Week 1: What is an Assessment?

This week, I read Stiggins (2018) and it really made me pause. He reminds us that giving quizzes isn’t enough; real growth comes when we know how to interpret and use assessments to guide student learning

I thought about my first year of teaching when I gave a short quiz in my social studies class. Most students “aced” it, so I assumed they understood the material. But during the next activity, it became clear that a lot of them were still confused. That was a wake-up call: scores alone don’t tell the full story.

Stiggins’ article reminded me that assessments should guide instruction, provide meaningful feedback, and help students reflect on their own learning. For me, this means looking past the gradebook and using assessments to understand where students are and how to support them

This week, my goal is to be more intentional: designing assessments that inform my teaching and help students take ownership of their learning. I can already see how this shift in mindset will make a difference in my classroom.