Curriculum and Assessment

Presented by Esther Fusco

What a hot topic this was at the first HNET conference on March 15 th.  Although most of the attendees have had student assessment training as an integral part of their Hofstra education, the conference room was overflowing.  Professor Esther Fusco spoke to an auditorium filled with teachers and pre-service teachers eager to grasp a better understanding of assessing students learning.  But as Dr. Fusco emphasized, it is impossible to understand assessment without first understanding the curriculum.

Dr. Fusco passionately shared anecdotal stories about the responsibility of educators to create a child-centered environment when teaching, and articulated the importance of on- going assessment that comes from the teachers philosophy, the goals and standards, and the curriculum.  Development of assessing, evaluating, reporting, and researching tools should come out of these ideas, and no area in this circle of criteria around the child should remain stagnant.

In designing a curriculum it is important to maintain that standards are meant to be benchmarks for guiding creativity in lesson planning.  It is the educators responsibility to understand and incorporate them into lessons, instead of building lessons to suit standards.  Unfortunately the new climate of standardized testing has compelled educators to teach to the tests and often abandon imagination, resulting in a standard curriculum format.  The children of the United States may be doing better on the tests, but studies show that they are worse at just about everything else.  What are we sacrificing as a country as we force this cookie cutter curriculum into the classroom?  Will we once again find ourselves falling behind as innovative ideas come from countries that are less restrictive? 

Dr. Fusco offered hope with four basic strategies recommended for teachers to help students attain their desired educational goals. By incorporating whole school curriculum design to eliminate redundancies, individualized differentiation to accommodate all levels and styles of learning, enrichment through workshop time to challenge all students with different interests and abilities, and assessment that lets us (the teachers) know what our children have learned, she assured the crowd that their students will learn and excel on the tests.

With so much to share and only one hour, Dr. Fusco presented assessment as a diagnostic tool to identify students strengths and weaknesses, and document and determine individual growth and learning.  She reminded the audience that these assessments of learning are not only for teacher reflection, but also to help the students become more responsible for their own learning. Developing assessment rubrics with students will   allow students the chance to improve grades if they wish to or feel they could do better.  Discussing the criteria laid out in the rubric, and asking the students to identify areas that may be enhanced upon in their work will not only allow students to revisit learning, but is also an opportunity for communication which can insure that students are getting it, whatever you are trying to teach.

Student portfolios provide an excellent record of students achievements throughout a school year.  When teachers, student teachers, or students add a students piece to a portfolio, not only is the product important, but, equally important, is the reflection of the chosen work.  Be sure to document why this piece was selected for this student. Encourage students to choose work pieces that they feel exemplify their learning.  Have them share the portfolios with parents and other students, and describe themselves as learners.

There are many other opportunities to collect assessment data.  Observe students performing tasks, look at samples of all types of work product (journals, art, self-evaluations), conduct teacher-pupil conferences, and review tests and worksheets.  Teachers should keep a log of daily assessments, walk around the classroom with post-it notes to capture thoughts on students learning process, and add these notes to a notebook with some reflective thoughts.  This will ensure teachers have the tools for building an appropriate, enriched curriculum, as well as being prepared to share observations of students with their parents.

Dr. Fusco concluded the seminar reminding us that we as educators are responsible for engaging our students in learning, and promoting their growth as individual thinkers.  Walk the talk and model learning.