UDL and Assessment
Considerations for Assessing Student Learning
Types of Assessment
Teachers (and curriculum writers) should reflect on the purpose of assessment in the classroom. Assessments are designed to gather student data that will yield information about accountability, student progress, and instruction.
Accountability: Assessing student performance with respect to prerequisites or curricular program goals. Measurable outcomes from assessments should be comparable with or benchmarked against set course goals.
Summative Assessment: Assessing changes in student performance over time as a result of instruction (assessment of learning)
Formative Assessment: Assessing student responses throughout units of study to inform further instruction (assessment for learning)
Common Barriers to Assessment
Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age - Chapter 7 - Using UDL to Accurately Assess Student Progress
UDL Assessments Remove Barriers for Students
http://udloncampus.cast.org/page/assessment_udl#.VtBoG_krJdg
Ask Yourself: Are your assessments UDL-friendly?
Learners deserve quality formative assessments, therefore they should meet all of your students' learning needs. UDL guides you toward equity in and out of the classroom. Your students should be able to:
- Show responsibility for and engagement in their learning.
- Accurately represent their understanding.
- Develop better capacity for self- assessment and self-reflection.
Considerations for Assessments
Ongoing
Is the assessment on-going and focused on the learner's progress? Avoid comparing students in favor of individual students assessing their own learning.
What does it measure?
Does the assessment measure both product and process? Assessments should foster dialogue that explore understandings vs. presentation of information.
Flexibility
Does the assessment allow for flexibility? Consider presentation, expression, supports, and engagement when creating your assessments. This can reduce common errors that single-mode fixed assessments introduce.
Construct
Is the assessment construct relevant? Does your assessment align to the learning goals that you are looking to measure?
Consider the Learner
Does the assessment actively inform the learner? Is the learner involved in the assessment process? Provide feedback that engender motivation and leads to improvement.
Role in Instruction
Is the assessment a part of the learning process? Emphasize the quality rather than the quantity of student work. Assessments should value giving advice and guidance over giving grades.
Our Lesson Learned
As part of our learning group study, we made a school visit and completed a "group walk through" to find evidence of UDL-rich assessment. We used the school's UDL checklist to assist us, but we discovered that classroom environment and UDL-readiness of a school is a necessary first step before implementing UDL assessments.