Assessment

Assessment is usually a word that brings confusion and stress to teachers and students. What is assessment for and who benefits from it? Are there many ways to assess one thing, or many things? The answers are that assessment is for everyone and there are many ways to assess one thing.  It is becoming increasingly important to meet Standardized testing criteria, which places stress on the teacher to teach specifics and stress on students that they need to have one correct answer for each question posed.  Luckily in the classroom, teachers can teach and run their classroom in creative ways to help themselves teach in the best possible way and for students to learn and be assessed in different ways. 
In her book Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? by Cris Tovani, she give some examples of how she tests what students know by redefining assessments.  She gives them exams that help them learn what they have learned about themselves as readers.  Here are some sample questions from her Reading Final Exam (keep in mind this is geared towards high school seniors).

1.  Attached to this sheet is the definition of reading you wrote for me during the first week of the semester.  Look at your definition, and think about all that you know about reading.  Compare your new knowledge of reading with what you used to know.
2. Define metacognition.  Why is it important? give a real world example of metacognition.  Be specific and thorough in explaining your example.
3.  You are reading a very difficult text, one that doesn't make sense on a first read.  List at least five strategies you could employ to help you understand the reading.
4.  You are reading a difficult textbook.  You have little background knowledge about the topic. Answer the following:
a.)  How do you know you are confused? (list five signals that indicate confusion.)
b.)  List two strategies you could use to keep your mind from wandering. Explain how each strategy will help you construct meaning.
c.) List five strategies you could use to fix up meaning.

I think these are great assessment questions that really show the student how they have progressed and learned new strategies towards reading difficult text.  This type of assessment, requiring open-ended responses, are geared toward showing the student what he or she has learned by sharing their thinking.  As teachers change their teaching styles to accommodate different types of assessment, students will also change their ways of thinking and responding.  Teachers will learn to guide students in the direction of thinking, discussing and students will respond accordingly by discussing their thoughts and finding many possible solutions to one answer. 
Cris Tovani lists what works for her assessments.

1. Decide what you want to assess. Give a variety of ways for student to demonstrate understanding.  Base your assessments on what you value.  One test won't measure everything. 
2. Design assessments that are checkpoints for understanding.  Because learning is an ongoing process, assessment should also be an ongoing piece of your classroom.
3.  Teach students how to use the assessment tool. Don't let format interfere with demonstration of knowledge. 

I like that Tovani gives many examples of what works in her classroom.  It is good to get different ideas and pick and choose what would work in my future classroom.  Teaching and learning are lifelong non-stop practices, getting references from experienced teachers can be helpful.