I will be working for the next four weeks on a research project to finish my Masters in Education. The final project itself must include the following:
Introduction and Statement of Problem or Question
Literature Review
Proposed Methodology
Proposed Analysis of Findings
Summary and Consideration of Next Steps
References
Appendices, if Needed
The rubric for this research project follows the same outline as the above guidelines, but also includes writing mechanics and the bibliography in APA style.
Over the course of our program studies, we have looked at so many topics within the framework of globalization of education from what globalization means to international schools to international mindedness and cultural intelligence to third culture kids. It has been such an interesting perspective on education. And, with the cohort itself being international, it has added to the richness of our program of study. While I do not feel challenged by the actual writing or bringing all the information together, the most challenging aspect of this research project for me is deciding on the actual topic. Because we have studied so many interesting topics, it is really hard for me to narrow it down just one. Another challenge that I think I will face will be the research findings themselves. Depending on my topic, how will I conduct a survey or find the information I am looking for other than reading previous research done on the topic?
The following video has been helpful in thinking about how to narrow the topic and design my actual research question.
However, I still have the challenge of looking at all the topics we have discussed and to figure out what I would like to spend the next month or so researching and writing about.
After our most recent class last Sunday, the cohort was given an opportunity to talk about possible topics we are interested in. Although we only spoke for about five or ten minutes, it was really helpful to hear their ideas and to bounce my ideas off of them. Thanks to this time together, I was able to narrow my idea down a little bit. I am now at the point where I will see how I can make it come together. It is very exciting for me to be in the final stretch of my Masters, but also challenging to bring it all together.
In today's globalized world, more and more families move for job assignments. Children of these global families are compelled to move and transition into new homes, new cultures, and new schools. This blog post will consider the question: how does this affect these children?
Who are Third Culture Kids?
Simply put, third culture kids, or TCKs, are children who were raised or have spent a significant part of their childhood living in a culture other than their parents' culture(s). Although it may sound quite simple, it is more complex and there is no one definition that describes every TCK. As Van Reken points out on her website Cross Cultural Kids, their family background, nationality, and reason for living abroad all have an effect on who they are, what they bring into this new culture, and how they might perceive this new culture. The principle commonalities among TCKs are "cross-cultural lifestyle, high mobility, expected repatriation, and often a "system identity" (Van Reken, 1987).
Referring back to the question at the top, how does this affect these children? Being a TCK expands a child's point of view, giving him or her a global perspective--or many perspectives. TCKs are often multilingual, can fit in any place yet never feel fully at home, and they lack real roots to any one place.
Who are Cross-Cultural Kids?
Cross-Cultural Kids (CCK) is a label that includes TCKs, but also many more categories of children affected by globalization for various reasons and circumstances. These children, as Van Reken writes, include:
Again, referring back to the question at the top, how does this affect these children? We can read about the benefits and challenges of being a TCK or CCK, but nothing quite makes you understand than hearing from these children themselves. In this video clip from "Where's Home?" we hear from several TCKs:
In this shortened version of the video (full version can be seen here: Where's Home?), we hear these young adults talk about being a TCK and feeling homeless in the sense that they neither fit in where they were raised nor in their parents' home country. And, even more than hearing them speak, it is seeing their reaction in the video when asked the question "Where's home?" that leaves the biggest impression. They pause, they sigh, they exhale. For some of these young adults, it is physically hard for them to answer this question. In the full version of the video, we see that the biggest challenge for these TCKs is having a sense of belonging to any specific place. Because they have moved around so much, they do not feel like they fully fit in anywhere. They are constantly on the side lines--present, yet not integrated. Conversely, some advantages mentioned in the video include: being multilingual, being multi-cultural, tolerant, open-minded, bridging cultures, getting along with others, and being able to thrive in different contexts.
A Teacher's Perspective
For TCKs transitioning with their family's work obligations, teachers can pay a special role in helping these children settle in and adapt. One of the biggest challenges a child who moves faces is the feeling of loss. Perhaps the move was not wanted by the child or he/she didn't want to say good-bye to their friends and previous home. The child may feel anger or sadness or a loss of control over their life. On the positive side, some benefits of TCKs are that they are culturally aware, open-minded, and may have the capacity to adapt quickly. Teachers who work in international schools, national schools overseas, or in any school where TCKs could be part of the student body, need to be aware of the benefits and challenges that these children face. Acknowledging the TCK's path and recognizing all the cultural differences the child could deal with can help make adjusting to the new school easier. Creating a classroom that celebrates diversity and each child's personal story can not only ease transitions, but also help students get to know each other, foster understanding for diversity, and respect for each other.
