Assess Better

Being able to fully assess a situation without bias is a superpower. Taking in all available information, determining what is important and what to ignore, and using that information to make the best possible decision is what anyone can strive for. It is precisely what teachers need to excel at to maximize their impact. I want to make it perfectly clear that assessing and grading are two very different actions.

Grading is assigning a value to student work. Assessing is looking for information from the student's work to inform actions to improve understanding. Too often, we as teachers feel that a score on a paper, whether a numerical score such as 85% or a standard attainment like a 2 out of 3, feels like we are communicating to students. We also break out the colored pens and write copious guidance on student work. All most students see is that score, and that is where they stop. They are concerned with the end, and the means be damned. All those notes we have written to them are either ignored or not understood because students are ready to move on to the next assignment. The score ended the learning opportunity, and all the time we spent writing our feedback on each assignment was for naught. 

Many teachers believe a grade is what motivates students to do their work. I cannot say an "ungraded" classroom would work, as I have not taught in one. I have experienced grades being the impetus, if not the motivation, for students to complete work. When student-athletes cannot play because they are ineligible, they suddenly care a lot more. When a teenager cannot get their driver's license due to a lack of credits, homework becomes more tolerable. However, a grade alone is insufficient to motivate most students to sustain their best efforts. The extrinsic motivators can create a brief spark of effort, but once the minimum attainment of eligibility is reached, the outside force is gone. For too many students, their grades only begin to matter to them during the last few weeks of a term when they scramble to cobble together any points they can after taking it easy the previous 15 weeks of a semester.

Assessment is a very different approach. Assessment is rooted in the Latin word assidere, which means "to sit beside." Sitting beside each student daily is not feasible or realistic, but the idea is to guide students along their learning journey. Scheduled writing conferences while students write rough drafts, prompting them to explain their thinking while watching students solve problems on a vertical surface, listening to small group interactions, and asking open-ended questions are examples of in-process feedback. The focus shifts from students rushing to a final product to get a grade and move on to building deeper understanding. Assessment happens but without the stress or pressure of the grade. Students become more willing to put in effort, knowing they will produce better results and the feeling of growing mastery everyone loves. I have had way more light bulb moments from sitting beside students while they are working than returning a graded assignment with written feedback.

The beautiful result of this improved assessment is improved grades. Student gains are accelerated because more effort is put into the learning process. When their graded work is returned with higher grades, their success builds confidence and reinforces their efforts matter. Add to that your time saved on marking up countless papers because their work is better, and the returns on an assessment-driven approach are exponentially higher than a grades-driven mindset. Assess More, Grade Less is the mantra I use in my classroom and with teachers I lead, and the results have been improved student grades and less teacher burnout.