Reflective Multimodal Presentation
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WozniakReflectiveMultimodalPresentation.docxScott Wozniak
Reflective Multimodal Presentation
LED 6565
December 22, 2020
The Usefulness Framework
The usefulness framework, illustrated and summarized above, is a way for educators to think about assessments and determine how useful they are to their practice. The usefulness framework can also help teachers design equitable educational experiences for their language learning students because the framework guides teachers through a process that acknowledges the role that students will play in the assessment process. (McKay, 2010)
The three aspects of the usefulness framework that I believe are particularly impactful for emergent bilingual students are Interactiveness, Validity, and Authenticity. I believe that it is important for teachers to consider these parts of the framework especially when designing assessments for language learners.
Interactiveness: In what ways will the student interact with the assessment, how are they involved in the completion of the test? This aspect of the framework is significant for language learning students because many times teachers will take for granted that students will understand the “how” of an assessment. For example, most teachers would assume that their students would understand how to complete a multiple choice assessment item, or a true/false option. Teachers really should consider this aspect more seriously when working with culturally and linguistically diverse students. They may not have the cultural background knowledge about test construction that other students have. Generally teachers choose certain assessment types because of practicality and reliability, but with some students it may be more important to focus on the ways in which students will be able to interact with the test content more meaningfully. Would it be easier for a student to explain their understanding verbally? Would they be better able to express themselves with a drawing or a written response? These are considerations that a teacher should make when thinking about the interactiveness of an assessment if they really want the assessment to be fair for all of their students. (Herrera, 2019)
Do all assessments have the same level of interactiveness? Are all types of interaction just as valid as others for every type of assessment? It is impossible to fairly assess all students on all tasks with the same type of assessment interaction.
Validity: Is the test assessing what you think it is? For culturally and linguistically diverse students, this is one of the most important aspects of the usefulness framework. Are the results of the test valid, in that they actually assess the content standards or skills that we want to assess, rather than the cultural and linguistic knowledge of the student? In my experience, many assessments that do not consider this aspect end up being language tests: students that speak the language well and have more cultural knowledge do better on these tests than their language learning peers, regardless of their content or skill knowledge and ability. Teachers must consider what the test is actually assessing, and determine what changes need to be made to the construction of the assessment or assessment items. Is it possible to give the assessment in another language, or have someone read the test to the student? Or can the teacher create test items that do not rely on cultural or linguistic knowledge to successfully complete? This is difficult, as most assessment items require at least some background knowledge to complete successfully.
Even this basic geography quiz requires some cultural and linguistic knowledge to complete successfully. The teacher would have to ensure that the test method was explicitly taught and understood, or this geography test could quickly become a cultural and linguistic test. An invalid test would most likely tell you what you already know: some of your students struggle with English. A valid test will allow you to make meaningful interpretations based on the results, and those interpretations will allow you to better teach your students and help them grow.
Authenticity: Is the test effectively linked to the content or skills that you are trying to assess? It can be difficult for teachers to design tests that are authentic but also meet the other goals of a useful assessment. For example, students in a math class might have a conversation in a role play about exchanging money in a shop or calculating sale prices or tips. This task would be authentic: It is meaningfully linked to the content and allows students to interact with the content in realistic ways. This type of task is not abstract. However, if this task were part of an assessment, it might be more difficult for a teacher to record results reliably. This type of assessment task might not be as practical for a teacher to administer to a whole class full of students and use the results impactfully.
For our culturally and linguistically diverse students, many tests are not authentically assessing their content knowledge and skills. Even for our students who are native speakers of English, many tests are not authentic. They do not assess practical real world applications of knowledge and skills, and can tend to reward students who are just good test takers, or who have the resources or ability to study and get extra help on specific assessment types and tasks. An example that comes to mind is my own experience with high stakes standardized tests like the SAT, which I was able to receive private tutoring for and take multiple times, a luxury that many students do not have. A test with high authenticity is more fair, because the results would be based on practical application of knowledge and skills related to the content, rather than memorization, language ability, or other resources.
In regards to my own growth as an educator, examining the usefulness framework has certainly led me to change some of my practices especially when it comes to my emergent bilingual students. I have learned that spending the time to consider each aspect of the framework when designing assessments is extremely valuable if I actually want those assessments to be impactful for teaching and learning in my classroom. As a result of this reflection, I have started administering fewer summative and formal assessments in general. My main assessment goals have shifted from providing a grade and finding out what students know to informing my instruction and providing feedback to students and to myself about the learning process. This realization leads me to also reconsider how I communicate progress with students, families, and other stakeholders.
