In the beginning . . .

As I began the school year, I decided my focus for my Major Project for EdPsy490ASA would be on the assessments of the "new" curriculum that I had developed for middle level juniors in American literarture. For Stage One of this major project, however, I also include assessments I use in my advanced American literature and advanced senior literature classes because I want to demonstrate the range of assessements that I negotiate during the school year. In Stage Two of the major assignment, I indicate the function of the assessments, and this course is an adaptation of the advanced American literature course and is modified to address the needs of diverse learners.

A look at the "new" course syllabus shows the state and district goals and objectives and the content that is covered in the curriculum. My instructional syllabus explains how I expect to address the goals and objectives. In my instructional syllabus, I include the instructional format I plan to use to organize student learning. The students in the class read at or below grade level. Their writing on the state exam would approach the lower end of the meets and does not meet range. The texts selected are high interest, and an effort is made to pair them with a "classic" text. In the first semester, the paired works are Nothing but the Truth and The Crucible. The literature selected is connected through the theme "Rights and Responsibilities." During the latter part of the semester, students will select from a menu of other texts that deal with the theme. They will apply their reading strategies to the texts in literature circles to make connections between texts and their lives.

For this final stage of my project, I have taken into account the feedback I received during peer review from Terri and Sandy that by relating assessements across my whole teaching assignment adaptations and modifications were unclear. Hence, I will focus my analysis on the following units and their respective assessments:

"Day You Were Born"	Nothing but the Truth, Avi	The Crucible, Arthur Miller
Rationale	Rationale	Rationale
Assignment	Assignment	Assignment
Assessment	Assessment	Assessment
Reflection	Reflection	Reflection

Assessment Timeline

My instructional template includes starting with what the student knows. I call this taking inventory, and usually use the KWL graphic organizer(Ogle). This preliminary assessment assists me in planning instruction. Based on the results, I am able to breakdown tasks and develop activities or lessons to facilitate the student's learning journey.

As I stated in the reflection due last week, I start with the end in mind and work backwards in order to uncover the knowledge or content information the student needs to know in order to demonstrate understanding.

So, in general my assessement timeline is pre-assessment, instruction and modeling, student application of content, periodic checks for student understanding, and then student generated culminating demonstrations of what they have learned through a project, essay, multimedia presentation or demonstration. The demonstration is tied to the objectives and goals for the class, district,and state standards.

Is there such a thing as "overassessing"? When students make a proposal for their culminating demonstration, it too must meet criteria, i.e.,

• demonstrates a relationship to the subject or topic or literary movement?
• causes the student to revisit the literature?
• enhances the student's appreciation and understanding of the subject or topic or literary movement under study?
• uses diverse forms student's response to the subject or topic, or literary movement?
• helps the student make connections with other knowledge, with personal experiences, or across the curriuclum (adapted from Literature Circles and Response, Bonnie Campbell Hill, Nancy Johnson, and Katherine Schlick Noe).

Informal Assessments

Since I am expected to be able to document the grade, I find myself shying away from informal assessments. I observe groups, but on the group note card jot down anecdotal notes. I have students report out when working in small groups and turn in a group status form. Even when I circulate during writing workshop, I conference with students and don't write on their spidergrams, or graphic orgnizers because they ask me not to! When I write comments on a Post-It, they don't often stay attached to the paper. Rubrics help, but I find myself creating lots of them for everything! One of my students asked me if I had a "Rubics Cube" because I create so many. I have moved to checklists on some items, but again, I feel that they have to be so detailed that they seem picky. So this is an area I will continue to grapple with in order to come to terms with obsessing about assessing.