Gardening

I'm a gardener, and as such, I start each day with a walk around the yard to see what's in bloom. It's the most beautiful time of the day. The light is gentle; the air is cool and crisp; and it's as quiet as the day will be. It's a good time to contemplate. I think about what needs to be done and make short term and long term plans, and when I see something that needs to be changed, I start to think about what I can do differently.

Sometimes, a plant has to be moved. Even though I have planted it where I was sure it would thrive, over and over again I find a plant struggling right next to a plant that loves the spot in which it is planted. So, I look around for a different plan. Is the soil different where this plant is growing? Is there too much shade? Not enough? Is the plant getting enough water or too much? There are lots of questions to ask, and if I do the diagnosis correctly and find the solution, the plant can be saved and can thrive once again. I have a little yellow hosta whose identity has been lost. Two years ago I moved it to a place where it would get more sun. It started recovering, and now it is a nice little clump of yellow leaves. I have another hosta that just isn't responding, and I'll have to start looking for the solution if I'm to save it. I noticed this year that I have a blank spot in one garden where a plant that was struggling has just not come back.

I wonder if education isn't a bit like gardening. We have to discover which students are thriving, and which are struggling. Sometimes, we can make easy course corrections for them with an explanation, and sometimes we just have to keep looking for the solution. Sometimes, it is difficult to notice that a student isn't thriving until we have tested the last time and are ready to move on. What happens to the student then?

Formative assessment helps us find those students and shows us just where they aren't thriving. With this knowledge, we can reteach those topics. We can provide further explanation, additional practice and further evaluation. The good news is that in doing this practice we don't only move this student forward; we move ALL students forward. Just like the garden, even those students who are doing fine can do better. It is a daunting responsibility, and a challenging practice, but Assessment Center can help in making these assessments. It takes little more than a few minutes to create an assessment that will give us great information in the reports that will let us know who is thriving, and who needs a different approach. With a little good fortune, we can find the way to help the struggling student reach the kind of success that my little yellow hosta is having. When we do, life improves.

If you would like to read more about formative assessment, Inside the Black Box, by Black and Wiliam is one of the definitive articles about the subject. You can find it here. If you need assistance with Assessment Center, contact your project leader.

Jim