve?

My book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Students, is available through Eye-on-Education.

Having Students Go from Proficient to Above Proficient Through Improvements

In my Oral presentations (speech) class, I’m grading their final speeches on how much they have improved from when they originally gave the speech. They have to show me their original speech, the rubric in which I indicated their strengths and gaps, and a sheet which explains how they are overcoming their gaps. Their final (two speeches that they select from those they have done) are graded on improvement.  If they show the three  improvements, they get an A. For each learning gap that is not changed into a strength, they loose ten points.  So far students have shown drastic improvements, their speeches have gone from being below proficient or being proficient to being above proficient. They have learned to support their speeches with image-based PowerPoints that drive home their messages. When we raise the bar and prove ways for students to improve, they go over the bar!

How do you have your students improve and become above proficient?

My book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Students, is available through Eye-on-Education.

Color Coded Rubrics For Formative Assessment

If your rubric has a limited number of concepts, you might consider using  color coding. As you assess student work, you use a certain color highlighter for each major concept in the rubric (for example, for writing, red for  thesis and topic sentences, yellow for evidence, green for details,  etc.)  When you see a strength, you use that color marker to put in a Plus(+) sign next to where you  highlight the actual strength  Likewise, you can put a minus (-) sign next to a learning gap such a sentence that is missing a  transition and indicate where the transition should be.  Since each color corresponds to your rubric, you do not have to write out the type of learning strength or gap.  You indicate the category by its color and then you can write a formative feedback comment more quickly.

A variation is to use a certain colored highlighter for above proficient (green), proficient (blue), developing yellow), and beginning (red)  levels in the student work. For example, if students write an introduction at the proficient level, you highlight it in blue. If their conclusion lacks a restatement of the thesis, does not include the categories of proof, , and does not have an extender, you highlight it in red.  Students can do a color scan of their papers to see their levels of proficiency.

Help your students to improve by adding  color to their work

My book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Students, is available through Eye-on-Education.

Two Observations, Two Different Approaches

I was talking to two teachers from the same school. Both teachers were going to be observed. One supervisor not only did a pre-conference a week before the observation but also gave the teacher the evaluation rubric. This supervisor asked about any special conditions in the class or if the classroom teacher wanted the supervisor to look for anything in particular. As soon as the class observation was over, the supervisor gave some positives and some suggestions for change. Then within a week, the supervisor sent out the formal evaluation.

The other supervisor showed up two minutes before the class for the pre-conference. He looked over the lesson plan. After about two weeks after the class, the teacher received the formal evaluation.

I’m wondering which technique we use when we observe our students?

For any one who is interested in implementing formative assessment in the classroom, my book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Students is available through Eye-on-Education.

High Quality Student Work Early in the Semester

My students have given their first speech in my college oral presentation course. I analyzed their entering speaking skills and adjusted the curriculum. We have gone over the speech rubric, analyzed three speeches using the rubric, analyzed the text of one speech, and created a template that incorporates good presentation. They organized their ideas with a graphic organizer. We spent time going over techniques for relieving nerves. They did a practice speech to a partner who gave feedback. As my students gave their first speeches, I was in shock. Wonderful Shock. Their speeches were actually at the same high level as the final speeches of my students from last semester even though this semester’s students are only in the third week of class. I had raised the bar for these students, they understood the high expectations and they had the tools to help them reach that high.

I congratulated the class on a superior job in presenting. I look forward to hearing their other speeches as they shine even more.

How do you structure your class so that your students soar in their learning? What do you do so that this year’s students do drastically better than last year’s?

If you are interested in implementing formative assessment in the classroom, my book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Students is available through Eye-on-Education.

Portfolio Requirements-Teacher Does It and Improves Standard Demonstration

In my business writing course I’ve assigned a portfolio as the final. The students are to show that they can write each type of business letter. They are to show the changes in their business letters from their first attempts to their arriving at proficiency.

I wrote up the outline of their portfolio. I decided to give them a checklist to guide them through the portfolio process. I made sure that each portfolio requirement had all of its parts listed.

