Has 'finals week' become antiquated & redundant?

I recently posed a couple thoughts to the Twitterverse in regard to finals:

Do we really need finals to tell us what our kids know vs. don't know? Thinking that 'finals week' has become... redundant...??? #edchat
— Dr. Justin Tarte (@justintarte) December 16, 2014

Seriously... if we eliminated finals in the current structure, all that would happen is kids wouldn't be prepared for college finals, right?
— Dr. Justin Tarte (@justintarte) December 16, 2014

Here's a scenario that plays out in many secondary schools all across the globe...

The teacher explains what will be on the final. This 'final' encompasses everything that has been covered throughout the prior semester. The teacher also explains how much the final will be worth and the impact the final will have on the students' semester grades. The teacher then hands out some kind of study guide for the students to use to review and prepare for the final. All learning stops as class time becomes solely focused on preparing for the final.

The students use the study guide to guide their studying in preparation for the final but the study guide is so broad and far-reaching the students are unable to specifically identify what they should really know. The students then play out scenarios in their head about how the grade on the final will impact their final semester grades. The students then begin a sporadic process of cramming as much possible information in their heads in preparation for the final only to be forgotten soon after.

So, here are some of my thoughts...

Finals are summative assessments with no opportunity for revision; no opportunity for feedback/input; no opportunity for correction... so what's the point other than filling the gradebook?

We spend all semester and all school year working with students... do we really need a final to tell us what our students know or don't know? If so, that's a problem...

If we are doing finals just because the next level of schooling does finals, that's a pretty poor excuse to rob our students of so much time and energy at the end of each semester.

Almost all school districts have a final exemption policy... if kids can exempt, then the argument that finals prepare kids for some next level of schooling falls short. Shouldn't every kid be required to get this 'experience...?'

The typical final uses low-level questions and focuses on quantity over quality in an effort to cover as much as possible. Finals are the shotgun approach to assessing with very little ability to identify specifically what kids know vs. don't know.

Many finals are able to be scored via scantron and are built around memorization of facts, terms and dates, just to be forgotten as the kids walk out the door.


So, is it time to revisit our practice of doing finals?

Are we giving standardized tests a bad wrap?

When it comes to assessments, there are a couple words that typically come to mind when determining their overall value.

The first word is reliability. Assessment reliability is defined as the degree to which an assessment or assessment tool produces stable and consistent results.

The second word is validity. Assessment validity is defined as the accuracy of the assessment when it comes to actually measuring what it's supposed to measure.

So, if we can agree upon these two definitions, then let's talk about the types of assessments our students do:

Type 1: Standardized state and federal-level mandated assessments

Type 2: Assessments that are a part of a purchased or canned program

Type 3: Assessments that are designed by the district and used consistently across grade levels and/or departments (common assessments)

Type 4: Assessments that are designed by individual teachers and used just for their individual classes and/or students

So, here is the million dollar question... when it comes to the four types of assessments that are most typically used in schools, and based on the agreed upon definitions, which of the four types do you believe are the most reliable and most valid?

Which assessments produce the most stable and consistent results?

Which assessments can we confidently say measure what they are actually intended to measure?

Which assessments have went through a vetting process to limit bias and ensure standard alignment?

Which assessments have had multiple sets of reviewers and multiple versions before being pushed into circulation?

Which assessments have been designed and created by folks who create and design assessments for a living?

Which assessments allow for apples to apples comparison and consistency across communities?


Are we giving standardized tests a bad wrap or should we consider some of the positives and strengths that naturally emerge as part of the standardized testing process?

Just a few marbles rolling around in my head right now...

Numbers are destroying education

Data-driven decisions...

Data-driven leadership...

Data-driven response to intervention and differentiation...

Data data data...

If you interview for a position in education you are certain to get a question about using data to influence what you do. Being able to quantify information and populate excel spreadsheets and pie charts seem to be all the rage these days.

Students (most but not all) are so hungry for more points that they have completely lost sight of the purpose and value of learning. They have their sights set on extra credit, maximum number of points, and constantly wanting to know 'if it's for a grade.'

Numbers are a part of everyday life, but I fear they are one of the major contributing factors that are hampering, eroding, polluting, negatively affecting and toxifying education.

Here's the rub... numbers aren't inherently evil, but the way they are most frequently used is.

We want and expect accountability but we don't know any other way other than numbers in charts and spreadsheets. But what we fail to realize is that the measurements we are using to collect these numbers aren't always accurate or valid.

The value and accuracy of numbers rests in the methods and measures used to collect them which for most educators are foreign and uncharted waters.

Educators aren't trained (and probably aren't interested) in being statisticians and hardcore researchers who commit themselves to countless hours of gathering and accumulating data.

So, make no mistake, we need numbers in education and we need information to support our decisions. But let's take a moment to shift the focus away from gathering all this data and information and focus on how and why we are gathering all this data and information...

A quick & easy way to boost question complexity

Imagine you are designing an assessment. You have a set of questions that you would like to ask but you are struggling to find ways to elevate the levels of complexity and rigor associated with those questions.

