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Sunday, August 9, 2015

10 questions to ask yourself before giving an assessment:

1). What's the point and purpose of the assessment?
2). Is this a preventative check-up (formative) type assessment or an autopsy (summative) type assessment?
3). Did your students have any voice and input into the assessment design and/or assessment process?
4). Are you able to assess more than one learning objective/goal with this assessment or is the assessment isolated to one specific learning objective/goal?
5). Is the assessment aligned to what you are currently teaching in a format similar to the way you've been conducting your instruction?
6). Will you provide multiple assessment formats for students to demonstrate their mastery/skills in a way of their choosing or will there be just one format? 

7). Does the assessment have a learning component to it that supplements the current learning objectives and goals?
8). Does the assessment allow for students to self-assess and track their overall understanding of the content/skills?
9). Are there a wide-range of questions at varying degrees of difficulty? What is the ratio of level 1 basic recall questions to level 4 higher order thinking questions?
10). Will you allow redos of this assessment? If not, please refer back to your answers in questions 1 and 2. Does this affect your decision not to allow redos?
BONUS: How authentic and realistic is the assessment format when compared to something a kid would experience when not in the traditional school setting?