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Proficiency-Based Assessment: Process, Not Product (Foundations of quality K-12 curriculum, instruction, and assessment and vocabulary relating to them)
Confront traditional, ineffective grading practices. With this user-friendly resource, K-12 teachers will discover how to close the gaps between assessment, curriculum, and instruction by replacing outmoded assessment methods with proficiency-based assessments. Learn the essentials of proficiency-based assessment, investigate why this kind of assessment has a key relationship with teaching and learning, and explore evidence-based strategies for successful implementation.
Introduction
Chapter 1: Beyond the Formative and Summative Divide
Chapter 2: Preparation
Chapter 3: Incubation
Chapter 4: Insight
Chapter 5: Evaluation
Chapter 6: Elaboration
Professional Learning as a Creative Process
Introduction
Chapter 1: Beyond the Formative and Summative Divide
Chapter 2: Preparation
Chapter 3: Incubation
Chapter 4: Insight
Chapter 5: Evaluation
Chapter 6: Elaboration
Professional Learning as a Creative Process
- GenresProfessional Development
192 pages, Perfect Paperback
First published July 31, 2015
2 people are currently reading
16 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 2, 2018
It's not called competency-based assessments, but it's the same thing. I like the 5 phases the authors cite (created by a psychologist in 1990) that schools go through in order to implement this: preparation, incubation. insight, evaluation, and elaboration. Obviously, these phases can be applied to many situations and not just changing how our schools teach and assess and how our students learn and demonstrate their learning. The book provides examples for the 5 steps along with some helpful rubrics and charts.
The authors clearly outline what proficiency assessment includes: targets, instruction, and reflection. Experts and research have been telling us for years that we need to engage students in metacognition and reflection more/make. This is a vital part of proficiency-based learning and assessment. It cannot be just once in a while. In order to make students responsible for their learning, they must self-assess and reflect continuously.
Sadly, most schools still use assessment to rank and sort. This leads to assessment being more punitive than a true gauge of what students know and can do with this knowledge. The authors say that assessment should be the following:
making connections, not making right answers
an active search for meaning
developmental and not fixed
a thinking activity requiring collaboration and deliberation
using knowledge, not verifying knowledge
It's about taking students from simple to complex. We all know about Bloom's and DoK, but do we really require students to think higher and deeper? The authors explain the importance of learning gradations and provide concrete exemplars.
I also like the section on mistakes to avoid when creating assessment. This will help us evaluate our assessments which will improve instruction. It's not a matter of our instruction not being good enough. We've done great teaching over the years, but as Dylan sings, "the times they are a changin' " and we need to change with them. It's a different world, and we need to prepare students for that world. The authors stress the importance of reviewing assessments and validating why we use certain assessments to determine if they match our goals for learning. They also provide suggestions for helping students learn to reflect more.
I will end with this, the 4 precepts of proficiency-based assessment:
1. How students think is more important than what they don't know
2. Assessment does not verify learning; it supports it
3. There are three essential elements of teaching - desired state, current state, gap thinking
4. The three essential questions of assessment for learning have deeper corollary questions - where am I going? where am I now? how can I close the gap?
Much to think about, I know, but if we are committed to always putting students' best interests first, then we can't lose.
The authors clearly outline what proficiency assessment includes: targets, instruction, and reflection. Experts and research have been telling us for years that we need to engage students in metacognition and reflection more/make. This is a vital part of proficiency-based learning and assessment. It cannot be just once in a while. In order to make students responsible for their learning, they must self-assess and reflect continuously.
Sadly, most schools still use assessment to rank and sort. This leads to assessment being more punitive than a true gauge of what students know and can do with this knowledge. The authors say that assessment should be the following:
making connections, not making right answers
an active search for meaning
developmental and not fixed
a thinking activity requiring collaboration and deliberation
using knowledge, not verifying knowledge
It's about taking students from simple to complex. We all know about Bloom's and DoK, but do we really require students to think higher and deeper? The authors explain the importance of learning gradations and provide concrete exemplars.
I also like the section on mistakes to avoid when creating assessment. This will help us evaluate our assessments which will improve instruction. It's not a matter of our instruction not being good enough. We've done great teaching over the years, but as Dylan sings, "the times they are a changin' " and we need to change with them. It's a different world, and we need to prepare students for that world. The authors stress the importance of reviewing assessments and validating why we use certain assessments to determine if they match our goals for learning. They also provide suggestions for helping students learn to reflect more.
I will end with this, the 4 precepts of proficiency-based assessment:
1. How students think is more important than what they don't know
2. Assessment does not verify learning; it supports it
3. There are three essential elements of teaching - desired state, current state, gap thinking
4. The three essential questions of assessment for learning have deeper corollary questions - where am I going? where am I now? how can I close the gap?
Much to think about, I know, but if we are committed to always putting students' best interests first, then we can't lose.
November 21, 2015
Awesome, this has really helped me frame my thinking around proficiency based learning.
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