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Ryan Jenkins
Assessment and Evaluation
February 28th, 2017

Philosophy of Assessment
Teaching for Mastery:

For centuries, the education system has run on a model that focuses primarily
upon test scores and the numbers that it is able to produce. We assign letters or
numbers to individuals as a means of ranking their understanding as we rush our way
through as much material as possible before pumping them out the other side as
educated individuals. For the time, I am sure that this was effective. In a society sparked
by the industrial revolution, producing individuals with a loose understanding of a variety
of subjects would have been an effective strategy. The industrial machine would not
have run without its cogs and we would not be where we are today. The advancements
we have seen would not have been possible. This, though, is exactly the issue that we
are facing today. We have advanced. We do not live in the society that this system was
founded in but, regrettably, this model of evaluation is still prevalent within classrooms
today. As an educator, I believe that it is time we change the way that we think about
assessment. We need to pull away from a ranking system that focuses on breadth and
move towards a more idealistic model that finds its basis in mastery and depth.

Feedback as Information:

With the model we have been using as educators, the marks we assign to
students work has been representative of their perceived achievement of a set goal. In
most cases, or at least in most recent cases, that set goal would be whatever curricular
outcome that was currently being taught. This in itself is not problematic. The issue
arises in the way the we treat these marks. They have come to represent a score that
our students have achieved, a set number placed on their understanding of the concept.
Lets say we have given them an 80%. As it stands, we treat that 80% as an
achievement and move on to the next step of the students learning. The problem that
this system creates is that the 20% of the content that was not mastered is also moved
away from, never to be looked at again; leaving gaps in our students understanding that
will only build and lead to bigger issues down the road. As Sal Kahn highlights in his
Ted Talk Lets Teach for Mastery as a musician learning an instrument you master
the basic piece before moving onto the next piece. It would be impossible for the
musician to really grasp a more complicated piece before first mastering the skills
necessary in the basic piece. If we can accept this, then why would we ever expect our
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students to be able to tackle more complicated content when we have not ensured their
total understanding of the content that came before. The feedback the we are giving
must be framed in such a way that mastery is encouraged and exposure is pushed to
the background.

Where Grades Fit:

The question that now must be asked is what would be the best way to assess
students in a model that focuses on mastery? Just as the way we have been using the
information we gather in the classroom is in desperate need of reform, how we gather
that information needs to be rethought. In my own classroom I will tackle this task in two
distinct ways. Students must have access to as much descriptive feedback from as
many sources as possible. If we want our students to grow as learners we need to
ensure that they are as supported and aware as possible. They need to have access to
teacher and peer feedback if they are to grow as much as possible as learners. Grades
need to fall to the periphery. Just as Alfie Kohn points out in his article The Case
Against Grades, placing importance on the score you have assigned to a student's work
and not on the descriptive feedback that goes with it creates a cycle in which students
will always pick assignments that they find easiest; thus taking the emphasis away from
the mastery of the objective and placing it instead onto achievement and reward.
Though I believe that grades can also be a useful source of information for students and
teachers alike, if we are to use them in our classrooms, their presence must not hold the
same connotations that they have before.

Peer Assessment:

To ensure that the feedback we are supplying our students with is as useful and
rich as possible it is integral that it is coming from as many sources as possible. Though
the feedback provided by the teacher will always be essential, training our classes to be
able to produce valuable peer assessment is the most practical mode of accomplishing
this goal that is currently available to us as educators. As Rajiv Jhangiani underscores
in their article The Impact of Participating in Peer Assessment, studies have shown that,
even once variables such as attendance have been accounted for, peer assessment
activities enhanced the overall class performance and proved to be a flexible template
for instructors. Giving our classes the skills to critically respond to their peers work will
ensure that every student is presented with a wealth of feedback from as many different
perspective as possible.This, as well as the feedback provided by the teacher, will serve
as a strong groundwork for students to build their learning from. Learning for mastery
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becomes a much more attainable and manageable goal for students and teachers to
achieve when students are as well instructed as possible.

Self Assessment:

Even with all of these methods in place, there is still an element that must be
present if our assessment strategies are going to be effective. Our students need to be
motivated if they are going to take full advantage of this system. There are many things
a teacher can do to ensure stronger student motivation within their classroom and many
of them have little to do with assessment but, as James H. McMillan and Jessica Hearn
state in their article Student Self-Assessment: The Key to Stronger Student Motivation
and Higher Achievement, implementing self assessment strategies within the classroom
can significantly increase student motivation as well as deepening student interaction
with the content of the course. This creates a more meaningful learning environment, as
students are now actively engaged in their own learning process. In a model where students
have access to vast amounts of feedback, it is important that we allow them to evaluate
themselves as well. This will allow for a sense of agency that will aid in assuring their
engagement.

Pulling it all Together:

To tie these ends together I think it would be valuable to describe exactly what
the assessment will look like within my classroom. With a sharp focus placed upon
teaching for mastery, my students will be given as much descriptive feedback as
possible. This will take on many different forms. There will be both written and verbal
communication from myself, be it written at the bottom of an assignment or in a one on
one interview about the student's progress. Students will become experts in providing
each other with critical feedback as a means of broadening their understanding and
strengthening their learning process. This may take a more concrete form as written
feedback, such as a two likes and a wonder model; or in a more open, class
conversation format where students are encouraged to discuss each other's work in a
positive and constructive environment. To ensure that students are also engaged and
are provided with a sense of agency, they will be encouraged to partake in self
assessment, where their reflections upon their own work will provide the metacognition
necessary for academic growth on a deep and meaningful level. By placing grades to
the periphery and focusing more on the information that is available to my students, I
plan to create an environment of assessment within my classroom that is both open and
meaningful, granting my students the best opportunities for mastery as possible.
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Work Cited

Jhangiani, Rajiv S. "The Impact of Participating in a Peer Assessment Activity on Subsequent

Academic Performance." Teaching of Psychology. 43.3 (2016). Print

Khan, Sal. "Sal Khan: Let's Teach For Mastery- Not Test Scored". TED. N.p., 2017. Web. 22
Feb. 2017.
Kohn, Alfie. "The Case against Grades." Educational Leadership. 69.3 (2011): 28-33. Print.

McMillan, James, and Jessica Hearn. "Student Self-Assessment: The Key to Stronger Student
Motivation and Higher Achievement." Educational HORIZONS 81.1 (2008): 40-49.
Web.