How do you share assessment results effectively?

The term assessments is too vague. Are they performance assessments where learners take their learned content and skills and applying/transferring them into a task? Are they formative assessments where students are learning content and skill to be applied? How is that communicated to the student and the parents.

When thinking about assessment, we're thinking about supporting learners to move forward. I always keep in mind that assessment is done with the learners, not for the learners. We involve learners in the process of assessment. Effective assessment means that the result will be beneficial for learners to think of 'what's next'. Therefore, whatever format we choose, we need to ensure that it's understandable by learners. Whatever format we choose, learners also need to understand the success criteria that they can use to identify the areas of improvement/strengths.

Ask yourself what's the big deal about assessment and testing. Teachers did this in a routine, common sense way for thousands of years. What changed? In the 20th century, as progressive thinking gained greater control over the school system, education got worse. Did this make progressives less enthusiastic about their controversial theories and methods? No, but it did make them feel more exposed to blame and criticism. Instead of looking for more precise assessments, the Education Establishment decided it needed more vague and imprecise assessments.... ---one answer in four parts continues in next section---

Assessments results are shared in charts, graphs, or reports. The results should be reviewed by departments, grade levels, or the positive and negative results of the assessment data. There are tests given in schools that count toward grade transitions and graduation. Some tests are kindergarten readiness, English Language Learners tests, Achievement Assessments and State Graduation Tests. Transitional tests are needed and should be discussed in order to prepare students academically. In some respects, standardized tests present an inaccurate picture of student performance and encourage schools to focus on test performance. However, the real question is, what does the data reveal about teaching and learning practices in the school?

Effective assessment is about providing feedback that informs learners to think of the next step and informs teachers to 'tweak' their planning (clarifying misconceptions/extending thinking). What's important is that the language we use should be clear as well as promote a growth mindset. I moved away from the traditional way - 'good, fair, poor, excellent'. I find these terms judgemental and may discourage learners. Instead, I like to use visuals (as I work with young learners) that help learners to identify the stage of learning. For example: using the visuals of growing plants. I involve learners to identify each picture to the stage of their learning. Where am I? Do I just start? Am I getting there? Do I need some support?

part 2: I remember the first time I saw the phrase "authentic assessment.” Doesn’t the word assessment contain an expectation, indeed a requirement, that it be authentic? I knew this was a gigantic clue. Oh yes. What they were really saying is, they want disingenuous assessment. The sophistry here is very similar to the one contained in critical thinking. Isn’t all thinking critical or should be? But when the Education Establishment talks about critical thinking, I believe they really mean wobbly, distracted thinking. ---answer continues---

part 3 I was aware of some of the so-called authentic assessments. These include things like scrapbooks, presentations, and projects. In this approach, a student who knows nothing can cut pictures from magazines of life in Australia and then make a scrapbook. The assessment, which quickly becomes subjective, might consist of questions such as, is the student knowledgeable about Australia? If a student discusses items seen in the photographs, the teacher may award an A. The student’s actual knowledge may be rather small. ---answer continues--

I would add that, for a district or central office, the ability to "do the legwork" wherever possible such that educators can focus on using the data is paramount. Outside of training educators to log in and view/understand reports, it is often helpful to automate retrieving data files, visualize data (or just creating roster spreadsheets in August for each teacher), and share the resulting deliverables via shared folders or email. Once this is automated (and the deliverable format and usage are conveyed and agreed-upon), countless hours can be saved and used to focus on using the data instead.

part 4-- Everywhere in K-12 there is a subtle hostility to knowledge. Memorization is sneered at. Systematic mastery of anything is steered at. Every time a teacher introduces a new subject, the students must be told basic facts about that subject. Progress is slow. My analysis is cautionary. It's difficult to discuss assessment if there is not a clear understanding of what students should learn. If we seriously want to improve anything, the first thing we need is more honesty and that is slipping away. END--I wanted to provide context and background. I ended up with one answer in four parts. Too long; sorry. But it might still be useful.

part 4-- Everywhere in K-12 there is a subtle hostility to knowledge. Memorization is sneered at. Systematic mastery of anything is steered at. Every time a teacher introduces a new subject, the students must be told basic facts about that subject. Progress is slow. My analysis is cautionary. It's difficult to discuss assessment if there is not a clear understanding of what students should learn. If we seriously want to improve anything, the first thing we need is more honesty and that is slipping away. END--I wanted to provide context and background. I ended up with one answer in four parts. Sorry. But it might still be useful.

Assessment is done with the learners. Setting up a time to have a one-to-one conference with the learners is necessary to ensure that they understand and can use the feedback to improve themselves and think of the next steps. With the lower primary learners, I usually have a quick chat when giving them the result/feedback. Giving them stars or smiley faces won't be enough for them to understand why they get those. They need to understand what those stand for and why they get them. Therefore, the clarity of the success criteria and the descriptions are important as this will help give constructive feedback and help the learner to think of strategies to improve or set up the next goals.