What's Not on the Test: How to Turn Assessment into Learning

Rob Riordan is a veteran teacher who’s message is rigor within work that has lasting value. He says that assessment includes making sure our kids graduate from schools qualified and ready to enter college; reading, writing, and computing well. The other part of assessment he is most passionate about is having students produce work of lasting value. His claim is that we need to have students do frequent presentations of learning and classroom critiques, where kids reflect on the work they’ve done. Students should be engaged in work where they are pursuing their interest and passions. Students should be telling teachers what they are learning, what they think while learning, and what they still don’t understand. Assessment should be part of instruction where kids are presenting their work all the time.

I agree with his approach. There must be a balance in our approach to assessment if we are to prepare students for the 21st century who are thoughtful problem solvers passionate about learning. Not only should they be producing and presenting work they can be proud of, they need to become fluent in skills and processes needed to perform well on any standardized test. Other research about the brain, shows that by having students go through the act of teaching/explaining their thinking, they learn and remember more. Their responses also provide a great checking point to see where students are in their understanding.