References:
Bautista, A. (2012). So Where's Home? A Film About Third Culture Kid Identity. Retrieved from:
https://vimeo.com/41264088
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_culture_kid
Van Reken, R. (n.d.). Third Culture Kids: Protypes for Understanding Other Cross-Cultural Kids. Cross Cultural Kids. Retrieved from: http://www.crossculturalkid.org/who-are-cross-cultural-kids/
Globalization has created a fast-paced, internationally connected world. Certain skills, attitudes, and understandings are required for countries and peoples to participate successfully. International schools have been popping up more and more across borders as families migrate and move for jobs. International schools provide a special type of education that allows students to enter the globally-minded market place with the necessary skills, knowledge, and perspectives. Three key terms that deserve thoughtful reflection when thinking about international education are international mindedness, international literacy, and global competence. International Mindedness According to the International Baccalaureate Organization's website:
International mindedness is a way of thinking about and engaging in the world. This mindset in education related to international mindedness encourages students to be globally aware, multilingual, mobile, push boundaries, and build on their personal knowledge and experiences. International Literacy Similar to international mindedness, international literacy involves personal experience, being a risk-taker, and being socially aware. What makes international literacy different is that it relies on the process of learning through engagement in another culture. Heyward points out that "it is through the experience of confronting oneself in a cross-cultural situation, that is, through
becoming inter-culturally literate, that the individual learns what culture
is: learns both something of his or her native culture, something of a
second culture and something of the concept of culture in the abstract" (p. 15). International literacy is like a step beyond international mindedness because the person must really experience it in all its stages: understandings, competencies, attitudes, participation, language proficiencies, and identities. Because of this process of learning through experience in another culture, Hayward suggests that rather than using the word international, the word intercultural would be more accurate.
Global Competence
Above, we saw that international mindedness is a way of thinking about the world and that international literacy is an inter-cultural learning process of personal and global engagement. Within global competence, we can see traces of the above two key words. As explained by Jackson, a concise way to think about global competence is that it is a "concept that articulates the knowledge and skills students need in the 21st century." Globally competent students investigate the world and are curious about how it works. They understand that they have a perspective and, while it may differ from people in other parts of the world, they can understand and value these different perspectives. Students with global competence are good communicators and aim to take action and participate in making the world a better place.
In my opinion, international mindedness is inherent within global competence. Since international mindedness emphasizes local-global connections and global awareness, it is a natural part of being globally competent. International literacy can be an integral part of global competence, if the student is living overseas and immersed in another culture. However, a student can still be globally competent without that immersion if they are given opportunities to exchange with other cultures and understand differing perspectives. Global competence does not end with a high school diploma, nor does international mindedness or international literacy. These concepts are an integral part of who a person is, how they view the world, and how they interact in this global community.
What do these key words look like in action?
John Stanford International School (JSIS), a public elementary school in Seattle, Washington, is a good embodiment of these concepts. We first see international mindedness, international literacy, and global competence in its bilingual and multicultural set up. Spending fifty percent of students' class time learning subjects, like math and science, in Spanish or Japanese is more than language learning, it is seeing these subjects through the eyes of the language and culture of that language. With native speakers as their teachers, these students are as close to being immersed as they can without leaving the United States borders.
In addition to the global awareness and communication skills brought about through its bilingual program, JSIS has a truly global perspective embedded in all parts of its curriculum. From its weekly music classes that teach students "a variety of songs from cultures around the world, and integrate multicultural dances with physical education" (Vega & Terada, 2013), to "collaborating with peers in another city or region to investigate a common topic of interest" (Boix-Mansilla & Jackson, 2011), students are constantly challenged to be open-minded, use critical thinking skills and take action.
To help teachers better bring global competence to their classrooms, they are equipped with a rubric, which guides them through the process. The example, Vega and Terada gave in their article Research Supports Global Curriculum, is "a fourth-grade unit about festivals of light celebrated around the world, students learn about world religions and then choose one festival to research, write about, and present in a visual way, demonstrating the global competencies of investigating the world, recognising perspectives, and communicating idea" (Vega & Terada, 2013).
