In class we’ve spent the last couple of lessons discussing what to assess in literacy , how to assess it, and how to report it to students and caregivers. While I thought these lessons would be redundant (as we have an entire course dedicated to assessment and reporting), they were so beneficial! To make things simple, I’m going to separate this post into two sections. Section 1 will showcase some literacy assessment strategies that I plan on using in my career, and section 2 will focus more on how to report on literacy.
Literacy Assessment Strategies
This post was supposed to discuss one strategy in detail, but there are a few strategies I don’t want to forget. My daughter just completed a novel study, and her teacher has given her some creative options for her final project. Some of these options include:
- Create a music playlist that matches the novel.
- A Facebook profile of the main character.
- A bag of artifacts showcasing key aspects of the novel.
- Write a newspaper outlining crucial facts about the novel.
When I was in middle school (back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth), I was required to write an essay for my final project. There were no options. There was no student autonomy or creativity. Just writing. How great is it that research has discovered that there are many ways to assess students understandings while still allowing students opportunities to express there knowledge in varied and creative ways. In our Drama course, I read a quote that really impacted me. Peter Freebody, in an article entitled, Stand up for literature: Dramatic approaches in the secondary English classroom, said, “Too many of the special gifts of an education in English language and literature are unnecessarily, almost carelessly, forfeited in the confined spaces built with the disembodied words of schooling.” This quote spoke to my heart. Many English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms have become quiet, boring spaces where students are expected to quietly read a section of text and answer dull comprehension sentences in full sentences. Now, I understand that part of the ELA curriculum is learning to read a variety of texts and write in full sentences, but there are so many other (fun) options to assess students comprehension and knowledge! Thankfully, I’m not alone in my thoughts and many ELA classrooms have evolved (like my daughter’s) to include more creative and engaging assessment strategies.
A Music Playlist – An Assessment Strategy
Let’s explore the assessment strategy of creating a music playlist for a story in more detail. This assessment strategy is new to me, so like any normal person, I googled it! I immediately found a post entitled, “How (and Why) You Should Make a Story Playlist.” It’s full of really great information, and you should definitely check it out! The beginning of the article says this, “Music can enhance so many elements of story, as demonstrated by the power of movie soundtracks. Songs have the ability to denote mood, theme, even plot points. They have power over our emotions and can leave people with such strong impressions that they will forever associate a song with a movie, book, or place.” I’m sold. I can absolutely see how a students collection of songs can represent their comprehension of a story.
As an activity, let’s create a playlist for “The Paper Bag Princess” by Robert Munsch:
1. “Love Story” by Taylor Swift (the beginning of the story)
2. “Demons” by Imagine Dragons (when the dragon appears)
3. “Girl on Fire” by Alicia Keys (when the dragon burns her dress)
4. “Scars to Your Beautiful” by Alessia Cara (when the princess no longer looks like a princess because her dress is burned, and she now has to wear a paper bag)
4. “I See Fire” by Ed Sheran (when the princess tracks the dragon)
5. “Titanium” by David Guetta featuring Sia (when the princess shows courage to confront the dragon)
6. Standing Outside the Fire by Garth Brooks (when the princess tricks the dragon to use up all his fire)
7. “Life in the Fast Lane” by Eagles (when the princess tricks the dragon to fly around the world as fast as he can twice)
8. “Roar” by Katy Perry (when the princess defeats the dragon with her cunning)
9. “Unpretty” by TLC (when the prince rejects the princess because she doesn’t look like a princess. This song represents how I thought she would feel)
10. “Fighter” by Christina Aguilera (how the princess actually feels after the prince tells her she needs to dress like a real princess)
11. “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas (when the last illustration shows the princess happily skipping away after breaking up with the prince)
Compiling this playlist was a lot of fun. Google and ChatGPT were a lot of help recommending songs, but I had to put in the criteria for the songs I was looking for. As a teacher, I would require my students to do a more thorough explanation on why each song was chosen than what I provided above. All in all, I think this is a really fun way literacy assessment strategy for middle school students.
The BC Student Reporting Policy
WHY DO I NEED TO REPORT?
My teachers have often advised me to “start with the end in mind.” I need to know what I want my students to learn before I design the lesson. If I follow that approach, then what is the “end” goal or the purpose of reporting? In August 2023, the Ministry of Education published the “K-12 Reporting Policy” document which states, “The goal of communicating student learning is to ensure that: (1) students take part in meaningful conversations that help them develop responsibility for engaging deeply with their learning, and (2) parents and caregivers are well informed, are involved in decisions and dialogue about their child’s learning, and understand ways to support and further their child’s learning” (p. 6).
