"As knowledge becomes networked, the smartest person in the room isn't the person standing at the front lecturing us, and isn't the collective wisdom of those in the room. The smartest person in the room is the room itself: the network that joins the people and ideas in the room, and connects to those outside of it... Knowledge is becoming inextricable from – literally unthinkable without – the network that enables it."
- David Weinberger Too Big to Know
I hoped to begin this post with a quote to acknowledge the "room" that has emerged surrounding this blog series. Since the first post in June, we have had over 1,700 views of this blog. Over 1,200 of those views have come from unique visitors! That means that people everywhere are engaging in thinking about how to personalize the learning inside of their classrooms. I am continually humbled as I put these thoughts out for the world to see. I hope that this work challenges you, and that you continue to engage in conversations that surround how to best empower the students in your classrooms. By doing so, I also hope that this work begins to empower you as well.
A Slight Change in Structure
So far, throughout this blog series, the ways in which we personalize learning have been explicitly named in Level IV of the Teacher Keys Effectiveness System (TKES). This is where the Assessment Uses standard differs from the rest of the Performance Standards we have analyzed in TKES. Here, the difference between Levels III and IV are not structured as a progression. Level III works to define the actions between teacher, student, and parent while Level IV defines the actions of teachers as instructional leaders regarding Assessment Uses.
In this post, I do not plan to address how a teacher might "lead others in the effective use of data" as defined in Level IV because I feel that is off topic for this blog series. Instead, I will continue to analyze ways that we might take our current practice and enhance it so that our students can continue to take ownership of their own learning behaviors. Once again, I am excited that you are here. Let's dive in and analyze how we might personalize the ways in which we use assessment data.
In this post, I do not plan to address how a teacher might "lead others in the effective use of data" as defined in Level IV because I feel that is off topic for this blog series. Instead, I will continue to analyze ways that we might take our current practice and enhance it so that our students can continue to take ownership of their own learning behaviors. Once again, I am excited that you are here. Let's dive in and analyze how we might personalize the ways in which we use assessment data.
Performance Standard 6: Assessment Uses
The teacher systematically gathers, analyzes, and uses relevant data to measure student progress, to inform instructional content and delivery methods, and to provide timely and constructive feedback to both students and parents.
Using Diagnostic and Summative Assessments to Personalize Instructional Content and Delivery Methods
"I can include students in data inspired instructional decisions by ______________ so they can later analyze their own progress and make decisions on next steps in their learning."
We cannot lose sight of how the student can be included in the process of gathering, analyzing, and using data. In our last post on Assessment Strategies, I shared the document Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind. This document defines three different purposes for assessing students. One form of assessment referenced is Assessment OF Learning. I see this form of assessment related to summative and diagnostic assessments where we "confirm what students know" (55). When looking at this type of assessment through the lens of TKES, we can see that a teacher would use this form of assessment to "measure student progress." This is where teachers normally begin. Then, as we become more responsive teachers, we begin to use Assessments OF Learning to make decisions as we plan future instructional content and delivery methods for upcoming units of study. For example, if we notice that 85% of our students know how to demonstrate examples of physical changes then we might plan to skip those experiments and plan longer blocks of instructional time to investigate chemical changes. We also now have more time to dedicate to the 15% of students who didn't show mastery in demonstrating the concept. This responsiveness mirrors that term "systematically" that TKES emphasizes right away when describing Level III.
How can we personalize this use of data when making decisions? It's easy...wait for the students to arrive before you do it. So often, we take the results of a test and say to ourselves, "Well, they really didn't grasp that concept. I'm going to have them do X, Y, and Z before we move on." This does not teach a student how to look at their progress in our absence and then take ownership of their next steps in learning. We must include them in these discussions and decisions. A great way to do this would be to sit down with children after the data has come back from a diagnostic assessment. Then, share with them their areas of strengths and weaknesses. Include them in the conversation about the curriculum that is coming up and how you had planned to teach it. You would be surprised what they can add to this conversation. The most powerful part of this is if you continue to use a Gradual Release of Responsibility Model when doing this type of planning because by the end of the year the class could be able to do this on their own. Is that not the type of empowerment that we are striving for in personalizing learning?