Guiding JSIS's young students in a better understanding of themselves and in developing competent communication skills, the school has implemented two programs that work with students on social and emotional intelligence. This aligns well with our three key concepts because if we expect our students to be globally competent and, not only navigate, but help positively affect the world at large, these young students must first begin with themselves and their own understandings, perspectives and feelings.
Throughout JSIS, students collaborate and learn, but teachers are given the same opportunities as well, which contributes to students' improved global competence. A teacher from JSIS described it well when saying, "teachers are always looking back at student data to se where we need to meet the needs of our students, because every year our students are changing and so the needs that we need to meet are changing, as well" (Vega & Terada, 2013). This idea of adaptability and working to meet students' needs shows the fluidity that exists at this school within the teaching philosophy and curriculum, which undoubtedly carries over to the students and their learning experience and personal perspectives.
International mindedness, international literacy, and global competence and three important concepts that prepare today's students for the ever-changing global world and the skills necessary to participate in that world. The way we educate our children will help or hinder them to actively take part in meaningful ways. With JSIS, we saw all of these concepts successfully integrated in a public school setting. Our goal for future generations should be to create more schools like JSIS and to make global competence truly global by making it available to all students.
References
Bois-Mansilla, V. & Jackson, A. (2011). Educating for Global Competence: Preparing our Youth to Engage the World. New York, NY: Asia Society. Retrieved from: http://asiasociety.org/files/book-globalcompetence.pdf Heyward, M. (2002). From International to Intercultural: Redefining the International School for a Globalized World. Journal of Research in International Education, 1(1), 9-31. Retrieved from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzLwFwwvm0oNU0EweTJ2eDhLakU/view Jackson, A. (n.d.) Global Competence. Center for Global Education. Retrieved from: http://asiasociety.org/education/global-competence Sriprakash, A., Singh, M. & Jing, Q. (2014). A Comparative Study of International Mindedness in Australia, China, and India. Retrieved from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzLwFwwvm0oNRE5kM2x6MWlndkk/view Vega, V. & Terad, Y. (2013). Research Supports Global Curriculum. Edutopia. Retrieved from: https://www.edutopia.org/stw-global-competence-research
Just like students, teachers needed to be assessed. Teacher evaluations help teachers know what they are doing well and how they can improve to be even better educators. But, the big question regarding teacher evaluations is how do we best assess teachers? Do we base evaluations on observations, student performance, student surveys, parent surveys or lesson plan reviews? What is the best and fairest way to assess a teacher? In researching this topic, I found that teacher evaluations can vary from school to school and from state to state. There seems to be no unilateral standard form of teacher assessment. But, to look a bit closer at teacher evaluations, I would like to take two examples to write about here.
Danielson's Framework
The Danielson Group, founded by Charlotte Danielson, offers a framework to assess the performance of teachers. Based on research, they group has developed four domains on which teachers should be assessed:
Domain 1: Planning & Preparation
Domain 2: Classroom Environment
Domain 3: Instruction
Domain 4: Professional Responsibilities
Within each domain are five or six different, specific elements that are part of the assessment rubric. As the website suggests, these domains provide a base on which observations and professional dialogue can be built.
The Framework may be used for many purposes, but its full value is realized as the foundation for professional conversations among practitioners as they seek to enhance their skill in the complex task of teaching. The Framework may be used as the foundation of a school or district’s mentoring, coaching, professional development, and teacher evaluation processes, thus linking all those activities together and helping teachers become more thoughtful practitioners.(Danielson Group, 2013)
Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System
The Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System, or TVAAS, is an educator evaluation that is based in part on students' standardized test scores. Thirty-five percent of the teacher's assessment is based on how well their students perform on standardized tests throughout the year and compared to other classes throughout the state of Tennessee. The remaining sixty-five percent is based on a classroom observation rubric, somewhat similar to the Danielson's Group framework. The Tennessee rubric includes three categories for performance evaluation:
Instruction
Planning
Environment
Again, similar to the Danielson's Group framework, this part of the teacher evaluation should include frequent observations throughout the school year along with constructive feedback.
