“The more that you read, the more things you will
know.
The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
- Dr. Seuss
In one of my first blog posts, I
wrote about self-assessment and how it is valuable for students to reflect on
their work. This week, I want to spend some time talking about another type of
assessment that is new to me. As a prospective teacher, I have learned in the
past two months a lot about assessment and how it is consistently changing to
address the needs of the 21st century learner. With this in mind, I
want to draw your attention to Assessment for Learning (AfL), Assessment as
Learning (AaL) and Assessment of Learning (AoL). These three terms are both new
to me as a prospective teacher and have helped me to better understand how assessment can be applied in
the classroom.
Image from http://www.predictive-advantage.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/blog-01.gif
Assessment
For Learning (AfL)
In Assessment for Learning, the “assessment information
is used to enhance learning” (Drake, Reid and Kolohon, 2014, p. 16). This means
that assessment is a continuous process where both the student and
the teacher can visibly see the learning taking place. This is best done
through giving the student feedback so that the student knows what their
strengths, weaknesses and next steps are to make learning successful (Drake et
al., 2014, p. 16). Drake et al (2014) write that “the spirit of AfL really is a
philosophy based on the belief that everyone can learn and that the teacher’s
responsibility is to actively support learning and not just report it” (p. 17).
But do you agree with this, that there is more to learning and teaching than
just reporting progress in grades? If so, how can we as teachers make this work
in a classroom, where students are not used to this type of assessment? I think a
lot of it reflects back to my previous blog post on self-assessment, where
students reflect back to the work that they have done. You can read that blog here.
Assessment
as Learning (AaL)
Assessment as Learning (AaL) is
defined as having student’s gain an awareness for how they learn. This is done
through self-assessment, self monitoring and metacognition (Drake et al., 2014,
p. 17). Similarly, AaL goes hand in hand with AfL, where feedback is
beneficially used to help students understand and visibly see the learning that
takes place (Drake et al., 2014, p. 17). Generally with this type of assessment
the “teacher scaffolds experience to allow for a gradual release of
responsibility”, allowing for the student to gain independence and skills to
suit their learning level and needs (Drake et al., 2014, p. 18). The end result is that
students use the information that they learn about themselves to become aware
of how they learn and possibly get an idea for their learning style (Drake et
al., 2014, p. 18).
Assessment
of Learning (AoL)
The last type of assessment is
Assessment of Learning (AoL), which is the most popular and traditional type of
assessment. In AoL, the student is generally awarded either “numeric or letter
grades, with limited if any description of commentary” (Drake et al., 2014, p.
16). Most of us will probably relate with AoL when we think of our report cards
from elementary and high school or when we get an assignment back and the only
thing we want to look at is the grade we received. Generally in AoL, assessment
is only completed by the teacher and tends to be a “summative judgement about
performance in relation to provincial standards” (Drake et al., 2014, p. 18).
Now that I have given a brief
overview about the three types of assessment (AfL, AoL and AaL), how can we as
teachers implement this into our classrooms? How can we make assessment more
accessible for the 21st century thinker? Let me know what you think.
For
more information about AfL, AoL and AaL in Ontario, check out this video that
gives a great summary of these three types of assessment:
Or
check out this great summery table of AfL, AoL and AaL:
Miss
Chong
References
Drake, S. M., Reid, J. L., & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving curriculum and classroom assessment: Engaging the 21st century learner. Canada: Oxford University Press
GECDSB AER (2011, October 18). Module 2 - Assessment for, as & of learning [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7QuQpMStS4
Horan, D. (n.d). Definitions of assessment of, for and as learning. Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/309552174360029437/
Miss Chong. (2015, September 23). Self assessment in the classroom. Retrieved from http://educatelearnimagine.blogspot.ca/2015/09/self-assessment-in-classroom.html
Predictive Advantage (2012, March 30). Why bother using a behavioural assessment for your business anyway? Retrieved from http://www.predictive-advantage.com/why-bother-using-a-behavioural-assessment-for-your-business-anyway/