Communicating Student Progress
In addition to creating more fair and equitable educational experiences for our language learning students by considering the test usefulness framework when designing assessments, effectively communicating student progress toward educational goals can also promote equality and fairness. In the past my communication with parents and families has been limited to posting grades (numbers or letters) for assignments and courses on progress reports. In addition, my communication with students was basically limited to “you did great on this assignment” or “this needs improvement, do you have any questions or need help with it?” In retrospect, these efforts were severely lacking.
The first thing that I have started to reflect on and change is determining educational goals of students and expectations of parents before and during instruction. Some students have told me that they have specific goals when it comes to attending school, aside from just passing the class. Parents have also communicated their expectations beyond having their child get good grades and eventually graduate. Some place a high priority on language learning for communication, some have goals and expectations about how they will use their education beyond schooling. This type of communication has been helpful for me in determining how to talk about progress with these students and families.
My main takeaway is that grades (numbers and letters) usually do not effectively communicate what I want to express to students and families or what those students and families value in an education. It is far more important for students to receive timely, specific, and actionable feedback on individual assignments. My goal is for students to have a clear picture of their strengths and weaknesses and to fully understand what they can do to progress in their learning and what I am doing to help them get there. I will consider myself to be successful in this when my students stop asking me what their “grade” is in my class because they are receiving enough comprehensible feedback from me frequently enough.
The same goes for parents. I need to do a better job of communicating with parents and families about how their student is doing in real and actionable terms, rather than just a number or letter. Although some parents may not be able to provide significant academic support for their child, they may be able to offer support in other ways by providing emotional support for their child, or physical spaces and resources within the home for practice and reinforcement.
Understanding student and family goals and expectations beforehand is the key to this effective communication about student progress.
What does this progress report communicate to parents? How can they support their child and help them accomplish their specific goals? This type of communication is not useful or actionable.
This progress report communicates much more useful information to both students and parents about specific skills and actions and is much more individualized to the student. A parent receiving this progress report would have a much better understanding of how to support and advocate for their child, even if they aren’t able to offer strong academic support in all areas. The comments on this type of progress report are rooted in the teachers’ knowledge of the student’s growth and progress based on high quality formative assessments.
In terms of equity and fairness, parents of culturally and linguistically diverse students need this more robust communication. As a child, my parents had gone through the public education system in the United States and completed university education successfully. I would argue that they were much better prepared to advocate for my success and needs even if they did not receive useful communication from my teachers frequently. Educators need to take into account that while parents of language learning students obviously want their children to be successful, they may need more support and communication in order to be on the same footing as other parents.
Advocacy and Assessment
Effective assessment and communication relies on a classroom with a supportive climate that accounts for the social and emotional wellbeing of students. Classrooms with culturally and linguistically diverse students may face more challenges in creating this type of environment. Students of all backgrounds bring their own personal struggles with them to school. Emergent bilingual students are no different, and may also bring other stressors and anxieties with them. Memory and trauma of migration, loneliness, anxiety, stress, pressure to succeed, feeling different, cultural misunderstandings, and more may all be present in addition to the “normal” issues that children and teenagers face. It is important for teachers to create an environment that is culturally supportive and “additive” rather than subtractive when it comes to these issues. (Warren & Ward, 2019)
Creating an environment that feels like a safe place for students to make mistakes and learn and grow from them as part of the learning process is imperative. Seeing assessment as a feedback loop for growth toward clear goals is a major part of the formative assessment process. Understanding that these assessments are not designed for students to immediately excel at and are also not designed to punish or give bad grades is extremely important. (Shohamy, 2001) Creating a classroom environment where this is the reality is difficult but important. Formative assessments are critical in providing an equitable and fair learning experience for all students, because they give all students a chance to show what they know, show what they have learned, and get an opportunity to learn more and interact with the material in different ways and then assess again until they are able to show mastery. Good formative assessments should give students multiple ways to express their understanding and growth.
My most important takeaway is that the formative assessment process requires several key things to work properly. First, it requires clear and specific goals that can only be established by communicating with students and families. Next, it requires useful assessments, and specifically assessments that have appropriate interactiveness, validity, and authenticity for language learning students. Last, it requires clear, timely, specific, and actionable feedback. Teaching about a topic, giving a test, and giving a grade is not helpful for anyone (except that it may be the easiest for the teacher). Good teachers need to understand the needs of their students, create a supportive environment, develop meaningful goals and expectations, develop authentic learning tasks, administer frequent and useful formative assessments, and provide timely and meaningful feedback.
References
Herrera, S., Murry, K., & Cabral, R. (2019). Assessment of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students (3rd ed.). Pearson Education.
McKay, P. (2010). Assessing Young Language Learners. Cambridge University Press. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/10.1017/CBO9780511733093
Shohamy, E. (2001). Democratic assessment as an alternative, Language Testing, 18:, 373-391
