Assessment

Assessment is important in determining whether students are meeting the learning objectives for the lesson/unit. It is a part of instruction, not separate from it. The purpose of assessment is to: 
  • Provide students the opportunity to demonstrate what they know or are able to do.
  • Determine whether students are meeting the learning objectives.
  • Modify curriculum and individualize instruction.
  • Identify children with special needs.
  • Provide teachers with objective information for grading.
  • Motivate students to improve their performance.
  • Evaluate the program’s effectiveness.
  • Communicate student progress with parents.

Appropriate Practices

  • Be clear about what is being assessed, the criteria involved, and why it's important to the students (use rubrics for example).
  • Provide examples of past student work.
  • Allow students to practice the assessment as needed (especially fitness tests).
  • Involve students by using self evaluation, partner evaluation, etc., and give them choices in how they will be assessed. 
  • Use the information from the assessments to guide future lessons. 
  • Communicate the information from the assessments with students, administrators, and parents when appropriate.

Inappropriate Practices

  • Assessment is based on classroom rule compliance, “dressing out,” attendance, and fitness scores.
  • Assessment items focus on isolated skills in an artificial context.
  • Assessment ONLY occurs in the context of grading.

Grading Your Students

Communicate clearly to your students how grades are earned at the beginning of each year. Assessment is not just used for grading purposes, but also to help students learn. Students should set, revise, and achieve realistic but challenging goals. Assess and grade the students on their individual success. Do not grade students on:
 
Following class rules:
Following rules is expected in order to be able to participate and should be part of a holistic readiness for class.
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Dressing out:
Dressing for class is expected in order to be able to participate and should be part of a holistic readiness for class. 
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Fitness levels:
Fitness is largely influenced by genetics and time spent on exercise outside of class.
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“Eye-balling” their effort:
Monitoring effort is a subjective endeavor.
 
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Types of Alternative and Authentic Assessments

  • Teacher Observations

  • Peer Observations

  • Self-Assessment

  • Exit Slips

  • Video/Digital Pictures

  • Student Routines
  • Student Journals

  • Homework 

  • Portfolios

  • Student Displays and Presentations

  • Student Drawings 

Examples from an Undergraduate Self Defense Class

Instead of a traditional skills test as a summative assessment, students were asked to choreograph various fight scenes using the skills they had learned. Enjoy!

Rubrics

Rubrics are scoring tools with pre-established criteria specifying the level of quality or performance of a task. The purpose of a rubric is to:
  • Define what the target behavior or skill is and how to achieve it.
  • Inform students and parents of the teacher’s expectations for the task.
  • Help teachers be more accurate, objective, and unbiased in scoring.
  • Maintain instructional alignment.

Create your own rubric or find examples at RubiStar for free
"This booklet describes what rubrics are, presents several examples, and explains how to write a rubric including hints and suggestions and how to avoid common pitfalls."
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Find smartphone apps for assessing students here