some thoughts about assessment

One. It is constant. The more I learn about student writers, the more I am in a constant state of assessment. Any time I’m around student writers, I’m assessing them. I’m noticing what they are doing well. I’m noticing the ways that are making meaning. I’m noticing the rate at which they are recording their thoughts. I’m noticing how close to conventional they are. I’m noting the risks they are taking. At the same time I’m comparing them to other writers I know. I’m analyzing what they need to do in order to be a stronger writer. I’m deciding the best way to teach them new skills.

Two. It evolves. The more I learn about student writers, the more my assessment evolves. With each conversation I have with another writer and each new text I read and each time I write, I learn to look at writing in a new way. With this new outlook, my assessment evolves. Today it is much richer and more accurate than it was ten years ago. Today I allow space for strengths to shine through and opportunity for writers to expand their repertoire without sacrificing their grades.

Three. It is a tiny piece of the picture. I’m learning that it takes many pieces of assessment to paint an accurate picture of a student writer. It takes a peek into their writers notebooks and conversations and giving feedback on drafts and reading final texts and observation and analyzing on demand writing (and maybe even a gut feeling) in order to have a full understanding of a student writer.

Four. It is insightful. Assessment should always reveal something about the writer. I should have a more full understanding after assessing a student. I’m always on the lookout for the unexpected. I’m looking for what I didn’t know or see or understand about the student before that I do now.

Five. It is fun. As I’ve studied assessing student writers this year, I’ve come to realize that it is fun. I enjoy learning the strengths of student writers and then determining what the most important thing is for them to learn next. I delight in finding what a class knows about a genre and then teaching into the breadth of knowledge. It is enjoyable to approach assessment from the standpoint of a detective – one who is always looking to understand the complete picture; one who hasn’t predetermined the answer; one who wants to find an answer in order to respond in the most powerful of ways.