To Test or Not To Test?

Some might argue that the only way to truly assess a students' ability in an objective manner is to administer a good old fashioned test. However, the problem with this thinking is that it's precisely that - old fashioned. In fact, most pencil and paper assessments limit our students to lower levels of thinking. Yet, every guru in educational psychology has always proclaimed the importance of higher level thinking. From Bloom's evaluation to Webb's Depth of Knowledge, a heavy emphasis has been placed on extending students' thinking beyond multiple choice answers.

With the introduction of technology into today's learning society, I believe that there are so many other manners in which we can assess a students' abilities. To do this, though, our focus must be on creating objective opportunities to assess the students' abilities. So, how do we accomplish assessing our students objectively without having to solely rely on testing? In essence, we follow the same steps. First, we must determine the standard. From the standard, we must determine the concepts, procedures, and representations that are required by the standard. Once the teacher has a clear idea of the level of complexity that is required by the standard, the teacher must decide which activity would be best suited to assessing the content. Finally, the teacher must provide clear benchmarks for the students to assess their own learning.

I think the use of various assessments is important, because it truly brings the joy back into the classroom. For years, teachers and students alike have complained about the "testing environment" that has become the American classroom. The video below is an excellent example of how using a variety of assessments is playing out for one district in terms of student achievement, teacher attitude, and student attitude.