Then I decided to do a model portfolio for them. I deliberately selected a business communication that they had not done. I went through and began doing each part required in the portfolio. As I did, I realized that my wording was vague or did not allow them to focus on the aspects of each business letter. I realized that some parts needed to be moved around. I omitted some aspects that now seem non-productive rather than demonstrating the type of writing. It was not until I did the portfolio that I learned how to make it a better demonstration of the students’ learning. I am sure that when I assess their portfolios, I will look at them different than if I had not done the portfolio myself! I will have to change my rubric to reflect those changes.

Have you actually done your own portfolio? Your own final?

Pre-assessment: Open Eyes or Blinded

This semester I have given many pre-assessments to my students. Last semester, I made many mistakes in instruction because I did not know enough about my students before the beginning of the semester. I taught material that they knew and did not delve into material that they did not know. I assumed that they could read the textbook when their reading rate and comprehension which I tested once I saw a problem revealed an average class reading rate in the low 100s and a comprehension rate of 60% or lower. I thought that since they were college students they could organize their own writing.

So this semester, I have given them writing diagnostic, writing patterns past knowledge diagnostic, grammar diagnostic, vocabulary diagnostic, and reading diagnostic. I can hear the moans about wasting all the time on diagnostic. My students spend 45 minutes on the combined writing and grammatic diagnostic, three minutes on the vocabulary one, four minutes on the past writing patterns and about 15 on the reading one. So in just about one hour and ten minutes I have done six diagnostic tests that have transformed how I teach writing to the students.

What pre-assessments do you give and how do you change your instruction to better improve your students’ learning?

Non Graded Formative Assessment Rubric for Writing

I’ve been using a non-graded formative assessment rubric in my college English classes for numerous classes. One student had missed many classes and when he got his essays back, he looked at the rubric and said, “There’s no grade!” Another student explained, “He circles the score (4- above proficient, 3- proficient, 2-progressing 1- beginning ) for each individual part of the essay.” She added, “Look for circles in the threes and fours, that’s when you’re getting good at it.” She commented later to me that she can see her progress as her circles in many categories have moved from 1s to 2s and now to almost 3s. She said that she looks at the low scoring circled areas and tries to work on them for the next essay. Furthermore, she commented that I usually go over the low scoring circles the next class with additional hints for improvements. The young lady admitted that the smaller circled areas tells her more about what her strengths and problems are than a grade could.

How do you assess your students work?

Blog Content Skills Checklist

I’m trying to think through the skills that our students should display in the class blog that represent academic learning.

Do our students
Provide in-depth information?
Ask others to clarify information?
Ask probing questions to understand the topic more in-depth?
Summarize the many blog entries  into a few meaningful statements?
Identify patterns in blog entries?
Provide vivid examples?
Provide real life examples?
Show alternative views?
Support others as they try to understand the concepts?

What other academic skills should our students show in the class blog?

Rewriting a Rubric To Be Formative instead of Summative

In my last blog, I mentioned that my students had suggestions for improving their essay rubric so that they could better understand it. I went through and made all of their changes. As I made those changes, I began to see that my rubric lacked examples of what each category asked for. I added mini-examples such as a real thesis statement, a paragraph topic to support it, words that support it, real transition words, concluding sentence, etc. All of my examples supported the thesis example that I gave. With these changes, I feel that the students can “see” what each section requires. They no longer have nebulous terms but real examples to look at.

I will try it out on their this week’s essays and then have the students react to it next class.

How you changed your rubric to help students understand what is really expected of them?

Student Understanding of a Rubric – Not that easy!

Tonight in class I passed out an essay rubric and asked my students to circle any word or term that they did not understand. I said, “Imagine I gave this to you after you wrote an essay. I’ve circled some words that show you your learning gaps. Would you understand these words?” About 1/4 of the class circled items on the rubric that they did not understand or they wanted more clarification on. (I had revised the rubric from one from Rubistar) I will rewrite the rubric so that they can understand all the items on the rubric. One student mentioned he would like examples of each. A good thought but I have to consider how long the rubric will be. At present it is two sided. After I use it once with them, I will ask for them any more clarification on the rubric.

How well do your students understand your rubric? How beneficially is it for them?

Time for Formative Assessment?

