Connecting Assessment to Curriculum and Instruction

• In Event: Classroom-Based STEM Assessment: Current Status and Future Directions

Abstract

Classroom-based assessments are a powerful driver of students’ opportunities to learn. Through the intentional and planful use of classroom-based assessments, teachers use data to better design their instruction to deepen, extend, and refine students’ understanding of curricular content. However, these goals can only be achieved if there is a clear and explicit connection between the design and outcomes of classroom assessments and the teaching and learning process. This alignment can be facilitated by focusing on instructional content, format and structure, and timeliness of these assessments. Notably, the curricular content on which classroom assessments are based should be relevant to instruction. Similarly, the design of tasks should represent ways of knowing that honor and reflect the classroom community and practices. Finally, data generated from these assessments should be structured in ways that inform teachers’ practices. Moreover, to support valid decision making, data must accurately reflect students’ knowledge, skills, and cognitive processes.
In this paper, we discuss the current state of the art of the design of assessments and the importance of aligning classroom assessments with curricular expectations and instructional practices as a way of supporting valid decision making based on the results of classroom assessment. We will provide examples of current scholarship emerging from NSF-funded work, highlighting one exemplar project. Finally, we will identify gaps in our current knowledge and the future possible directions of work that emerges from this analysis.

Author

• Leanne R. Ketterlin-Geller, Southern Methodist University
  Presenting Author