CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT IN MATH
[One eighth grade math teacher offered this ideas about assessment in listserve
e-mail:]
It's taken me a while to begin catching up my e-mail. You asked me about
some of the things that I do with classroom assessment. You also asked for
as much detail as possible.
First of all, I have probably fewer grades in my gradebook than any other
math teacher in the country. In the last six weeks, I think that there were
five total.
I've tried a variety of different assessment strategies with kids. What
I have learned is that if I want kids to think at higher levels then I have
to assess them using higher level thinking skills.
Here are some of my favorite assessment strategies:
At the end of each week (or most weeks), I ask the kids to reflect on two
different questions: a) What did you learn about math this week? and b)
What did you learn about yourself this week?
Perhaps the most powerful answer I've seen on several occasions was in response
to the second question: "I've learned that I am not as stupid in math
as I thought I was...."
During a couple of grading periods, we did thematic portfolios. One portfolio
focused on patterns. In them, students wrote a reflective letter about the
grading period, chose either Pascal's Triangle or Sierpinski's Triangle
(both are investigations), chose from a list of problem-of-the-week kinds
of stuff, provided evidence that they are getting better at mental math
(our focus for the year and their "progress" piece) and a choice
of their own. For an extension, they can do up to two additional pieces
to include.
I've also given them the opportunity to contract for a grade. I gave them
the criteria for an "A", "B", etc. and then they picked
what they wanted to do. Since I do give tests and quizzes (and I think that
these DO have a place in a math class), I include these in the contract
but give them a chance to retest if they need to. At the end of the grading
period, I think that it is good that kids have some choice in what they
receive for a grade.
I also include open response questions as they apply to what we are studying.
I guess that we do two or three each grading period.
Some I write and some I borrow and some I adapt. I have to be careful because
I am on the state math content advisory committee that writes questions
for KIRIS and I work hard to make sure that my questions don't resemble
even faintly a question that I've worked on for the state. The truth is
that I write so much stuff that I don't remember it once the work session
is over. I wonder if a priest feels this way after confession. :-)
I also have adapted several performance tasks that I use. I think that some
things really do lend themselves to this type of assessment. My favorite
(and the kid's favorite too) is the one we do with DNA blood sampling as
part of our unit on probability. I'm sure that there is more but I've got
lots to read for a class!
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