Prensky's Assessment Strategies

One of the assessment strategies I am going to use in my classroom this upcoming year is ipsative assessment in the form of electronic portfolios.  I like the idea of having students continually competing against themselves to improve their writing skills especially.  I have such a wide range of skill levels when it comes to writing and reading that I don’t really like the letter grade system because I feel that it doesn’t do a good enough job rewarding students who are improving on their best.  For example, I had students this last year who came into my class not knowing how to write a sentence, and I had students who could skillfully navigate a five-paragraph essay.  I think it would be a better system to measure individual progress rather than measure the students against each other.  This year I am going to have each student keep a portfolio of their work, particularly writing assignments.  My comments and corrections will be how I grade future assignments as I judge how the student is making steps to improve his or her writing.  This way I am rewarding effort and improvement not just measuring against one standard of how it should be.

The second assessment strategy I am going to use this year is real-world assessment by having students publish their work (particularly writing assignments and projects) on blogs, wikis or some online format for the world to see (I haven’t picked one for sure yet).  I think this is an effective strategy because students will be more careful about their work if they know that their peers, parents, administrators and an global audience can view, comment and critique their work - not just their teacher.  I also like this strategy because it is a great way to get peers, parents, administrators and community members involved in what my students will be doing.  This way it will never be a secret what I am doing in my class, and students can receive instant feedback from people other than myself, which I feel is a powerful motivating factor for the best work to be created.