TESOL CALL-IS's List: Assessment, Evaluation, Quizzes, Tests

"One of my favorite review game platforms just added a great new collaborative feature. Teachers can now let their students collaboratively create questions for their next round of Gimkit using KitCollab. Teacher setup is simple and allows question writing to happen in real-time or asynchronously. Students just click on a link, write a multiple-choice or text-input question, and submit it for teacher approval." T/h Nick LaFave

Community worksheets for a wide variety of secondary school subjects, including STEMS and world languages. Create tests and worksheets and instructional materials and share with others.

This pdf has some good ways to check for understanding while in the process of reading a longer work.

"Part of the strength of the TELL Project is its built-in ability for teachers to self-determine how well they currently meet the criteria defined in the Teacher Effectiveness for Language Learning Framework, relative to the growth they would like to make. To assist teachers in this aspect of reflective practice, TELL makes available self-assessment documents that allows an educator to pause and consider their current practice to identify possible areas of professional growth."
The subtitle of this article is that "People don't learn from experiences, they learn from reflecting on their experiences."
Has downloadable worksheet to help you find out if you have a safe and supportive learning environment.

This app lets you peek into students' minds as they are in the process of learning a subject. Distribute tests or problems and then see each students' answer real-time. Students can enter text, draw pictures, use math symbols, etc. You score on a slider and they receive instant results. The animation on the sign-up pages gives some examples of each type of student response.
The only problem might be that learning really takes place over a long period of time -- you can "know" some things, but not really understand or learn a subject.

You will need to use a rubric app (freely available) to set up a rubric in your Google Drive at Spreadsheets.

"We’re not going into detail on what rubrics are or how to write a basic rubric (you can learn that here). What we want to do is present the process of designing rubrics through the lens of students taking ownership of their learning, and teachers becoming facilitators rather than teachers, so that their Rubrics will ROCK! So we’re talking about designing rubrics as formative assessment—and not only formative, but driven by the students themselves (astute readers will also find the great Stephen Covey within this blog.)"







Looks at ways to have students design their own rubrics -- great for individualizing/differentiating learning. Includes a template for students to use.

R. Stannard shows how to use Quizlet and find ready-made sets in the interface. Quizlet also works inside Edmodo and can be used for tests and assessments. He also recommends that you teach students how to use Quizlet themselves, so as to review concepts and vocabulary for themselves.

"What is qualitative formative assessment? Some call it anecdotal or informal assessment. However, such designations imply passivity -- as if certain things were captured accidentally. I believe the word "formative" should always be included with the word assessment because all feedback mechanisms should help shape and improve the person (or situation) being assessed. Wedging the word "qualitative" into my terminology differentiates it from the analytic or survey-based measures that some associate with the term formative assessment."
Richards discusses using mobile tools for on the spot assessment in a variety of ways.

These are three ways to hear from students what they think about the class and how things are going for them. Well worth consideration as alternative assessment procedures.
From Vicki Davis on Edutopia

"Interactive, Collaborative, Crowd-powered Video Learning"
MIT is using Crowdy to label and insert questions in segments of video to increase learning efficiency. Stats can be collected from learners' answers.

"Here, four ways to offer feedback that really makes a difference, drawn from research in psychology and cognitive science:"
These include:
1.Supply information about what the learner is doing, rather than praise or criticism.
2. Take care in how feedback is presented so it doesn't reduce motivation. Have learners be involved in analyzing their own performance.
3. Orient feedback to goals.
4. use feedback to develop metacognitive skills.

These tools help you ensure on the fly that students understand what you are teaching.

This blog entry shows two examples, one of a teacher-created rubric, and the other of a rubric created with the help of the students. The comparison shows that the students had a slightly different idea of what was being evaluated -- always good information to have.
See also Parts 1 and 2 on creating assessment rubrics.

"What strategy can double student learning gains? According to 250 empirical studies, the answer is formative assessment, defined by Bill Younglove as "the frequent, interactive checking of student progress and understanding in order to identify learning needs and adjust teaching appropriately."
A great short article to make one aware of the nature and value of formative assessment.

Unlike summative assessment, which evaluates student learning according to a benchmark, formative assessment monitors student understanding so that kids are always aware of their academic strengths and learning gaps. Meanwhile, teachers can improve the effectiveness of their instruction, re-teaching if necessary. "When the cook tastes the soup," writes Robert E. Stake, "that's formative; when the guests taste the soup, that's summative." Formative assessment can be administered as an exam. But if the assessment is not a traditional quiz, it falls within the category of alternative assessment."

Download and print Flashcards in several different sizes. Math, science, language arts; pre-K - Grade 2. In English, Spanish, Chinese, or other languages of study.
See Teacher Training Video by Russell Stannard:
http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/words-vocabulary-and-images/esl-flashcards.html

There are 3 ways to search this video archive -- videos by practitioners who are getting started, discipline-specific topics (including carerr and technical education), and videos for administratorseand leadership teams.
Though this is a U.S.-based effort, the consideration of grading and approaches at this grading conference from 2013 should be of use to any teacher. You can also contribute your own video.

"If we hope to construct enduring understanding in our students, it's critical that, now more than ever, we know their strengths and interests. By incorporating students' strengths and weakness into authentic learning experiences from the beginning of each unit, while at the same time including opportunities for feedback, metacognition and revision, we promote a variety of cognitive and emotional benefits that can lead to academic success. "
A thoughtful description of ways to successfully integrate learner feedback into the assessment process.

A game-board to make your self-tests like a quiz show. Cute and fun.

50 different examples of formative assessment, by a specialist in "new visions for public schools." These are inventive and will keep students guessing while enabling you to find out what they know -- or don't. This is a slideshow that can be played automatically, and is under CC so can be freely copied and used.