​​​​Jason Wakeman​

In addition to using formative assessments to mark out struggling students, I also use formative assessments to measure student growth. To the right you will find a linked PDF, each of the three pages comes from one of our three sections of sophomore English. Constructed throughout our second quarter unit on thematic analysis these scores document our students’ development. We returned to these scores throughout the second half of the unit, allowing students to reflect on their performance while we were able to use the information to adjust our teaching. 

 

The first and second columns reflect students' self-assessment of their conceptual and procedural knowledge of literary analysis halfway through the unit. These scores are based on a self-assessment survey which asked students, "How well do you understand what literary analysis is?" and, "How confident are you in your ability to construct a literary analysis?" These scores shed a lot of light on what students thought of their own abilities. Frequently these scores match up closely with the scores they received, but often enough a student considerably under- or overestimated their abilities.

 

Once students had received scores on their first short essay on James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues," recorded in the second column, we had students compare their scores with their self-assessments. In doing so, students were able to readjust their own understanding of their abilities. This was especially helpful to students who tend to assume they understand the material, realizing only much later that they are missing key parts of the process. The activity was also a nice confidence boost to those feeling unsure of their abilities.

 

Similarly, once we had graded their culminating projects, full-length literary analyses of Their Eyes Were Watching God, students were able to compare how far they had come. Nearly every student made significant gains between the first and second essay. Reflecting on that growth made the process more meaningful. 

 

For Mrs. Daley and me, the scores were also a nice way to validate our successes teaching the unit.