I have used the term “windows,” as many other
educators have before me, to describe the assessment instruments used to
generate information about the students in my class. I chose the term windows
because it describes the importance of observation and the limited scope of any
one assessment technique. Teachers “look through” these assessment windows at
their students during actual literacy events. These assessments are
observational guides, designed to hone teachers powers of observation and make
their assessments more meaningful.
There is no single window, no single
assessment, that provides access to the complete child. In other words, each
window reveals information about a child as much as it conceals information.
Each assessment window calls forth different aspects of a child’s behaviors,
abilities and dispositions. It is only through the use of a variety of assessment
windows that a more extensive understanding of a child’s literate abilities
emerges.
When through a window, we often find
a bit of reflection of ourselves bouncing back. It is the same with these
assessment windows. As we generate information about our students, we also
generate information about our teaching, our classroom and ourselves. For
example, when we review the artifacts collected in our students’ portfolios
(treasuries), we can reflect on what we have taught during the year, what has
been given the most attention and possibly what was missing.
In
addition, I have chosen the term window because assessment windows, just like
windows in the real world, come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some windows
offer us a wide view of the world and some only a small portal through which to
observe the events around us. It is the same with our assessment windows. Let’s
say you were going to buy a new house and you wanted to get a sense of what it
was like, but your realtor was running late and all you could do was walk
around the house and look through the windows. No single window would allow you
to see everything inside the house. However, by walking around and looking
through a variety of windows, from a variety of vantage points, you might be
able to build up an understanding of what the house contained. Eventually, your
realtor arrives and opens the door for you to enter the premises, wander around
and get a better sense of what is actually in the house. This works great for
home buying. Unfortunately, we cannot open the door and wander around in our
students’ minds or their experiences. All we can do is look through the
assessment windows we create to understand what they are doing, are able to do,
and need more support in doing.
I
have also purposefully chosen to use the term “generate” rather than the terms
“gather” or “collect” to describe the process by which information is produced
utilizing these assessment windows. I chose the word generate because it
describes how teachers actively select, observe, create and revise the
information they use to make instructional decisions. This information does not
come to us ready made, it is generated through the processes and instruments we
select and the knowledge base we bring to the observed learning events.
Different assessment windows generate different information. In other words, we
are only able to see our students through the windows and opportunities we make
available. Each window limits our view, and at the same time makes observation
and generating information possible. Because of this, we need to be careful
about the assessment windows and techniques we select because they determine in
part how we come to know our students as readers.
Sources of Information
In
order to understand the variety of assessment windows we might utilize to
generate information, we need to first consider the types of information that
are available to the classroom teacher. In other words, what will we observe,
where and when will we make our observations, what information is of value, and
how does this information present itself? Basically, we have available to us
the same types of information that qualitative researchers draw upon when
conducting research studies. The three main sources of information we may draw
upon to understand students’ literate abilities are:
- Artifacts – the
products students create when reading and responding to what is being
read. Anything tangible that can be collected and put in a portfolio is an
artifact. For example, literature response notebook entries, charts,
response activities, or book reviews are all types of artifacts.
- Observations –
the notes we create by watching students engage in literate activities.
For example, observing students’ responses during whole group read alouds,
notes taken during a literature discussion, general observational notes
about students’ reading preferences or selection of books, or notes taken
when listening to a student read aloud.
- Interactions – the discussions and communications we have with students on a daily basis. Unlike observations, interactions require the teacher to interact with the student, rather than passively observe. This type of information is generated by asking particular questions from an interview protocol, or conducting daily “check-in conferences” with students.
These sources of information are
found in a variety of settings and provide the classroom teacher with the
information necessary to make more effective decisions regarding instructional
approaches, learning experiences and interventions. For example, we can observe
students preparing to read, selecting a book and choosing to sit in a
particular place to read. We can use a particular instrument to observe readers
during the act of reading, or we can look at what they create when they have
finished reading. The following chart (Figure 2.2) gives some examples of the
types of questions teachers can ask about readers before, during, and after
reading a text.
Sources of Information About Reading
1.
Before Reading
What strategies do students use for selecting a
text?
How does a student approach a text? (Do they skim
through it? Read the title page? Look at the end pages and other peritextual
information?)
Are students able to state their purposes for
reading a particular text?
When and where do students choose to read?
2.
During Reading
Does the student demonstrate immediate emotional
reactions - laugh, cry etc.
Is the student able to code or mark important
passages in the text during reading for further inquiry?
Is the student able to stop and this aloud during
his or her reading? What does the student talk about?
As a student reads a text, what strategies does
he or she employ? Is the student fluently reading, or is her or his reading
choppy? Is the student able to adjust his or her rate of reading to ensure
understanding?
3. After
Reading:
Is a student able to talk about the text when
finished? Can he or she paraphrase or summarize what has been read? Does the
student draw inferences from the text?
Can students write a response entry in their
literature response notebook?
Are students able to answer questions about what
has been read?
Can students respond in other ways (write a book
review, draw a picture, act ot the story) to what has been read?
We, as teachers, have available to us
a wide variety of information that can be used to provide evidence of a
student’s reading processes, preferences and strategies. Each source provides a
different type of information which helps us to come to know our students as
readers and literate beings. Various assessment windows or data generating
techniques are used to tap into these sources of information, and it is to
these assessment windows and observational techniques I now turn.
Efficient Assessment Windows
I
have relied upon many different assessment windows over my years of experience
as a classroom teacher in order to come to know my students as readers and
writers. Some windows have generated a wealth of information, while others were
not worth the time I spent using them, either because they took too much time
away from my instruction, or the information they provided was not very helpful
in understanding my students. The windows I will share with you in this chapter
are the ones that provided the most information with the least amount of
interruption to my teaching. In addition, they generated information during
actual reading events, not the contrived scenarios that mimic real reading that
are part of so many standardized tests. It is because of these characteristics
I call them “efficient” assessment windows.
My Top Ten Efficient Assessment
Windows
- Observational
Records
- Observational
Checklists
- Reading
Interviews and Conferences
- Reading Response
Notebooks
- Oral Reading
Analyses
- Think Aloud
Protocols
- Retellings
- Reflection Logs
- Book Reviews
- Treasuries