How can we personalize this use of data when making decisions? It's easy...wait for the students to arrive before you do it. So often, we take the results of a test and say to ourselves, "Well, they really didn't grasp that concept. I'm going to have them do X, Y, and Z before we move on." This does not teach a student how to look at their progress in our absence and then take ownership of their next steps in learning. We must include them in these discussions and decisions. A great way to do this would be to sit down with children after the data has come back from a diagnostic assessment. Then, share with them their areas of strengths and weaknesses. Include them in the conversation about the curriculum that is coming up and how you had planned to teach it. You would be surprised what they can add to this conversation. The most powerful part of this is if you continue to use a Gradual Release of Responsibility Model when doing this type of planning because by the end of the year the class could be able to do this on their own. Is that not the type of empowerment that we are striving for in personalizing learning?
Using Timely and Constructive Feedback to Personalize Learning
"I can provide students with purposeful feedback by ___________ so they can develop independent learning habits."
Level III in TKES observes a teacher "systematically and consistently" gathering data "to provide timely and constructive feedback to both students and parents." These terms point towards teachers that are using formative assessments to facilitate student learning in real time. The power that lies in a teacher that can meet a student in the moment when the fire is hot is immeasurable. In the diagram to the right, we can see all of the other benefits that accompany a teacher who is using assessment to assure that learning happens in the future. We also see where differentiation fits in the framework of the way we use formative assessment. Teachers who adjust process, products, content, and learning situations are modeling the choices that are available for students when they confront dissonance in their learning. |
When we addressed Differentiated Instruction in a previous post, and how it is related to Personalized Learning, we made sure to clarify that differentiation is the initial first step in personalizing student learning. That's why providing timely and constructive feedback to students is so important. It is one of the first steps in the cycle for allowing students to own the learning process. Differentiation is where we model how learners adjust when things get difficult.
"I can isolate mistakes in learning behaviors by _______________ so that students can begin to adjust, rethink, and articulate their learning more effectively."
Assessment AS Learning goes one step further than the teacher-led, formative assessment process that is described above and in Level III. In our last post on Assessment Strategies, we discussed how students can use an assessment as they are engaged in a learning task. This thinking shifts when we consider how we use assessment results alongside children. Now, the teacher finds themselves focusing on the process instead of the result. What were the steps that led up to the incorrect answer? What independent learning habits, problem solving skills, or transferable thinking strategies can be used in the future on different tasks to help to not repeat the mistake in different learning situations? |
Addressing how the student learns as opposed to what the student learns is a major shift in thinking that surrounds personalized learning. Seeing incorrect thinking instead as a precursor to incorrect answers can help us facilitate students' abilities to adjust, rethink, and articulate their learning. This, once again, is another strategy in the teacher's library that helps transfer the ownership of learning behaviors to the students in our classrooms.
An Interpretation
Of all the posts in this series, this post has been the biggest interpretation of them all. My interpretation of how to personalize Assessment Uses is not grounded in a lot of evidence, and these ideas are not listed explicitly in Level IV of TKES the way the rest of my ideas have been. So, I want to leave you with a couple of thoughts. Why is this process important to our work? Are we doing this to score IVs on TKES or are we doing this to empower our students? Is TKES the reason, or is it the inspiration?
This blog series has been a real "Assessment AS Learning" situation for myself. I am not a writer, nor am I an expert. I am only a person who has thought about this topic at nauseum for the last six years since I was first introduced to TKES. In writing this, I am preparing myself to join students again after a three-year coaching hiatus. I must prepare myself for the mindset that surrounds work focused on allowing students to make school what they need it to be. Thank you for being my audience. I hope you join me in the future to see how all of this plays out in practice rather than just in theory. Next year, I am teaching 5th grade English Language Arts and Social Studies. You can find my class on Twitter @hodgeclass. We would love to have you.
I appreciate all that you do for all the children in your care. Please leave a comment below. I would love to know who is reading.
Ancora imparo.
This blog series has been a real "Assessment AS Learning" situation for myself. I am not a writer, nor am I an expert. I am only a person who has thought about this topic at nauseum for the last six years since I was first introduced to TKES. In writing this, I am preparing myself to join students again after a three-year coaching hiatus. I must prepare myself for the mindset that surrounds work focused on allowing students to make school what they need it to be. Thank you for being my audience. I hope you join me in the future to see how all of this plays out in practice rather than just in theory. Next year, I am teaching 5th grade English Language Arts and Social Studies. You can find my class on Twitter @hodgeclass. We would love to have you.
I appreciate all that you do for all the children in your care. Please leave a comment below. I would love to know who is reading.
Ancora imparo.