My Thoughts
As a teacher, I think it is important to take a step back to really look at what I am doing in the classroom and reflect on how I can be a better teacher. I do not think using standards test scores to assess a teacher's performance achieves this end goal. Yes, standardized tests, over time, can track a student's progress and growth, but to link it to the teacher's own professional future, I believe is wrong. Students change teachers from year to year and students test differently. I do not think standardized tests are good indicators for assessing teachers. I do think these tests can be beneficial in mapping out student achievement. I also think educators can look at these tests and learn from their students' scores. But, I do not think it should be integrated into formal teacher evaluations. I feel that the best way to do this is through observations and through discussions. I like the idea of a rubric, as in both examples I mentioned above, because with a rubric the expectations are clear and unbiased. I think the Danielson's Group framework gives four clear and important areas in which teachers should be evaluated: planning, classroom environment, instruction, professional responsibilities. There is so much that goes into teaching, but I think these four categories really address the areas in which teachers can be best assessed, and, in turn, make the most progress when necessary.
Before introducing a new topic to students, it is important that teachers know what, if any, prior knowledge our students have. Finding out what students know can be done through a warm-up activity, a class discussion or in formal pre-assessment activity. Because of students' personalities and the fact that some students just like to talk more than others, a great way to pre-assess a class is through a game or quiz. The link below is one example of a very simple pre-assessment quiz that I created for a unit on farm animals for my kindergarten class.
The short quiz lets me know how familiar my students are with the types of animals that live on a farm. It gives me exact numbers of students who know a lot, a little or nothing at all. And, because the whole unit will focus on farm animals, it is good for me to know exactly what my students will need before we start the unit.
The unit that this pre-assessment quiz leads into is aProject-Based unit. The standard this unit is based on is
Literacy in Kindergarten:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7: With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g. what moment in a story an illustration depicts).
Since my Kindergartners will do a reading unit about nonfiction, I will base this project on farm animals. Beginning with the pre-assessment quiz, I will find out what they know so I can begin to help them build their knowledge in an appropriate way for each ofthem. Then, each student will work with a partner to choose an animal. They will research it through nonfiction books, online videos, games or internet resources that I will provide them with. We will also visit a local farm to see the animals in action. The students can prepare questions to ask the farmers. After finding information about their animals, each group will create a book about its life on the farm, including where it lives on the farm, what it eats, how it is taken care of, and how it helps the farm (cows give milk, chicken gives eggs). They will illustrate their books and write about their animal. The final product will be presented at the "book launch" event with parents and classmates.
With this project, students will apply what they have learned about the connection between illustrations and text to create their own book. Based on research about their farm animal, collaboration, critical thinking, and transposing the information into their book, they create their own final product in their own way.
The Next Step...
After the pre-assessment animal farm quiz, I have a good idea of what my students know. I can differentiate instruction to meet their needs. Let's say that I have three different groups of knowledge:
Group #1 has the most knowledge and they answered all the farm animal quiz questions correctly
Group #2 could answer some questions correctly but not all
Group #3 could not answer any questions correctly
Based on these results, I then create my differentiation plan:
What's Next...
After the pre-assessment and the differentiation strategies to appropriately address each student's level, I would want to see how each group is doing. Part of the tracking progress assessment is seeing the work the students produced when they were working in their groups in the differentiation strategies mentioned above in the chart. Group #1 had a worksheet that they had to come up with two animals that lived on a farm, draw them and answer simple questions about them. Group #2 watched and listened to an online book about farm animals. Then, they chose a farm animal to draw and write one sentence about. Group #3 looked at books about farm animals, then watched a video about farm animals and the sounds they make. Afterwards, they were asked to draw one farm animal, write its name and the sound it makes. Depending on how well they complete these activities after having worked with their group, I will know what the next step will be--more differentiation strategies or working together as a whole class. This is all part of the tracking progress assessment.
Even though I would be observing the groups during their activities, following these activities, I would want to bring the class together and see how they are doing. I would ask my students to come to the rug in front of the SmartBoard. I would ask them to think about the animals they saw with their groups. Then, I would ask them what animals live on a farm. I would also ask them any other information they could tell me about these animals. I would write what they say on the SmartBoard so the whole class could see everyone's answers. After this class discussion I would take note of what students understood about farm animals and which students needed more help for the next lesson. A lot of what we can assess about student progress can be done through observation, but the teacher has to know each student very well.
