Assessing assessed assessments

Feedback.

Funny story - I'm doing this assignment a few hours after the deadline and I still haven't seen a single feedback, much less one specifically about my assessments. This leaves me no choice but to (at least for now) rely on my excellent research and experience providing said assessments.

Collecting data

In my 3rd assessment, I decided to use Plickers platform - a perfect choice in hindsight. Most of these kinds of assessment platforms (including Plickers) provide a built-in function of collecting data - not only general x out of y correct variety but also specifically which words/questions did a specific student get right or wrong. For all the other assessments I have used excel tables that list the date and content of the assessment and which parts the student had issues with generally.
I have found over the years that this kind of records provide an excellent overview over time on all the students individually as well as a group on how they have progressed and which issues they struggled the most. Note the shorthand for specific issues - 3P: 3rd person singular, FC: missing First letter Capital etc. The number afterwards indicates the number of mistakes.

Sharing results

I have decided to share assessment results with students on a per need basis. This is to say that if I don't talk to you specifically means you're doing fine. If there is a specific issue a sizable number of students were wrestling with, I would point it out generally and tell them to pay attention to it in the future. If only a few students had a specific issue, I would meet with them after class and give them extra assistance.

Student Involvement

Besides the general assistance that some students could give before or after each assessment (handing out or collecting papers) I would usually meet with each student every two months to tell them issues specific to them that still might plague their work. This usually happens when specific content has been closed (so to speak) for some time now but the students still has trouble with it. Generally I try not to involve students as I view this assessment mostly for my use, i.e. modifying lesson plans, planning for assistance etc.

Need for Change

This is relatively straightforward. Your assessment format or approaches need to change if
1. More than a third of students (I appreciate 1/3 is arbitrary, but you need to have a rough number in mind) cannot finish the assessment in the time allotted. This usually means that you're either shooting too high or you need to review a part of the material already studied.
2. More than 75% of your students finish it in a breeze. This usually indicates that they're ready for a more challenging assessment.
3. Students show signs of boredom or feel the assessments are too repetitive. This usually indicates that either you've got stuck using the same format for a long time or you're assessing the same content for a long time. You might need to change the format, the content or the timing (switch exit slips for entry slips) - in other words, mix it up.
4. Looking at the results you realize that these do not assist you in planning for your future teaching or evaluating how well the students have acquired given material. This is in a way the most painful instance as it indicates that at some point in designing or giving assessments you've messed up.

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