Assessment as Learning - Book review

Book Review
1Book review session- Dr. S. Prakash12/09/2015

Book Review Session
Date : 12.09.2015
Day : Saturday
Time : 1.45 p.m to 3.00 p.m
Venue : TVS TTA Seminar Hall
Resource Person : Dr.S.Prakash,
M.Sc.,M.Ed., M.Phil.,Ph.D. (Edn)
Assistant Professor
TVS Teacher Training Academy.
Madurai

Title of the Book

Bibliographic Information
Title : Assessment As Learning
Author : Lorna. M.Earl
Publication : Corwin, SAGE company
Year : 2013
Edition : Second
Pages : 144

About
the
Author
Lorna.
M.Earl

About the Author…..
 Retired associate professor from the Ontario Institute
for studies in Education at the University of Toronto.
 Research Director of assessment for the Ontario
Provincial Education Quality and Accountability
office.
 President of the International Congress of School
Effectiveness and School Improvement.
 She has more than 30 years experience in this field and
worked in countries like Canada, England, Europe,
The United States, Australia and New zealand.

About the Publishers
 Corwin is the premier provider of professional
learning resources that equip PreK–12 educators with
innovative tools to improve teaching and learning.

The Corwin logo- a raven striding across an open book
represents the union of courage and learning

Corwin resources are:
 Authored by experts on the topics most relevant to
you
 Formatted for hands-on, practical guidance
 Research based and peer reviewed for quality
 Suitable for professional learning settings
and graduate courses in education
 Delivered on multiple platforms, including digital
products and on-site services

Why did I choose this book?

Organization of the Book
 Total Chapters in the book

Assessment
• 1.The Promise and Challenge of
Classroom Assessment
As
• 2. Situating Assessment changes
Learning
• 3.Assessment of Learning, for
Learning, and as Learning

Assessment
• 4. Spotlight on Learning
As
• 5. Assessment and Learning
Learning
• 6.Using Assessment to identify what
they believe is true.

Assessment
• 7. Using Assessment to motivate
Learning
As
• 8. Using Assessment to make
connections
Learning
• 9.Using Assessment to extend
Learning

10.Using Assessment for Reflection
and Self- Regulation
11.Getting to Assessment for
Optimum Learning

 What Teachers and Students can do with assessment?
 How they think?
 How they may think about routine classroom
assessment as an important part of learning?

 Before going into the chapters, let us try to define the
two terms

Definition of Assessment

 If so, Can we call Assessment as Test , Measurement
and Evaluation?

 The answer is

Definition of Evaluation

Learning

Chapter I
The promise
and challenge
of classroom
assessment

Class room
assessment
goals
feedback to
students
diagnostic
information
for teachers
Summary
information
for record
keepings
Performing
evidence for
teachers
Directing
efforts of the
curriculum
Instructional
adaptations

 Headley Beare (2001), an Australian Researcher
identified the following categories of futures for
education.
 Possible future- things that could happen, although
many of them are unlikely.
 Probable future- things that probably will happen,
unless something is done to turn events around.
 Preferred future- things that you prefer to have happen
and /or what you would like to plan to happen.

Chapter 2
Situating Assessment
changes

Purpose of Assessment
 Motivating students
 Diagnosing difficulties
 Certification of achievement
 Accountability to the public
Using one assessment for a multitude of purposes is
like using hammer for everything from brain-surgery
to pile driving.

Taking up the challenge of
classroom assessment
 Getting classroom assessment right is a complex mix
of challenging personal beliefs, rethinking instruction,
and learning new ways to assess for different ways.
 It requires educators who are excited about learning,
imaginative, and willing to formulate strategies of
resistance that allow them to use assessment in
productive ways in their classrooms and honor the
complexity of learning and assessment.

Chapter 3
Assessment of
Learning,
Assessment for
Learning,
and as Learning

Assessment Roles and Goals
Role
 Teacher as mentor
 Teacher as guide
 Teacher the accountant
 Teacher as reporter
 Teacher as program
director
Goal
 Provide feedback and support to each
student.
 Gather diagnostic information to lead
the group through the work at hand.
 Maintain records of students’ progress
and achievement
 Report to parents, students, and the
school administration about student
progress and achievement.
 Make adjustments and revisions to
instructional practices.