For the next lesson on our animal farm project, I would begin with an activity to check what they remember from the previous lesson. I would hand out a worksheet with an outline of a farm. A second worksheet would have outlines of various animals--cow, horse, monkey, snake, elephant, chicken, sheep, etc. The students would cut and paste the appropriate animals on the farm. Based on this beginning of class assessment, I can track their progress.
In the End....
Well, there really is no end here. As teachers, we are constantly observing our students and helping them reach their personal learning goals along with common core standard learning goals. From one day to another, students can shift between learning groups and levels depending on the content. Teachers should be flexible and always aware that student ability and knowledge changes. And, to be the best teachers we can be for our students, our techniques and methods should change, too.
High stakes assessments refer to any test used to make important decisions about students, teachers, administration, schools and/or school districts. The main goal is to find accountability and to provide effective teaching for successful students. The scores from high stakes tests can be used to determine sanctions and penalties for schools or school districts, awards for schools, grade advancement for students, or compensation in salary or bonuses for teachers and/or administration. For better or for worse, high states assessments have been part of a student's education in the United States. Typically, and with the program of No Child Left Behind signed into law in January 2002, students have been required to take standardized tests in each grade level. However, with the Every Student Succeeds Act passed in December 2015, the testing system has been reconfigured to test from 3rd through 8th grade and once more in high school. The ESSA aims to provide more equity for students and less punitive repercussions for teachers and schools. Overall, the purpose of these standardized "high stakes" tests is to
monitor student learning over time.
inform professionals and the public on some of the strengths and weaknesses of the public school system.
assist the department of education, school districts, and schools in decisions related to the development, review, modification, revision, and implementation of existing curricula and supporting instructional resource materials.
assist the in decisions concerning allocation of resources.
identify areas of need and provide directions for change in both pre-service and in-service teacher education.
provide directions for educational research.
provide states, school districts, and schools with information that can be used to maintain strengths and overcome weaknesses. (https://bctf.ca/publications/NewsmagArticle.aspx?id=11406)
While all these reasons listed above appear to be noble reasons for administering high stakes assessments and there are arguments in favor of high stakes assessments, such as establishing a standard for all students, providing information about student and school performance and creating high expectations, there is a downside to these types of tests. Opponents of high stakes testing argue that
It foorces teachers to teach to the test
Is a narrow view of education because it only focuses on certain subjects
Is not equitable and does not provide differentiation for all learners
Puts too much pressure on students and teachers to perform well
May increase failure rates
As we see in the video above, the two teachers in Georgia are faced with the challenge of "teaching to the test" from the first day of school. We also see that there is no inclusion for those students who have learning differences.
High Stakes Testing: How does it affect me as a teacher?
Beginning in September, I will be an elementary school teacher in a different type of school in France. I will be teaching across three primary grade levels in an American section of a French international public school. It is an interesting balance between cultures. Students in the American section attend classes in English, mainly language arts but also a bit of science, history and geography, 6 hours a week and spend the rest of their school week in French public school classes. Due to the special nature of the American section, and while it is accredited, they do not administer the standardized, high stakes assessments that schools in the United States do. Therefore, I will not be under the pressure to "teach to the test" or worry about funding given or taken away or stress on my students due to high stakes assessment.
There is, however, a tradition of high stakes testing in French education. In middle school, before entering high school, students take the Brévet. And, to graduate from high school, students must pass the Baccalauréat. These tests have been around since their implementation by Napoléon who created a national, centralized education system in France. The Baccalauréat is the most stressful test for French students as it determines whether they graduate or not and what university they can get into. These tests also reflect on the school, but more in terms of their reputation than in funding. A student's success (or failure) on the test is primarily up to the student. The Baccalauréat is not a standardized test. It is comprised of a week-long series of oral and written tests from philosophy to language to literature to science and math, depending on how the student has been tracked academically. Tracking generally begins around the end of middle school or beginning of high school and students decide whether they want to concentrate on a literature-based or math/science-based curriculum.
The Baccalauréat exam, while a high stakes test because it determines high school students' futures, has a mixed reputation in France. It was once highly regarded and respected but nowadays seems to be more of a "rite of passage." As an article in The New York Times by Scott Sayare reported:
Outside the Lycée Condorcet in Paris last week, Justine Ripoll said that the test she
was about to take served little practical purpose, but she defended it just the same.
