Читать книгу Giving Students a Say - Myron Dueck - Страница 23

As mentioned previously, some jurisdictions may have standards that are suitable as learning targets, but this is the exception rather than the rule. It's tempting to acquire a list of already established learning standards, seemingly indicating what we should teach, and systematically hammer through them. However, blindly trusting the standards as written leads to a few problems. First, too often the standards are written in formal language that's difficult for students to access (Dueck, 2014; Hierck & Larson, 2018; Wiliam, 2018), and their complexity may actually "detract from a teacher's ability to teach effectively" (Marzano & Haystead, 2008, p. 7). Second, the standards may define what is to be learned but not be specific enough or lack examples. As Davies (2000) points out, "we may know the standard states 'communicates effectively in writing' but have no idea what it looks like for students at a particular age range" (p. 26). Last, all too often the standards include little or no indication of what it looks like to be successful (Hattie, personal communication, July 11, 2020).

Learning targets are an integral part of a student-centered assessment plan, not an entity unto themselves. Dylan Wiliam (2018) makes the case for education being far more than a list of learning tasks and for why assessment is the critical component. In Embedded Formative Assessment, he argues that "assessment is the central process in instruction—students do not learn what we teach. If they did, we would not need to keep gradebooks. We could, instead, simply record what we have taught" (p. 54). With this in mind, if assessment is central to instruction, we need to clarify and solidify the targets as part of the assessment process. Essentially, we must figure out how to best articulate what that learning looks like, and understanding learning targets is a logical first step.

Implication for assessment: We need to transform state, provincial, or national learning standards into clear, student-centered learning targets that can form the basis for self-assessment and reporting.