Planning Assessment

Topic 1: Linking Assessment to Learning Outcomes

Planning Assessment

Assessments provide information about student learning. As explained in Unit 2, you want to be sure the information you collect about student learning is useful. It is important to make sure the assessments you choose provide the information you want to know about your students' learning. You can do this through careful planning. First, identify a learning outcome. Then choose activities that will help students achieve that outcome. Finally, decide the best way (a test, a written paper) to assess what they have learned.

It may help to ask yourself the following questions when planning for assessment.

Step in Planning Process Question

Identify learning outcomes Where do I want my students to end up?

Plan activities How will my students arrive at that place?

Choose assessments How will I know that they have arrived?

Consider how this would work in a classroom. Imagine a lesson designed to help students learn how to write an opinion about a character in a story. First, the teacher tells students the learning outcome for the unit (can write a paper giving an opinion about a character in a story).

Next, the students do several activities to build their skills toward this learning outcome. Each activity helps students practice skills they need to achieve the learning outcome and do well on the assessment. Finally, the teacher assesses the students by having each write a paper giving an opinion about a character in a story.

To see if they have achieved this learning outcome, the teacher uses a rubric to assess students' papers. A rubric is a grid that has the criteria for achieving different scores on an assessment or assignment. Teachers use rubrics to grade students' work. It shows the standards of quality expected for target skills or abilities (or the criteria).

Please see the example rubric on this screen. This rubric is for a written response. The criteria the teacher is assessing include: organization of the writing, support for the ideas, and vocabulary usage. The criteria for achieving an Advanced level are listed in the first column. For example, the criterion to achieve Advanced level in "Support" is that the students must use many examples from the story to support their ideas.

The chart below gives an example of a writing lesson showing the links between the learning outcome, the class activities, and the assessment. This kind of tool can help you connect the key processes in planning assessment.

Learning Outcome Classroom Activities Assessment

Students can write a short response to a story. 1. Students read example short responses.

2. Students practice writing responses to reading comprehension questions.

3. Students read a partner’s response and comment. 1. Students use a rubric to give comments to their partner. (The task is to write a short response to a story.)

2. The teacher uses the same rubric to grade the task.