Effective Assessment

Assessment Strategy #1

Effective Guide to Literacy Instruction - Volume II: Assessment 

This document provides an in-depth discussion of assessment, including its role in literacy instruction and the various methods and tools for gathering, recording, interpreting, and communicating assessment information. A variety of practical assessment strategies and tools are described in detail. Assessment in literacy should focus on measuring student progress and achievement in relation to the content standards and performance standards identified for the particular subject and grade. The goals of literacy and assessment are listed below: 

• To become a strategic reader, writer, and oral communicator 
• To expand thinking skills (including metacognitive and critical literacy skills), developing the necessary habits of mind 
• To deepen the motivation to learn 
• To develop independence as a learner 

Assessment Strategies and Tools [eworkshop] 

This document is broken up into different sections, which makes it really easy to navigate as a new educator. There are sections on assessing student learning through talk, assessing literacy in each of the four strands, assessing thinking skills, assessing skills of students with special education needs, and assessing skills of English Language Learners. It also provides a cycle that teachers can follow in order to properly assess students throughout their literacy journey (below). 

This resource is one of many books in the Guide to Effective Literacy Instruction segment, and each of those books also go into more detail about how to effectively assess students' in literacy. 

Assessment Strategy #2 

Howard Gardener's Multiple Intelligences

Gardener's guide to multiple intelligences outlines 8 different types of intelligences that have been identified within learners. They are defined as the following:

Linguistic: Skilled with words and languages 

Logical-Mathematical: Skilled with logic, reasoning, and numbers

Bodily-Kineathetic: Skiled at controlling body motions such as sports and dance

Visual-Spatial: Skilled with images, spatial judgement, and puzzles 

Musical: Skilled with sound, rhythm, tone, and music

Interpersonal: Skilled at communicating with and relating to others

Intrapersonal: Skilled at self-knowledge and reflection

Naturalistic: Skilled at relating to and understanding the natural world

Established in 1983, Gardner's multiple intelligences (MI) have taken the educational world by storm.   The different intelligences highlights the multiple way students learn and best understand information and educational literature. Not only does this change the way teacher's deliver a lesson, but it changes the way they are able to assess their students.

As educators, an understanding of MI allows us to support students in presenting us information in a format that they feel comfortable with. It's very evident, especially through recent literature, that students do not learn the same way. MI allows them the possibility of having multiple platforms of expression and demonstrating their knowledge in a way that gives them the support and confidence they need to succeed. The image below is a great representation of the 8 intelligences, and how they best support their learners: 

Additionally, Kim Hanes has written an educational article on how to effectively implement these MI's in a classroom, and strategies that allow each type of MI to be present in lessons, activities, and assessments. Specifically, she highlights how students can use these different types of intelligences to present an culminating task or assignment. For example, instead of having students write an essay or written response to a book report, allow them to write a song, or have bodily-kinaesthetic learners reenact their favourite skit from the book. This allows teachers to gain valuable knowledge of student understanding, while allowing the students to feel comfortable and confident in their representation of the information they know and learned.

Kim Hanes article can be found at the following link:

http://www.teachhub.com/12-ways-teach-using-multiple-intelligences

Additionally, Phyllis K. Adcock provides the legitimacy of multiple intelligences in education via her article;

Happy reading!