SECTION F: HOW SHOULD TEACHERS ASSESS
THEIR OWN PRACTICE?
One of the main reasons for teachers to assess student learning is to understand our own
performance. Examining student work makes it possible to evaluate the effectiveness of
teaching practices and curricula and to decide whether individual lessons and activities con-
nect to and scaffold on prior student understanding and experience. The assessment of stu-
dents helps teachers figure out how to better prepare, to more successfully present ideas in
class, and to achieve goals. It makes possible what Dewey and other educators have called
reflective practice.
Dewey (1933) believed that human beings have “an innate disposition to draw inferences,
an inherent desire to experiment and test. The mind... entertains suggestions, tests them
by observation of objects and events, reaches conclusions, tries them in action, finds them
confirmed or in need of correction or rejection” (p. 9). In my experience, what Dewey called
aninnate dispositionis better understood as apotential. Human beings have the capacity to
reevaluate, draw connections, and learn, but that does not mean we always engage in reflec-
tive practice.
Reflective practice, the idea that teachers, individually and collectively, need to con-
stantly reevaluate their performance in order to assess whether they are achieving their
goals, can be approached in a number of ways. It can be informal or take place in regularly
scheduled support meetings. David Morris (whom you met in chap. 3) and I used to discuss
our teaching on a daily basis over lunch. For many years, Rhonda Eisenberg (whom you met
in chap. 2) and I met informally with other young teachers once a week at a local community
center. The New Teachers Network enables teachers to share ideas and discuss issues at bi-
monthly meetings and via the Internet. Rachel Gaglione (whom you met in chap. 6) has les-
sons videotaped so she can observe, evaluate, and change her performance as a teacher.
Classroom observation forms can be especially useful for focusing attention on what is
actually taking place in the classroom. Section G in this chapter includes forms for observing
individual students, classroom interaction, and teacher decision making.
Michael Pezone and Lynda Costello-Herrara (chap. 1), Nichole Williams (chap. 5), and
Adeola Tella (chap. 9) participated in field-testing the New York State Great Irish Famine cur-
riculum in their classes (see chap. 7) as part of an action research project. The value of in-
cluding action research in our teaching is that it encourages us to more systematically evalu-
ate our ideas, knowledge of curriculum, and teaching methods. Using action research in
class, teacher-researchers can identify particular issues or questions; develop strategies for
addressing them; and, through recurring cycles of teaching, observation, conversation, and
reflection, test and revise our teaching strategies.
Myles Horton (Horton & Freire, 1990) suggested an additional dimension for action re-
search. He called on teacher-researchers to “Experimentwithpeople notonpeople....
They’re in on the experiment. They’re in on the process” (p. 148). This is a valuable idea
for a number of reasons. Involving students in action research projects adds to their sense
of ownership over what goes on in classes, and it helps them understand what it means to
be a historian or scientist. Additionally, when students are part of the research team, as-
sessment of student learning becomes less a battle of wills and more a part of the learning
process.
At this point, I want to return to theArmy Air Corps Technical Schools Teachers’ Manualfor
one last visit. In an effort to encourage reflective practice and self-evaluation, the manual of-
ASSESSMENT 219