I have been trying to apply a formative assessment approach in my writing class. Based on the learning gaps that my students demonstrated on their diagnostic writing, I developed a checklist for proficient writing. We went over the list in class. Then I used that checklist to assess their next writing. Sixteen hours later I am still going over their papers with about five papers to go. I’m assessing about 64 papers. Most teachers do not have 16 hours+ to develop to assessing two sets of papers. I am not happy over all of the time I’m spending and I wonder how much students will actually improve based on the feedback.

My guess is that the students will be shocked at their 2 out of 4 (4= above proficiency) rating. Probably I gave them too much detailed feedback to be effectively; research shows that 2-3 salient points are best. If I use a more general writing rubric then the rubric will only serve a summative purpose and not a formative one since the rubric will not offer help to the reader on how to improve specifically.

Teachers are caught in a delicate balance between wanting to give formative assessment and yet not wanting to spend hours and hours on an assessment. I’m searching for a middle road where the students get formative assessment on their writing that helps them to improve and where I do not spend my life in giving them formative feedback.

Formative Checklists- Useful or Not

I created a writing checklist (For narrative writing – start with a startling statement.  Use time transition words to move your story along)  for my students’ writing. We went over it.  We used it to evaluate a piece of writing. Then I asked the students to self-evaluate themselves using the checklist before they handed in their own writing.  Every student self-assessed that they had done all of the items on the checklist when they had not.  They could not discriminate between the reality and their perception.

A key question is how can I help them to better understand the checklist so that it becomes an effective tool to help them.  They cannot better their own writing unless they can analyze it critically.  I will probably ask them to paraphrase each of the items on the checklist, pair-share, and then we will evaluate more writing against it.

Does anyone else have any suggestions on increasing their ability to use a checklist, rubric, or rating scale?

Non Formative Writing Checklists

I’ve been reading a textbook’s writing checklists for each paragraph pattern. Usually the checklists only differ by one or two sentences.  If the textbook  authors cannot better identify the critical parts of each paragraph pattern, how do they think that students will be able to write in that pattern?  Their checklists are not formative. They are vague such as   “Do all of my supporting sentences relate to the topic sentence?” If the students write a  poorly written paragraph, they may  think that all of their supporting sentences relate to the topic.  How do we transform writing from an art to more of science?

I know of a teacher who gives her students a precise very structured format to use in their writing. Her format may not be beautiful but it enables each of her students to score 5 or 6/6 on the writing rubric. How to we move from a super structured format to empowering the students to write on their own?

Writing Rubrics Too General To Be Helpful

I have been searching online for writing rubrics for the different types of writing such as classification and argument.  I am amazed to find out that most writing rubrics are generic.  Since these rubrics are so general, they do not specifically assess how well students can do a certain type of writing.  For example an argument paper is very different from a narrative.  Each type of writing has unique characteristics and therefore, the same rubric cannot be used to assess them both. I wonder if we understand the writing process enough or whether we have simply glossed over the unique differences.

What type of writing rubric do you use – a general one or one specific to that type of writing?  If it general, then you probably are not assessing that particular learning goal.  You certainly are not using formative assessment.

A quick feedback system

As I have been integrating more formative assessments into my classes, I keep on trying to simply the process. I realize that I can create a simple form in my Oral Presentations (Speech) class that will enable me to focus more on student improvement. I’ll have a row of the type of speech, the topic, the “rubric score”, the proficient areas, and the areas for improvement in a spreadsheet. Each time a student gives a speech I record the type (information), the topic (dangers of smoking), the score according to the speech rubric, the proficient areas (grabs attention, signals conclusion) and the areas for improvement (slow down, look at audience). I will have students have their own copy where they write down their strengths and areas for improvement. After each speech, we’ll both complete the form and then I’ll ask the students for their information. We’ll talk about what they can do to improve. The next speech I can see what new proficient areas there are and what areas need improvement. The simple spreadsheet will give me a quick overview of the students’ growth over time on the major requirements of the course (the various speeches). Notice that students usually do a second speech of the same type so they can show major improvements in that type of speech.

How do you simply your observation and diagnosis of students so that you can give specific feedback for improvement?