Assessment in the 21st Century

Let’s talk about co-creating learning goals and success criteria!

“What is this?” you might ask.

“Well,” I would reply, “it’s when teachers and students collaborate to write (a) what students are going to learn from a particular lesson or task, and (b) what criteria the teacher is going to use to assess and evaluate their work.”

And you might say, “That’s ridiculous!”

And I would reply, “I thought so, too.”  When my teacher education program first dropped this idea in my lap, I had the following reservations:

• Students have no idea what they should be learning or what I should be marking them on because, after all, I’m the teacher, aren’t I?  Am I not the one who reads the curriculum documents?
• If students are given the chance to create the criteria for their own assignments, then they will always write really easy criteria so they get high marks.
• The criteria that students create for themselves will in no way align with curriculum expectations.

Now I know better:

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  My rendition of success criteria...

  
  

  How many times have students and parents been confused by the assignments and rubrics that come home from school, and what the real requirements are?  For example, “student shows a deep understanding of the subject matter.”  What does “deep understanding” mean?  What is the “subject matter?”  When the students write their own criteria, they write it in their own language.  In other words, they have a “deep understanding” of the criteria and are better equip to meet it.
• How many times has a student asked, “Why are we doing this?” or “What’s the point?”  When students create their own learning goals, it helps them to answer these questions because they connect the skills learned in class to the real world.  In other words, they feel more motivated to complete school work because it’s now relevant to their lives.

These questions neither address the issue of students giving themselves and each other A’s, nor explain how teachers will cover the curriculum.  However, students generally excel at telling their parents and teachers what (or who) they love, or hate, and why.  Could this power not be harnessed and used to tell us, for example, what makes a good presentation?

You might rebut, “What exactly is the teacher going to be doing while the students are doing the teacher’s job?”

And I might say, “The role of the teacher is shifting from lecturer to facilitator, and my question is, are we ready for the earthquake?”

 To further explore education earthquakes, please see this video of a lecture by Sir Ken Robinson, doodled by RSA Animate!