Topic: Assessment

10-Second Review: There’s a significant difference between assessment OF and Assessment FOR learning.

Title: “Balancing the Assessment OF Learning and FOR Learning in Support of Student Literacy Achievement.” Patricia A. Edwards, et al. The Reading Teacher (May 2008), 682-684. A publication of the International Reading Association.

Summary: As the title of the article indicates, assessment must be of two types: assessment OF learning and assessment FOR learning. Assessment OF learning is a dead end, summarizing what students have done, their levels of achievement, pigeon-holes labeled “dumb,” “average,” “has potential” and “bright.” Assessment FOR learning is designed to determine how to help students overcome weaknesses in learning and how to utilize students’ strengths in learning.

Comment: Those two prepositions OF and For make all the difference. RayS.

NOTE: As you have probably recognized, I am using the word “literacy” too often. That’s because in elementary education today, the word “literacy” is repeated too often. The trouble with the word “literacy” is that it now applies to too many things: reading, writing, film, technology, science, geography and every other subject in which students do not know as much as experts in the subject do and are, therefore, considered to be deficient.

I can’t avoid using “literacy” in the titles or summaries of the articles I review, but I can try to “write around the word” in my comments. I promise to work at it. RayS.

The purpose of this blog is to share interesting ideas I have found in recent American professional publications dealing with the teaching of English at all levels, elementary, secondary and college.