A few weeks ago, I was asked to help lead a middle school team conversation about assessment. The meeting was a result of parents and students raising concerns about consistency in assessment practices around the middle school. They were asking questions like:
- What does “formative” mean?
- What counts toward a grade?
- How much should different assessments weigh?
As a middle school parent myself, I understood those questions. I don’t think parents were necessarily asking for every teacher to assess exactly the same way. But I do think it is reasonable to wonder if there are shared expectations underneath the differences between classrooms.
Our school already has an assessment philosophy and a set of agreed practices, so instead of starting the meeting with individual teachers’ grading systems (which would be totally stress-inducing for everyone), I wanted to start with something much less threatening: What does our school already say assessment is supposed to be?
That led me to create a simple visual representation of our assessment philosophy.
The chart begins with teaching and learning and follows the process through gathering evidence, assessing that evidence against clear criteria, providing meaningful feedback, and then thinking about how that evidence informs both the student and the teacher.
The important thing about the chart is the idea that assessment is a process, not simply a series of graded events.
This gave my colleagues and me a common starting point. So, instead of asking, “Is your grading system correct?” we could ask: What does assessment currently look like in your classroom? Underneath the school’s process I made a space where teachers could map their own process and then compare it with the school’s agreed philosophy. This would leave us with a better understanding of what the organization believes, where our current practices fit those beliefs, and where we need further clarification or alignment.
If you want to see the chart, follow this link. You’re welcome to copy it, adapt it, or use it as a starting point if you’re having similar conversations in your school.
Ed X!
