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from the issue of April 5, 2007
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ITLE lecturer sees success in faculty-driven assessments
BY KIM HACHIYA, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
The current reliance on one-size-fits-all testing to fulfill government mandated educational assessment is a cynical effort, according to Chris Gallagher.
| | ITLE EXPO - Bruce Sandhorst, Information Services instructional technology program coordinator, and Kathy Ankerson, associate professor of interior design, look at the Architecture Advising Web site developed in a Year 2 project of the Initiative for Teaching and Learning Excellence. The ITLE projects from past years, along with the current year's funded programs, were showcased during a poster session and reception at the Teaching and Learning Expo March 29. Photo by Kelly Bartling/University Communications.
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An associate professor of English, Gallagher has worked with Nebraska's Department of Education, helping the state develop a unique student assessment policy whose signature characteristic is that it places assessment activities within individual schools rather than a single statewide test.
Gallagher believes there is a lot that higher education, including UNL, can learn from K-12 schools' experiences with assessment obligations. Speaking before a standing room only audience at the March 29 Teaching and Learning Expo, Gallagher said that faculty-driven assessment strategies are far more successful because assessment becomes embedded in instruction and curriculum, a sort of seamless web that he argues can confer many benefits.
Gallagher is clearly no fan of the federal No Child Left Behind mandates. States' adoption of what he called "big event" testing in fact does leave children behind, Gallagher said, especially the most vulnerable children already at-risk for failure. These kids, often in already troubled schools, end up taught by the least-qualified teachers who are forced to focus solely on test prep using pre-packaged curriculum as districts push to get scores up. These children never get the benefit of innovative or creative teaching, he said.
Gallagher said the big idea behind No Child - improvement of instruction and student learning - has been corrupted into a policy weapon that bludgeons change but doesn't improve anything. Testing is a cynical compliance gesture that favors looking good over being good, Gallagher said.
"We need to do better than test-based accountability because it asks too little," he said. The answer, according to Gallagher, is to embed assessment from the inside out.
Gallagher said Nebraska's homegrown assessment policy, called STARS (School-based Teacher-led Assessment Reporting System) encouraged a cultural change among teachers. Teachers began to collaborate in developing integrated curriculum, instruction and assessment strategies; leadership was distributed among teachers; teachers' professional expertise about what happens in their classrooms earns respect; assessment becomes part of day-to-day instruction and is ongoing rather than leading up to the "big test."
This could and should be implemented in higher education, Gallagher said, pointing to some lessons learned through the K-12 experience. Among his observations:
• Rank ordering and institutional comparisons are marketing gimmicks and not true measures of quality.
• Assessment is a tool for instruction, and should not be viewed as the end of the journey, but as part of the journey.
• Faculty should explore developing ways to design high-quality assessments, particularly through peer-reviewed processes.
• Change can be imposed, but it does not guarantee improvement, which comes only through committed action.
• It is the obligation of a faculty member to lead improvement efforts. "We need to open our doors and get out of 'private practice' teaching," he said. "It's our job to help students learn, not just to teach. We can say, 'well, I taught that,' but the better statement is 'did they learn it?'"
• The one-size-fits-all test paradigm is a "bad idea." "There are more dumb ideas in education than anywhere else," he said. "We really need more people to stand up and say, 'that's a dumb idea.'"
• Communication to the public will help people to understand the context of learning and achievement.
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Chris Gallagher's talk was part of the inaugural Teaching and Learning Exposition March 29 at the Visitors Center. Posters describing the impact of 40 previously funded Initiative for Teaching and Learning Excellence projects were displayed and faculty and staff shared ideas about how to improve student learning at UNL. Additionally, the seven projects that were funded for 2007-08 were announced. To read more about the initiative projects, see the special 8-page section included in this edition of the Scarlet.
GO TO: ISSUE OF APRIL 5
NEWS HEADLINES FOR APRIL 5
Food Science
ITLE lecturer sees success in faculty-driven assessments
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Arts and Sciences dean interviews begin April 12
BIG EVENT
Nebraska Lecture examines challenges of feeding world
Psych symposium to explore smoking, nicotine dependence
Rural Poll to focus on retirement issues
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