Assessment Connections

Matrix
My overarching philosophy on assessment is that in order to adequately mark student work, teachers must
take the time to research issues that are plaguing student assessment. There are several contentious
issues within the education sphere about what constitutes fair grading and assessment practices. A teacher
must become informed in order to make educated choices about how they will teach and assess student
My
learning. So long as teachers are educated about what is best for the student and understands the
Assessm
potential consequences of the evaluation and assessment techniques they are using, teachers each have
ent
the right to decide what works best for themselves and the individual needs of their students. Through
Philosop
careful consideration of the readings and course materials, I have concluded that all things are situational
hy
and that equity is what is most important when it comes to teaching practices and evaluation of student
learning. Equity in this statement meaning that there is no one right practice to evaluate student learning,
nor is there one philosophy that will work for all students in all classrooms. Teachers should know what
their students need most and assess accordingly.

Assessment
Concept

Sources

Summary

Backwards
Design /
Understanding by
Design

Mctighe, J., & Wiggins,

G. (2013). Essential
Questions: Opening
Doors to Student
Understanding.
Danvers, MA: ASCD.

UBD is a framework that helps

teachers to identify teaching and
learning priorities and guide design of
curriculum and assessments (Mctighe
2005). The functions of backwards
design or understanding by design is
that the desired results are chosen at
the outset and from there, designs are
chosen to best achieve those results.
Assessment techniques that follow this
model are chosen to address the
outcomes chosen at the outset, rather
than assessments that address the
particular activity.

Mctighe, J., & Wiggins,

G. (2005).
Understanding by
Design Second
Edition. Alexandra,
VA: ASCD.

Application in my Planning
UBD should be applied to planning for all
classes, units and subjects. Designing
lessons with the end outcome in mind
helps to assure that students are learning
key concepts and content, rather than
just taking a cursory glance at materials
that are only semi-related to desired
educational outcomes. As teachers try to
implement new strategies that engage
students in a way that is not so
traditional, it is important that we are still
meeting all of the outcomes in the
curriculum and UBD helps us to do this
effectively. My Unit Assessment plan does

this in linking every assessment with the

same outcomes as the lesson is meant to
teach; everything is directly linked to
specific desired outcomes.

Standardized
Testing

No Zero Policy

Graham, C. & Neu, D.

(2004). Standardized
testing and the
construction of
governable persons.
Journal of Curriculum
Studies 36(3), 295319.

Dunham, L. (2008).
Why Zeros Should
Not Be Permitted
Principal, 87(3), 62.
Reeves, D. (December,
2004). The Case
Against the Zero. Phi
Delta Kappan, 86(4),
324-325.

Historical analysis of standardized

testing has shown that this form of
testing has been used as a form of
governmental control and therefore no
longer fits the outcomes that the
educational system is trying to
achieve. Standardized testing does not
differentiate in order to test the actual
knowledge and understanding of
individual students. Standardized
testing test the accountability of
educators and educational system but
is not an adequate system for
individual teachers or students.
Standardized testing forces teachers to
teach for the test instead of adding
their own style or incorporating new
and out of the box ways to promote
student learning and understanding.

The four-point scale is commonly used

in education as it follows a logical
progression, as each letter grade is
proportionate to the increment
between each numerical grade.
Assigning zeros to incomplete student
work means that teachers have no
applied sound ratio practices to their
assessment (Reeves, 2004). Studies

When it comes to standardized testing, it

is implemented by the system and not a
choice that teachers make individually,
and therefore there is no option at this
point in time to eliminate standardized
testing completely from the choices of
educators in the way they deliver
instruction. However, In my own teaching
practices I will implement the highest
level of differentiated instruction as
possible in the mean time, that will
hopefully allow students to build thorough
understanding in their own way before
their knowledge is put to the test in a
standardized way. In my Unit plan I have
not implemented any type of test at all, I
have chosen to allow my students to
demonstrate their skills in a different
way, while at the same time making sure
that they are able to meet all of the
outcomes in order to preform well on any
tests that would arise in the future.
Everyone has a different standpoint on
the no-zero policy, however it is very
important to understand the arguments
on both sides. I have come to understand
that assigning zeros is not a
mathematically just practice. In my unit
plan, I do not feel that I will give zeros.
The rubric that I have included in my
performance assessment task does not
allow for students to receive a zero as the

also show that giving students zeros

on their work is not an effective
negative reinforcement. Zeros are not
an effective form of punishment to
motivate students to complete
meaningful work.
On the other hand, giving zeros can be
decided on a case by case issue, some
would argue that at the senior high
level it is much more acceptable than
at an elementary level. The fact is that
not being able to give zeros can
possibly add a tremendous workload
on for the teacher.
Mctighe, J., & Wiggins,
G. (2013). Essential
Questions: Opening
Doors to Student
Understanding.
Danvers, MA: ASCD.
Essential
Questioning

Mctighe, J., & Wiggins,

G. (2005).
Understanding by
Design Second
Edition. Alexandra,
VA: ASCD.
Wilhelm, J. D. (2012).
Essential questions.
Instructor, 122(3),
24-27.

