Content area
Full Text
* A form of metacognition, reflective assessment helps students identify what they know and what they still need to learn.
* Teachers can use reflective assessment strategies to adjust their instruction and as a way to review a lesson or unit.
* Data from reflective assessments can also be used in teacher evaluation to complement data from standards- based assessments.
As student achievement data are increasingly included in teacher evaluations, principals are responsible for ensuring that the results of classroom-based assessments are included in those data. Integrating formative, classroom-based assessments into every student learning experience is a practical way to enhance student learning and give teachers valuable feedback about student progress. Those assessments generate data that teachers and principals can collect over the course of a school year to consider along with data from standardized tests. Our experience has shown that a particular type of assessment - "reflective assessment" - reaps large rewards for both students and teachers.
Reflective assessment is a form of metacognition, a concept that is growing in popularity in educational circles - and with good reason. Simply put, metacognition is "thinking about thinking" (Costa, 2001) or what we know about what we know. Metacognition involves "the critical revisiting of the learning process" (Georghiades, 2004, p. 171) and is key to turning classroom-based assessment activities into learning experiences for students (Chappuis, 2005; Stiggins, 2008). Metacognition can encapsulate a variety of strategies and approaches. Because of the theoretical and research evidence that underlies reflective assessment strategies, they should be on the front burner not only for teachers but also for principals.
Reflective assessment is a formative approach that emphasizes the joint participation of teachers and students in the assessment process. Consistent with the vision of a teacher being a "co-partner and guide in a common enterprise" (Dewey, 1964, p. 10), reflective assessment strategies are designed to serve students as well as teachers. As students become involved in self-assessment activities as part of the classroom experience, they assume ownership of their learning. Simultaneously, the feedback that the teacher receives helps him or her design instruction that meets the needs of students.
Reflective Strategies
One of the reasons that reflective assessment is gaining popularity in classrooms and schools is that it is not...