With these goals in mind, I now understand the purpose behind reporting and will be better able to meet those objectives.
As a teacher I know that my reports are meant for both the student and the parents/caregivers. What I communicate needs to help encourage collaboration and teamwork between all 3 of us in order for the student to reach the most success. The “K-12 Reporting Policy” guidebook affirms, “Consistent, timely, and meaningful communication supports the relationship between the student, parent, caregiver, teacher, administrator, and community, and implicitly recognizes that we contribute collectively, as a community, to the education of our children.”
WHO DO I ASSESS AND REPORT ON?
It is my responsibility to report on the progress of all my students “regardless of needs or
abilities” (“K-12 Reporting Policy” guide, p. 11). Some of these students may require different forms of assessment but each has a right to be fairly assessed.
WHEN DO I ASSESS AND REPORT?
Anne Davies, the author of “Making Classroom Assessment Work,” believes that a teacher should assess often and in a variety of ways. As a teacher, I am encouraged to use formative assessment in every lesson to help guide future teacher. Some argue that summative assessment, needs to become less of a focus as we encourage students to continue learning rather than placing a finish line at the end of each unit where the learning may stop.
The reporting policy states that I must formally report on student progress 5 times a year. These reports are broken into 4 learning updates (2 written and 2 informal) and 1 summary of learning (ie: the final report card). According to my Assessment teacher, the school administrators will, likely, provide instruction as to when these reports will be required.
WHAT DO I REPORT ON?
The guidebook clearly answers this question by saying, “Evaluation of student learning is based on the learning standards set out in the B.C. curriculum. Learning standards are explicit statements of what students are expected to be able to do (Curricular Competencies) and define what students should know (Content) in each area of learning at a particular grade level” (p. 9). Going back to the idea of “start with the end in mind,” this quote makes it very clear as to what the Ministry of Education expects me to do as a teacher. The learning standards are MY end goal and what I should be evaluating myself and my students on.
HOW DO I REPORT?
This seems to be the BIG question. Luckily, between my Assessment teacher and Allison Kostiuk, I have been well prepped on how to report.
First, the Policy suggests that I focus on proficiency. In BC, the transition away from letter grades was difficult, but I believe it is improving. Through descriptive feedback, teachers are able to clearly identify student progress and areas that require extra effort/assistance.
On pages 28-30 of the guidebook, there is some really valuable information on what each category in the proficiency scale means. It is well worth the read.
Second, I am to use descriptive feedback when reporting. The image above clearly outlines why this descriptive feedback is so important.
HELP! HOW DO I WRITE DESCRIPTIVE FEEDBACK?
This is where I struggle a bit. The following image is a screen capture of page 39 of the “K-12 Reporting Policy” guide, and I refer to it often when attempting to write valuable descriptive feedback.
In my assessment course, I had to write a fictional report card for a student. I found it extremely difficult to keep my report card comments brief while including all the required information. Writing concisely is a skill! Maybe Grammarly can help me with that?
In the guidebook, on page 39, there are several examples of well written report card comments for students at varying points on the proficiency scale in different courses. I found these very helpful as well.
MY ATTEMPT AT DESCRIPTIVE FEEDBACK:
Background Information: Johny is a Grade 3 student.
“Johnny, you are currently developing your abilities in English Language Arts. You demonstrate strong comprehension of story themes and elements during group discussions and in your ePortfolio work. You completed the first two novels in the Magic Treehouse series and are eager to share your predictions and findings. While you explain literary concepts verbally, translating them to paper poses a challenge, often leading to incomplete assignments. Frustration with penmanship affects your motivation and completion rate. Currently, we are focusing on keeping proper spacing between words. I will further support you by creating a check list for you to complete at the end of each writing assignment further reminding you to watch for capital letters, word spacing, etc. Your parents could further support you by encouraging you to write each night. This writing could include a journal, notes to family members, a daily agenda, or even something interesting to share with someone at school the next day. Please focus on (1) printing on the line, (2) that there is spacing between each word, and (3) that letters are written correctly on the line (ie: the letter “g” goes below the line and the letter “t” goes up to the top line). Once your penmanship improves, I am confident that you will be more engaged in writing activities. I look forward to seeing your improvement next term. Well done, Johny!”
Additional Resources
The BC Performance Standards: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/teach/resources-for-teachers/curriculum/bc-performance-standards#performance
A Framework for Classroom Assessment: https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/classroom-assessment