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ASSIGNING VALUE: SCIENCE ASSESSMENT
by Barbara Gentry, Indian Hills Middle School

The dictionary defines assessment as a process of assigning value to property. As educators, we not only assign value to student work, we decide what work is valuable. How we do this and why we do it is very important. I am a classroom teacher and also an assessment specialist for the USOE. I have given some thought to the hows and whys of assessment and hope I can add something of value to your work with students.

The reasons for assessing our students make an enormous difference in the type of assessment we use. What are our goals in giving an assignment or test? The obvious answer for most of us is that our school system demands that a grade be placed next to the student's name every nine weeks or so. What does that grade mean? It can mean very different things, depending on the teacher. In one class, it may indicate a willingness on the part of students to do large volumes of homework. In another, it may simply mean that students have shown up and participated. What does it mean in your class? I hope in my class it indicates a degree of mastery of the State Science Core as well as the Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) listed in the front of the Core. Can my students design and conduct an experiment in a particular topic area? Can they communicate effectively in the language of science?

The State Core tests are a great tool to help you discover your students' mastery of the core. I was the project manager for the tests and I realize that many might disagree on the "great" adjective. The tests have questions that may appear ambiguous. They seemed crystal clear to us. Writing assessment items is not as easy as it may seem. In order to understand the difficulty of assessment item writing, do the following exercise: Write 5 multiple choice items that match both an objective and an ILO from the Core. Give them to another teacher in your department and discuss them. Are the questions clearly understood by both of you? Do you agree on the answers? The distractors? The importance of the information being assessed? If the assessment item writing exercise was easy for you, get involved. Contact Brett Moulding at USOE and indicate your interest. You could be writing on the next round of tests.

Most of us do not want to believe the results of our own assessments. Could our students really not have understood what we taught so well? Another important reason to assess should be to provide feedback for us as teachers. We must not only collect the feedback but respond to it. I change how I teach constantly because of feedback I receive from assessing students. In order to meet student needs some of my activities have become easier, some more challenging. Occasionally I drop activities because students already understand the concepts involved. Sometimes I add activities to reinforce weak areas.

Choosing an authentic, reliable assessment tool is challenging. Most of us have huge time constraints because of the number of students we teach. An essay test could consume ten hours to grade. Multiple choice tests are faster but finding one that correlates with the Core is difficult. Textbook tests are frequently vocabulary driven and particularly poorly written. As educators our assessment options often seem limited and unsatisfactory. I have two suggestions for teachers who are interested in improving their assessment strategies. First, if you have not had an assessment class in your professional training, get one. A Science Performance Assessment course is offered through the USOE every summer in scenic Ephraim Canyon. This year will be held June 21-23. Watch for it in the course offerings. Second, the Science Homepage on the Internet has an assessment section for each subject. Some are not complete, but many have ideas that can get you started. Knowing more about assessment will change not just your test; it will change how you teach. Excellent assessment practices lead directly to excellent instruction. Begin with the end in mind; improve your assessment practices and improve your teaching.

All rights reserved except those which may be granted under Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. This document may be freely distributed in its entirety for non-profit purposes provided that the copyright notice is not removed. If you have questions concerning proper use of this material, or if you are interested in obtaining permission, contact the Curriculum Section Reception Desk at 801-538-7698.

This document was submitted for posting to the Internet by the State Science Specialist. Any questions concerning content should be directed to that individual.

Updated March 01, 1999 by Michelle Dumas