Giving Students a Say

Book excerpt: Assessment is an essential part of teaching and learning, but too often it leads to misleading conclusions—sometimes with dire consequences for students. How can educators improve assessment practices so that the results are accurate, meaningful, informative, and fair? Educator and best-selling author Myron Dueck draws from his firsthand experience and his work with districts around the world to provide a simple but profound answer: put student voice and choice at the center of the process. In this engaging and well-researched book, Dueck reveals troubling issues related to traditional approaches and offers numerous examples of educators at all levels who are transforming assessment by using tools and methods that engage and empower students. He also shares surprising revelations about the nature of memory and learning that speak to the need for rethinking how we measure student understanding and achievement. Readers will find sound advice and detailed guidance on how to * Share and cocreate precise learning targets, * Develop student-friendly rubrics linked to standards, * Involve students in ongoing assessment procedures, * Replace flawed grading systems with ones that better reflect what students know and can do, and * Design structures for students' self-reporting on their progress in learning. Inspired by the origins of the word assessment—derived from the Latin for "to sit beside"—Dueck urges educators to discard old habits and instead work with students as partners in assessment. For those who do, the effort is rewarding and the benefits are significant