Chapter 4
Spotlight on
learning

Chapter 5
Assessment and
Learning

Realizing the power of assessment
to optimize learning
 Clarify and share learning intentions and criteria for
success with students.
 Engineer effective classroom discussions, questions,
and learning tasks.
 Provide feedback that moves the learners forward
 Activate students as the owners of their learning.
 Encourage students to be instructional resources for
one another

Signposts towards excellence in
education
 Teachers are the most powerful influences in learning.
 Teachers need to be directive, influential. caring, and
actively engaged in the passion of teaching and
learning.
 Teachers should have proficient knowledge and
understanding of their content to provide meaningful
feedback such that each student moves progressively
through the curriculum levels.

Signposts towards excellence in
education…..
 Teachers need to know the learning intentions of their
lessons
 Teachers need to move from single to multiple ideas
and relate them.
 Teachers to create a staff room atmosphere where error
is welcomed as a learning opportunity, discarding
incorrect knowledge and understandings.

Chapter 6

What they believe is true.
 Assessment tasks provide the opportunity for the
students to deploy the knowledge and skills that the
teacher is trying to investigate, from a variety of points
of view.
 Teachers need detailed images so that they can foresee
the possible responses of the students, a feat of
imaginative, prediction that demands considerable
expertise.

The Bog task (Grade 8 students)
 Description of the task
 Collect data on the necessity of a new school.
 Identify the main problems
 Form an opinion whether school booard should go ahead
with the plan
 Substantiate your opinion . Include personal experiences
 Make recommendations about the building proposal.
 Draft an article
 Refine and include powerful concluding statement of your
points of view.

Rubrics
 Organization
 Ideas and content
 Effective use of language
 Gaps in student learning
 Recommendations
 Able to provide evidences for their recommendations

Chapter 7

The Zone of Proximal Development
 Students need to be confident that they can handle
whatever they encounter,
 They learn best when they are in context that provides
moderate challenge.
 When the task is too difficult, students may be
threatened and become self-protective .
 When the task is too simple, students may show
inattention and feel boredom.

 A task is appropriately challenging when students are
expected to risk and move into the unknown, but they
know how to get started and have support to reaching
the new level of learning.
 This is what Vygotsky called the Zone of Proximal
Development(ZPD)
 Motivation is enhanced when errors and mistakes are
treated as normal part of learning. With timely
feedback and a chance to rethink and redo the work.

Chapter 8

 People learn best when they make connections
between what they are learning and, when they can
draw on their experiences and make greater meaning
of them, when they see how ideas relate to one
another, and when they can use what they are learning
in concrete ways.

 Teacher must inculcate certain habits of mind in
students.
 These include
persistence
listening with understanding and empathy
questioning and posing problems
gathering data through all of the senses
Creating
imagining &
innovating 52Book review session- Dr. S. Prakash12/09/2015

Chapter 9

A Spring Concert
 The Band Master of a school announced “we will perform
for the school at the Spring Concert. And You’ll feel great”
 The early sessions involved,
 Listening to the segment of the music
 Group practice of the segment
 Individual practice for some members
 Feedback to them
 Listening to the recording of particular instrument
 Analysis with regard to the individual and his role in the
group.

12/09/2015 Book review session- Dr. S. Prakash 55

 The final production was enormous success and the
group learned the following
 There is not a single right answer.
 You get better when you practice.
 What sounds confusing in the beginning is taken
apart,
 When you can hear where you are headed, it’s easier to
get there
 When you work together, you can create something
that is bigger than any single person can on their own.

Chapter 10

Heart of Learning
Self
Monitoring
Self Regulation
Self
Assessment

Chapter 11

The Spirit of Assessment
 Requires Conceptual Change
 Think about what you believe is true
 Learn about learning
 Know your subject
 Be an Expert Teacher
 Work together in a collaborative inquiry
 Don’t give up
 Get the support you need
 Put it all together

Discussion of the
complex nature of
learning
Ways to use formative
assessments in a variety
of contexts
Real life examples and
case studies of
assessment in action

Sample rubrics and lesson
plans for easy
implementation
Ideas for follow up at the
end of each chapter
Insights into common
classroom dilemmas along
with viable solutions

 Language of the book is not easy to follow for an
average reader.
 A prior knowledge in assessment is required.

 Understanding of
assessment
 Insight into the powerful
influence of classroom
assessment on student’s
learning
 Examples of effective use of
assessment
 Preamble of the core paper
titled Assessment in
Learning that they will
learn in their B.Ed.
curriculum

A
presentation
by

Assessment as Learning - Book review

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