Assessing the learning process

Abstract: Assessment, like instruction, needs to be geared toward various learning styles, and teachers can create rubrics for ongoing assessment that keep a formal daily record of what students are learning. Traditional styles of teaching focus almost exclusively on auditory presentation of material to students — in other words, lecturing. K–12 education is moving away from that traditional model towards methods of teaching that address children’s multiple intelligences and are appropriate to different types of learners, not only auditory learners. But although we’ve come a long way in how we teach students, we haven’t always made great strides in how we assess them. Most assessment still takes the form of quizzes, tests, and written homework, which work best for students who are the strongest verbal thinkers. Portfolios play only a small role, and even they only begin to address the various learning styles. If we’re going to teach in a way that addresses all learning styles, shouldn’t we also assess that way?

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