3.2: Determining Appropriate Assessments
Directions
In this section and in 3.3, we will complete the third and final phase of the ISTE Unpacking Process: Implementation.
Reminder: To complete this task, you will need to download and use your own copy of: ISTE Standard Unpacking Process Graphic Organizer – BLANK. Fill in each corresponding section of this document as it is discussed below.
Checking in with Ms. Franklin: Ms. Franklin’s unpacking process will serve as a model as you go through the steps yourself. To see a completed version of her unpacking process, download the ISTE Standard Unpacking Process Graphic Organizer – COMPLETED SAMPLE. In this section, you will see Ms. Franklin determine what formative and summative assessments are best suited to determine her students’ of her learning objectives (step 6) and determine the instructional tasks and pedagogical strategies most appropriate for these assessments (step 7).
Step 6: Determine Appropriate Assessments to Evaluate Students’ Proficiency of Learning Objectives
In Module 2, Ms. Franklin analyzed ISTE Standard 2 and a Common Core English Language Arts literacy standard to craft the following new learning objectives:
Take a moment to review your own learning objectives. Next, ask yourself: what assessments are best suited to determine students’ proficiency of the learning objectives?
For her lesson on critical media literacy, Ms. Franklin concluded:
Pause and complete the same box on your own graphic organizer before continuing. After this reflection, you will brainstorm some ideas for formative and summative assessments that meet this goal.
Identifying Formative and Summative Assessments
The goal of formative assessments is to monitor student progress on an in-progress learning objective. Providing students with formative assessments not only benefits students’ through skill-based practice, but also benefits the teacher by providing feedback on student learning that a teacher can then use to modify instruction. Formative assessments are usually “lower stakes” than summative assessments and might include: drawing concept maps, submitting a thesis statement for a larger paper, or completing an “exit ticket” with a 1-question response.
The goal of summative assessments is to evaluate student learning. Summative assessments usually come at the end of a learning cycle and are meant to be “higher-stakes” assessments of learning such as tests, final projects, midterm papers, etc.
It’s important to consider both formative and summative assessments when brainstorming ways to assess students’ proficiency of learning objectives. Before completing your own assessment brainstorming on your graphic organizer, consider Ms. Franklin’s ideas for her critical media lesson on the rhetoric of political ads below. After, complete step 6 in your graphic organizer.