Essential questions make unit plans

more likely to yield focused and
thoughtful learning (Tighe and
Wiggins). Essential questioning also
promotes student inquiry and
metacognition in students rather than
regurgitation of dictated material.
Essential questions point to the larger,
transferable ideas and processes that
teachers want students to achieve.
Habituating students to being able to
reflect upon and answer essential
questions will allow more meaningful
learning. Essential questioning should
connect to students lives, experiences
and interests and should connect their
learning back to the real world, this
way they can put what they have
learned to work in real life (Wilhelm,
2012).

scale is from 1-4 for each criterion. In the

long run I feel that there may be a time
by extenuating circumstance where I can
see myself giving a zero. Although as a
teacher we want all of our students to do
the best they possibly can, but with older
grades it is not always possible to
generate the commitment and
participation from all students.

Using essential questioning in any subject

matter makes learning more proactive.
Creating essential and key questions in
all lessons and units allows the teacher to
make sure that they are asking questions
that will force students to critically
analyze what is being asked rather than
being able to simply answer yes or no.
IN my unit plan I have linked essential
questions that are directly related to
specific outcomes to each lesson. I have
also implemented assessment techniques
such as exit slips, which will ask students
essential questions. Theses questions will
assure that students have a real deep
understanding of concepts, rather than
just the ability to retrieve factual
information.

Behavioral
Grading

Gusky, T.R. (2014). On

Your Mark:
Challenging the
Conventions of
Grading and
Reporting.
Bloomington, IN:
Solution Tree.
Williams, R.L. (October
1968). On School
Marks. The
Elementary School
Journal, 69(1), 1-5.

Grading

Kohn, A. (1999). From

degrading to degrading. High School
Magazine, 6(5), 38-43.
Stiggins, R., &
Chappuis, J. (2005).
Using StudentInvolved Classroom
Assessment to Close
Achievement
Gaps. Theory into
Practice, 44(1), 11-18.
Stiggins, R. (2007).
Assessment through
the students eyes.
Educational
Leadership, 64(8), 2226.
OConnor, K. (2010).
Grades: When, why,

Compliance grading is debated

because it assigns grades to students
that are not academically linked to the
curriculum. Teachers use compliance
or behavioral grading in order to
motivate students, however this type
of grading distorts the meaning of
grading (Gusky, 2014). While certain
steps may need to be taken to
promote student compliance and
involvement, it is not ethical to assign
grades to these tasks as grading
should only be used as a mark of
student understanding of concepts
that are relevant to student learning
outcomes.
Grades tend to reduce student interest
in learning itself, grades tend to reduce
students preference for challenging
tasks because if grades are assigned,
they will be more inclined to choose
the easiest task in order to get the
higher grade, grades tend to reduce
the quality of student thinking by
reducing the creative thinking required
in a task. Grades are subjective and
dont provide a reliable assessment of
student understanding. On the flip
side, grades continue to be required in
the Alberta school system as a means
of determining rankings between
students and districts.

While behavioural grading can be a great

way to motivate students, my unit
assessment plan does not include any
form of behavioural grading. In my
performance Assessment task
participation is absolutely necessary,
however it is not counted for a mark.
Without student participation the student
will not be able to reach any of the other
outcomes and therefore makes it
necessary even though it is not graded.
As far as general classroom management
practices, I feel that there are other ways
to mark for things such as behavior and
participation, such as the use of
formative checklists that include these
criteria before students may submit
summative work for assessment.
The use of grading is situational in that
they continue to be required, especially
at the secondary level of education.
However, after acquiring a deeper
understanding about the consequences of
using numerical or letter grading, I will
make grading as invisible as possible for
as long as possible. A solution to the
grading conundrum is using a lot of
assessment for learning, giving formative
feedback, which is descriptive rather than
providing numerical or graded feedback.
This will encourage students to improve
their work based on clear feedback rather
than based off of subjective grading
which does not provide specific feedback
for more in depth student understanding
of subject matter. In my unit assessment
plan I have created opportunities for a lot
of formative and descriptive feedback to
students. Summative assignments are
graded numerically but also involve a

what impact, and

how? Education
Canada, 50(2), 38-41.
Gusky, T.R. (2014). On
Your Mark:
Challenging the
Conventions of
Grading and
Reporting.
Bloomington, IN:
Solution Tree.

descriptive component so that students

will actually be able to understand where
they went wrong and correct it in the
future.