Phase II: Implementing the Assessment
Step 10: Developing a Comprehensive Classroom Research Project. After experimenting with simple Classroom Assessment Projects, many faculty are
1. How will you communicate the results of the assessment to your students?
2. How will you obtain their reactions to the results?
3. What do you expect their reactions to be?
4. What will you do or say to respond to the results?
5. What impact should your response have-on students and on their learning?
6. How will you determine the impact?
7. How can you help students make the best use of your results to improve their learning?
Step 9: Evaluating This Project's Effect(s) on Teaching and Learning. Assess the outcomes of your Classroom Assessment Project. How well did it achieve its goals? Were there any unexpected results? How did it affect your teach-ing? And what impact, if any, did it have on student learnteach-ing?
Although you have now reached the end of the Project Cycle, your project still may not seem "finished" to you, since each completed assessment bears the seeds of many possible future responses and investigations. You may simply want to ask one or two additional questions to clarify the results, or you may want to plan a major course revision. From our point of view, this
"open-endedness" is both a natural and a highly desirable aspect of Class-room Assessment.
The following questions may help you begin to evaluate the effects of your Classroom Assessment Projects on teaching and learning. Discussing your responses with colleagues who are engaged in the same process will add to your insights and understanding.
1. In what ways has your project affected your teaching in the class you focused on? (Please give specific examples.)
2. In what ways has it affected your students' learning in that class? (Please give specific examples.)
3. 'What surprised you most in doing the project?
4. What have been the most enjoyable aspects of the project?
5. What have been the least enjoyable aspects?
6. Summing up: What would you do differently next time?
Step 10: Developing a Comprehensive Classroom Research Project. After
year. In these ongoing inquiries, teachers tend to go through cycles of assessing learning, revising teaching methods, and assessing the effects of those changes on learn rig.
At this stage, individual Classroom Assessment Projects are likely to become elements within larger Classroom Research efforts. The projects described in Chapter Five illustrate a range of inquiries from very simple Classroom Assessments to efforts verging on full-fledged Classroom Research.
TEN GUIDELINES FOR The guidelines below sum up our best advice, based on six years of experi-SUCCESS AND A ence with Classroom Assessment. We hope they will serve you well as guiding CHECKLIST FOR principles to consider in structuring your Classroom Assessment Projects.
AVOIDING PROBLEMS
1. Start with assessable goals.
2. Focus on alterable variables.
3. Build in success.
4. Start small.
5. Get students actively involved.
6. Set limits on the time and effort you will invest.
7. Be flexible and willing to change.
8. Work with other teachers who share your interests.
9. Remember that students must first learn to give useful feedback-and then must practice doing so.
10. Enjoy experimentation and risk-taking, not just success.
The checklist shown as Exhibit 4.1 captures the essential elements of the Classroom Assessment Project Cycle. It is designed, as its name implies, to help you avoid common problems. If you are able to answer "yes" to the appropriate checklist: questions in each phase of your project, chances are very good that both you and your students will benefit from the assessment.
Exhibit 4.1. A Checklist for Avoiding Problems with Classroom Assessment Projects.
Yes No
Choosing a Goal
Is it the right size? El El
Is it precisely stated? O El
Is it relatively easy to assess? El El
Is it worth assessing? El El
Is it actually taught in class? E El
Choosing an Assessment Technique
Is it appropriate to your goal? El El
Can you integrate it into your usual class activity? El El
Is it reasonably simple? El El
Will it contribute to learning? O El
Applying the Assessment Technique
Have you tried it yourself? El El
Have you done a run-through with a colleague? El El
Have you made the purpose clear to students? E El
Have you made the process clear to students? El El
Did you provide the necessarypractice to students? El El
Have you allowed enough time to apply the technique? El E Analyzing the Data
Did you plan how you are going to analyze the data? El El Have you collected a reasonable amount of data (not too much)? E El
Is your analysis reasonably simple? El El
Have you allowed enough time to do the analysis? El El
Responding to the Results
Have you planned your response? El El
Have you made your feedback explicit to students? El El
Have you presented your response appropriately? E E
Does your response fit into what you have planned for the class? El El
Have you presented the good and the bad news? El El
Have you tried to accomplish a reasonable change? E E
Have you allowed time to respond adequately? E E
Planning and Implementing Classroom Assessment Projects 59