In grades EK6, assessment goes hand in hand with lesson planning, as an integral part of student learning, occurring before, during, and after instruction. Appropriate assessment methods determine whether educational goals are being met and can be used for data to develop learning profiles. Testing is also a part of the ongoing assessment process: Grant Wiggins, president of the educational consulting firm Authentic Education, explains that testing is like a snapshot, while assessment, over time, resembles a photo album of the student's progress (Edutopia staff, 2013). Read more of Wiggins's thoughts on the importance of authentic assessment, how technology can support assessment, and the role of standardized testing at the following link.
http://www.edutopia.org/grant-wiggins-assessment#graph1
For an overview of assessment that is both wide-ranging and in-depth, click the link below for Edutopia's Assessment Professional Development Guide. Follow the links at the sidebar on the left to understand why comprehensive assessment is important, to read about types of assessments, and to learn how to construct and use rubrics.
http://www.edutopia.org/assessment-guide
Now that you've explored assessment as a general topic, see the links below for various approaches to assessing learning in Social Sciences.
With the adoption of Florida's Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking (BEST) Standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics on February 12, 2020, statewide assessment programs are currently in transition. A three-year implementation timeline is planned with Florida classrooms being fully transitioned to the B.E.S.T. Standards, including aligned materials and aligned statewide assessments by 2022-2023. At present, find out more about Florida's assessment programs at the link below.
http://www.fldoe.org/accountability/assessments/k-12-student-assessment
Many states have devised means of assessing social sciences learning in the elementary grades. In the paragraph that follows, examine the way in which Washington State is handling social sciences assessment. The State of Washington has developed multi-stepped tasks or projects aligned to their state standards for assessing learning in the elementary grades for civics, economics, geography, history, and international perspectives. Click the first link below to see what these tasks look like and click the second link below for the rationale behind Washington state's Social Studies assessments.
The State of Washington has developed multi-stepped tasks or projects aligned to their state standards for assessing learning in the elementary grades for civics, economics, geography, history, and international perspectives. Click the first link below to see what these tasks look like and click the second link below for the rationale behind Washington state's Social Studies assessments.
http://www.k12.wa.us/socialstudies/Assessments/default.aspx
http://www.k12.wa.us/socialstudies/WhatAreCBAs.aspx
Required Reading
"Current Trends and Practices in Social Sciences Assessment for the Early Grades," by Janet Alleman and Jere Brophy, is linked below. This article provides an overview of some guiding principles for creating traditional and alternative assessment tasks in the area of Social Sciences. In addition, some activities for the assessment of Social Sciences instruction are discussed.
https://learner.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/7.CurrentTrendsAndPractices.pdf
The goal of assessment is to promote and track purposeful learning in elementary school social studies. At the link below, the National Council for the Social Studies position statement, "Powerful and Purposeful Teaching and Learning in Elementary School Social Studies," probes the meaning of integrative, value-based, challenging, and active social studies teaching and learning. Read it and reflect on how assessment can help to promote and track purposeful learning in the elementary grades as described in the statement.
http://www.socialstudies.org/positions/powerfulandpurposeful
