For the longest time, the part of my job I liked the least has been assessing student work–formative and summative assessments. The course is over. Students have left for summer vacation. Who benefits from these summative assessments? At my school, teachers labor over writing anecdotal comments for each student–reflecting on what the student is consistently doing well and identifying one concrete action the student can take to improve. Who benefits from these comments? At the end of June when vacation starts, is the student focused on what he/she can do to improve? I don’t think so. But still, we labor over these comments. They are misplaced. These comments are best used at the start of the next school year.

Students are assessed in various ways all through school. Who benefits from those assessments? For five years I have been teaching in the MYP (Middle Years Program) at BSGE, an IB school in NYC. Our method of assessment is criterion referenced. In the MYP there are no external assessments at the end of the course. This year, all that will change for me because starting in September I will be teaching a course in the DP (Diploma Program) called ITGS (Information Technology in a Global Society). ITGS is offered at the IB level (11th and 12th grades) and students will be tested on their understanding at the end of the 2-year cycle. In preparation, I am reviewing the materials from the training session I attended last month. IB provides a report at the end of each testing cycle. An analysis of how students fared on each examination area is provided. By reviewing the lengthy report that digests the results of student performance worldwide, I can get a good idea of the strengths and weaknesses of the previous year’s curriculum–worldwide. This information will guide my planning. If I use this information in planning my course, my students will benefit from last year’s assessments. That is a wonderful thing!

What is lacking in most schools is an analysis of the assessment results. Just as we want our students to take stock of what they are doing well and what they need to do to improve, teachers need to do the same. In New York State, high school students sit for NYS Regents Exams. The score on that exam indicates if a student got enough points to pass or fail. Who benefits from this assessment? Where is the analysis? What are teachers to make of the results?

Photo Credit: Image: "Anu's Piece in the Paper" by indi.ca
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/indi/44243905/)
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

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