Monday, November 25, 2013

What is a summative assessment?

Ok, I ranted in this post.  I didn't plan on it but it turns out I am pretty darn bothered by the state of what we call assessments.  The Big Idea in this post is "Lets fix our assessments or start being honest about what they actually are."

By definition a summative assessment is an assessment that is at the end of the learning.  I challenge ANYONE to find a summative assessment in education that is not an ACT, State  Testing, or final exam.  Isn't it true that a good teacher takes information from a topic/chapter assessment, which is typically considered summative, and discusses the issues the students had so they no longer have those issues...thus formative.  

Now that we know that almost everything in education is formative lets move on.  The idea behind a formative assessment is to get information that will directly drive instruction.  Therefore they should be quick, to the point, one topic, and emphasize learning at a DOK 1 or DOK 2 level.  The more of those basic level low rigor questions we get rid of on the formative assessments the more depth we can access on our summative assessments.  That means our summative assessments can ask quality questions that force students to think, to analyze, to combine thoughts so we can actually see how deeply they know the material.  What does this mean for all those who create "summative" assessments?  Lets make some rules to clarify further what a summative assessment is and is not.

1.  A summative assessment NEEDS to be more than a multiple choice assessment.  
2.  A summative assessment MUST ask students to explain, to clarify, to compare, to analyze different situations.  If we don't ask, we won't know.  
3.  A summative assessment needs to have a rubric to determine a students level of proficiency.  
...time to get my frustration out...
Why does a 11/11 correlate to a 4, a 10/11 go to a 3 and an 8/11 go to a 2...Because we insist on making everything a percent!  If we want a 4-point scale then lets make assessments that assess students properly and force students to demonstrate depth of knowledge that would confirm a 4.  If students cannot demonstrate a 4 it is up to us to create those assessments that allow students to do just that.  If we can't, grading better start at a 3.  

For those that are curious...this isn't even about math anymore.  We have problems with our assessments but we also have a fix in the process.  It will take time but we at least have the train on the tracks.  It is entirely to easy for teachers to say "I grade on a 4-level scale" when in reality, they don't.  They just grade on a percentage scale then fit it into a 4-3-2-1 according to 90-80-70-60.  

For more information check out some of my previous posts that all involve assessments and grading.
     Testing and Scoring Math
     Why do we Review EVERY chapter in Math???


   

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