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Assessment in Alberta: Discussion Paper
This discussion paper explores internationally accepted principles and practices of fair assessment within a context of critical thinking and the Alberta Social Studies Program of Studies.
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Question 3 – How will we collect and provide evidence of learning?With the shift from content- to process-based curriculum, a wider variety of assessment strategies must be used to gather evidence of the full range of learning. Many learner outcomes cannot be measured with selected response test question formats such as multiple choice, true/false, fill in the blank, and matching. . Performance assessment, inquiry and critical challenges provide opportunities for students to apply knowledge and demonstrate skills. In fact, many social studies learner outcomes can only be measured through these strategies. Teacher observation is an effective and purposeful assessment strategy for many social studies skills and processes. Highly relevant evidence can be obtained when teachers are clear about criteria for evaluation and plan for observation opportunities within the instructional sequence. When further combined with student reflection/personal communication and accompanying student products, triangulation of evidence (observations, products and conversations) provides teachers with multiple sources of evidence for making informed decisions regarding student learning (Davies 2000, pp. 35–36). Assessment tasks can be designed to engage and motivate learners when carefully designed with the learner in mind. Differentiated assessment ensures that students with varying learning preferences, interests and aptitudes have opportunities to demonstrate their learning in ways that are compatible with their learning needs. The key to differentiated assessment is establishing clear criteria that are "derived primarily from the content goal, not the response mode" (Tomlinson and McTighe 2006, p. 35).Thus the criteria for evaluation that appear on the rubric will focus on the content and skills that will be evident in all student work and not the specific details of the selected presentation format. For example, consider a critical challenge where students communicate their understanding of the concept they have researched. Students could select from a variety of presentation formats to demonstrate their learning (see Suggested Performances and Products). The majority of the summative evaluation criteria focus on items related to the concept under investigation while a single criterion is based on the students’ abilities to communicate their understanding of the content effectively, considering the purpose and audience. Correspondingly, one row of the project rubric describes what communication looks like at various levels of quality (see Teacher Rubric (Summative) for Evolving Identities in Canada) Formative checklists further describe what effective communication looks like for the specific presentation format selected by the student (see samples: Student Self-reflection: Communicating Effectively through a Collage and Student Self-reflection: Communication Effectively through a Multi-media Presentation). Since the checklists are formative tools designed to help students improve their work in progress, each checklist can identify elements that are unique to the selected presentation format. Thus, the rubric criterion is focused on the ‘big idea’ derived from the learner outcomes related to communication skills and the checklist is focused on the details of the presentation format. Both tools work together to support student learning. |
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