“It’s more a rite of passage than an exam,” said Ms. Ripoll, 18, dragging lightly on a
morning cigarette. “That’s why it would be a shame to get rid of it. Everybody’s been
through it. It’s traumatized everybody.”
To be known as a having "traumatized everybody" gives a clear indication of how French people view the exam.
Since I will not be teaching upper school students, I won't be directly affected, as a teacher, by the French exams--Brévet and Baccalauréat. And, because the American section does not administer American standardized tests, I think I am lucky to not have to worry about high stakes assessments. After having read various articles and watched videos, like the one above, it is clear that high stakes assessments have a large impact on students, teachers and schools. Personally, I think it is difficult (impossible) to look at one child's test result and determine 1) that child's academic future and 2) the effectiveness of the teacher. I feel it is much more constructive to look at the test result along with the child's progress throughout the year (or at least across a few months), their social and emotional benchmarks and their progress in all subjects, not just the two or three tested on the standardized assessment.
Consequences
In my research on this topic for my assignment, I found that most of the articles written on high stakes assessments were not in favor of them. It seems like the majority of opinions feel that these types of tests to not fully reflect student learning. I think it is a difficult situation because there seems to be a need to find a standard and to globally track student progress, but administering a standardized, high stakes test does not seem to be the most effective method. Overall, the two biggest concerns related to high stakes assessments that I found were 1) teaching to the test, which took away from parts of curriculum, and 2) the tests not improving education for all students.
The first concern of teaching to the test, we saw illustrated in the video above with the two teachers in Georgia teaching to the test the first day of school. Additionally, in a study done in Australia among 8,000 teachers, the results showed that because of high stakes assessments, there has been a reduction in time spend on other curriculum areas and more time spent on curriculum related to tests. The study confirmed that this ultimately narrowed the overall education of each student. These findings are unfortunate when we think about the kind of students we want to encourage. Are we teaching students to think in a standardized way rather than fully preparing them with 21st Century skills in real-world experiences?
The second concern, revolving around not improving education for all students, is really the idea that the tests have seemed to punish those schools, students or teachers who have not performed well instead of using the tests to help those who need help the most. As the 2015 article High-Stakes Testing Hasn't Brought Education Gains points out
The only thing that more testing will tell us is what we already know: The schools that disadvantaged children attend are not being given the supports necessary to produce achievement gains. Students cannot be tested out of poverty, and while NCLB did take us a step forward by requiring schools to produce evidence that students were learning, it took us several steps backward when that evidence was reduced to how well a student performed on a standardized test.
The authors of this article point out that it's not necessarily the test that is bad, but how the test results are used.
The Future
What will the future of high stakes assessments be? In France, there is no move to change or remove the Baccalauréat from the educational system. So, French children will go through the same "trauma" their parents and grandparents experienced. The rite of passage will continue.
In the United States, we will have to wait and see how the Every Student Succeeds Act impacts students, teachers and schools. Perhaps the greatest gift we can give to our students with regard to high stakes assessments is to take away the the power it holds over them. We can look at the results, but also look at the student as a whole. Schools are not factories that are intended to produce the same make and model, so if our testing does not reflect the differences among our students, then the way we assess them overall should.
Sources
Dianis, J. B., Jackson, J. H., & Noguera, P. (2015). High-Stakes Testing Hasn't Brought Education Gains. Phi Delta Kappan, 97(1), 35-37.
N.A. (2014). High-Stakes Test. The glossary of education reform. Retrieved from http://edglossary.org/high-stakes-testing/
Polesel, J., Rice, S., & Dulfer, N. (2014). The Impact of High-Stakes Testing on Curriculum and Pedagogy: A Teacher Perspective from Australia. Journal Of Education Policy, 29(5), 640-657.
Sayare, S. (2013). Rite of Passage for French Students Receives Poor Grade. The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/28/world/europe/a-rite-of-passage-for-french-students-receives-a-poor-grade.html?_r=0
Shindell, R. (2001). What is the Real Purpose of Standardized Testing? Teacher Newsmagazine. 14(1). Retrieved from: https://bctf.ca/publications/NewsmagArticle.aspx?id=11406
Supovitz, J. (2016). Is High Stakes Testing Working? Excerpt from: Can High Stakes Testing Leverage Educational Improvement? Prospects from the Last Decade of Testing and Accountability Reform. The Journal of Educational Change, 10(2-3).
von der Embse, N. P., & Witmer, S. E. (2014). High-Stakes Accountability: Student Anxiety and Large-Scale Testing. Journal Of Applied School Psychology, 30(2), 132-156.
