Assessment in Science Education

What should assessment be?  Assessment should be varied to best meet the needs of all students  Assessment should be ongoing to help teachers determine what to do next  There should be multiple assessment types  Students should have access to choice in what type of assessment they would like to complete (Gullo, 2006; Tomlinson, 2001)

Assessment should reflect standards  Science assessment should reflect the standards set forth by the National Science Standards (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997; Ash & Luckey, 1998; Krantz, 2004; Laubenthal, 1999)  Students can develop performance tasks alongside teachers that meet standards (Ash & Luckey, 1998)  Curriculum designers or teachers can design lessons that meet national science standards (Krantz, 2004; Laubenthal, 1999)

Assessment should reflect growth  Assessment should show that students have developed not only in their content knowledge but also their understanding of how the content connects them to their community and world (Kenna & Basile, 2002; Basile & White, 2000)

Assessment should reflect inquiry  Students should go though the process of the inquiry, exploration and discussion/reflection  Assessment should be traceable over time either through student interviews or student writing/documentation  (Heuser, 2005; Nesbit et al, 2004; Edmondson et al, 2006)

Assessment should have multiple forms  Multiple forms of assessment allow for determining growth in knowledge, skills, and dispositions (Tomlinson, 2001)  These might include: Task cards and class provide ongoing assessment Task cards and class provide ongoing assessment Self assessment, peer assessment and teacher observation provides information on disposition Self assessment, peer assessment and teacher observation provides information on disposition Final product allows for information on content knowledge as well as organizational, writing, and presentation skills (Drake & Halychyn, 2004) Final product allows for information on content knowledge as well as organizational, writing, and presentation skills (Drake & Halychyn, 2004)

Assessment should inform teaching  Learning opportunities should match level of skill and understanding of students  Teachers should identify goals for students  Assessments should illustrate children’s understandings  Knowledge gained should direct what is taught next Might be through explorations, representations and discussion Might be through explorations, representations and discussion (Gullo, 2006) (Gullo, 2006)

Examples of assessment  Observational  Peer assessment  Individual assessment  Rubrics  Presentation  Science notebooks  Centers  Classifications  Experiments  Models  Maps  Drawings  Art projects  Writing  Discussions  KWL’s  Observations sheets  Questions