One quick and easy way to boost depth of knowledge and rigor levels is to simply add a picture to the question.

For example:

English question - What is the difference between effect and affect?

Math question - What percent of an 8 piece pizza remains if two pieces are already gone & you are planning to eat two more?

Social studies question - What made the attack on Fort Wagner during The Civil War so difficult for the Northern troops?

Science question - What is an example of bison working together for the betterment of the group?

Now, all 4 of these questions are low level depth of knowledge questions. They are simple recall for the most part and don't have much rigor associated with them. You either know the answers, or you don't. These are hard questions if you don't know the answers, but the reality is there is no real complexity to these questions. Remember, hard and rigorous are NOT synonymous...

Take these low level questions to a higher level by adding an image:

English question - What is the difference between effect and affect? (In this image students compare both situations and evaluate the difference between the two words. This requires tapping into prior knowledge and understanding the progression of one image to another while inferring the results of what would happen next.)

Math question - What percent of an 8 piece pizza remains if two pieces are already gone & you are planning to eat two more? (In this image students can visualize the question as well as anticipate what would happen with the two pieces about to be eaten. Then, students can anticipate how much of the pizza will remain and compare that to a full not eaten pizza.)

Social studies question - What made the attack on Fort Wagner during The Civil War so difficult for the Northern troops? (In this image students can evaluate the attack and recognize that the fort was fortified, the Southern troops were at an elevated position, and the fort was difficult to approach due to water on at least one side.)

Science question - What is an example of bison working together for the betterment of the group? (In this image students can recognize that bison work together by walking in a line in the snow so each individual bison wouldn't have to plow through the snow. The work is being done by one bison and the entire group benefits from the work of that bison.)

Let's make formative assessing a top priority

In our undergraduate courses we all learned about summative and formative assessing. We've also all been to conferences or events that have emphasized the importance of many small assessments to drive our instruction rather than waiting until the end when it may be too late.

http://goo.gl/uGxor1

Though I think this has all been with good intention, we may have been missing the most important part of formative assessing and feedback.

See, when we focus on this more timely and frequent feedback to change and adjust our instruction, we are focusing on the teacher side of things.

The true beauty and value of more frequent and timely assessments is not just to help guide and drive our instruction, it's to provide frequent and timely feedback for our students so they can take more ownership and control over their learning.

As Marzano so simply stated, "The most powerful single innovation that enhances achievement is feedback."

Flip the scenario... why would any teacher want to use frequent formative assessments?

They are looking for feedback and input to help guide and drive their instruction to hopefully improve student learning.

Now, while we are on the topic of formative assessments, I want to make a few things clear about what formative assessing really is:

Formative assessments are fluid and flow seamlessly in the learning process because they are a part of the learning process. Most situations involving formative assessing are not and shouldn't be for a grade. Formative assessing is similar to what happens in real-life, thus students and their learning won't even skip a beat.

Formative assessing would be like going to the doctor for a preventative check-up and finding out you have high blood pressure. At this check-up you would get feedback and input on how to lower your blood pressure. Formative assessments keep you off the autopsy table when it's too late to fix or prevent the damage.

Formative assessing is about goal-setting and the ownership of the learning process for students via feedback and input both from the teacher and from the students themselves.

Lastly, formative assessing DOES NOT need to be a traditional type of assessment. It can be something as simple as a thumbs up or down activity or a quick scan of the classroom to check student body language and demeanor. DO NOT think you need to have a quantifiable number spreadsheet to do a formative assessment.

Do yourself a favor and most importantly, do your students a favor by utilizing more formative assessments.

Check out these links with several examples of formative assessments:

54 examples for formative assessments via David Wees

Formative assessment techniques to check understanding

Formative assessment strategies

It's just not good enough anymore...

Below is a presentation I will be sharing at the SMCAA Spring Conference: The Changing Face of Assessments. I don't think we can talk about assessments without talking about everything else that encompasses education... and in some cases, it's just not good enough anymore.

Assessments, and the role they play in student learning...

Assessment is an ongoing, systematic process that involves:

• Establishing clear, measurable expected goals of student learning
• Gathering, analyzing, and interpreting information
• Applying information and using the results for continuous improvement of teaching and learning.

Student Learning includes the knowledge, skills, and personal development attained through curricular, co-curricular, and out-of-class learning experiences.

"The value of assessments lies not just in the quality of the test itself, but also in how the information from the assessments is used..."

Take a few moments and evaluate the alignment of your classroom instructional practices and activities to the types of assessments you are assigning. If your classroom activities are not matching up with the skills and application of knowledge you are requiring your students to complete on assessments, then your assessments will not provide you with valuable and relevant data. Likewise, if the level of rigor and DOK on your classroom activities are unbalanced with your assessments, you will not be able to make fair and/or accurate conclusions in regard to assessment data.

Lastly, personalizing the types and frequency of assessments for individual students may seem daunting and difficult, but consider this image below and reflect on your assessment practices. If the goal of assessments is to get useful and relevant data to drive and guide classroom instruction in an effort to best meet the needs of our students, then this image makes quite a statement...