Recently, I have been working closely with the Common Core Standard for Kindergarten Literacy:
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7
With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g. what moment in a story an illustration depicts).
In this post, I will look at one of the objectives I created for this standard and establish three different types of formative assessments. Objective
At the end of the lesson, students will be able to explain how each illustration gives clues about the characters, setting or events of the story. Assessment #1: Think-Pair-Share
I believe it is important for students to express themselves and their thoughts. In the larger classroom setting, it is not alway easy for every child to talk especially if they are shy or hesitant to speak in front of others. Some students need more reflection time before they are able to answer a question as well and might feel on the spot if the teacher calls on them directly. It can also be challenging to have a detailed discussion if different students are throwing their ideas out there. Consequently, the first assessment I would like to do for this objective would be think-pair-share. For this assessment, I would ask them questions like "which illustration shows the setting of the story?" or "which illustration shows when Henry got his new puppy?" or "which illustration shows how Henry feels about...?" I could ask different pairs different questions about the same story so each group has to come up with their own answer and students are not repeating another group's answer. First, I would introduce the concept of think-pair-share, if we had not done it before. I would explain that first each student will think about the topic/question for about 2 minutes, then they will meet with their partner for about 5 minutes to discuss their the question and their ideas and, finally, they will share their ideas with the rest of the class. I will let them know they are allow to use paper to write down or draw their ideas, if they need or want to do so. I would mix the reading levels up and mix different personalities to try to have the students balance each other out. I hope this would help encourage and motivate them as well. This assessment asks students to collaborate, communicate, use critical thinking skills, evaluate and use social skills.
Assessment #2: Matching Since the first assessment is based on speaking, I would like for the second assessment to be different A visually-centered assessment could reach students who are more visual learners. With this assessment, the idea is to have students match images from a story discussed class with the words on the same page. The students will have to reflect on the illustration and what it shows in order to connect it with the words and the actions or events they describe. They must truly find a link with the words and the pictures. To keep it simple and focused, I would have images and text on a single sheet of paper from a story we discussed. The images on the left side in a column and the words on the right side in a column. The students would have to draw a line from the illustration to the correct words that describe the action. This assessment asks students to see the correlation between the illustration and the story text. I requires students to analyze, use critical thinking and productivity. Assessment #3: Draw it
It would like the thirst assessment to be a little more in-depth. This assessment would have the students create their own illustrations to a very short story. I would give the students a short text, no more than three pages, that they have not read before. An example of a short story they could illustrate in three pages is:
Sam says “bye” to his parents. He leaves his house. He sees his friend, Emma. They walk to school. When they get to school they see all their friends playing in the playground. Sam and Emma go to the playground. The bell rings. All the kids line up behind the teacher to go inside. It’s time for school to start!
This assessment gives the students the freedom to be creative in their drawings while adhering to the story's plot. It asks students to use creative thinking, critical thinking, analyzing, problem solving, producing, productivity and initiative. After having been asked to do analyzing of the link between illustrations and story text in the first two assessments, this assessment has them create the link between the two. It will be interesting to see and have student share their different illustrations for the same story. Final Thoughts In planning three assessments for the same objective, I wanted to plan a variety of assessment types that would reach different styles of learners and allow students to use an array of skills. I think that 1) think-pair-share, 2) matching and 3) draw it are all good ways to formatively assess the students as they are learning this objective.
Sources Dyer, K. (2013). 22 Easy Formative Assessment Techniques for Measuring Student Learning. Northwest Evaluation Association. Retrieved from: https://www.nwea.org/blog/2013/22-easy-formative-assessment-techniques-for-measuring-student-learning/ http://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/assessment/10-assessments-you-can-perform-in-90-seconds/ http://www.readtennessee.org/teachers/common_core_standards/kindergarten/reading_literature/rlk7/rlk7_assessments.aspx http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy-guides/using-think-pair-share-30626.html Sources for Images http://www.k12reader.com/kindergarten-sight-words/ https://fr.pinterest.com/pin/464574517792375559/ http://www.123rf.com/photo_28423143_cute-little-preschool-children-drawing-with-colorful-paints-at-kindergarten.html
