Teachers and students must have clear means to accurately and consistently assess mastery of a given objective against the definition of mastery. The type of assessment might vary by objective or developmental level, but are consistently applied and normed.
Objectives for learning must be connected to clear and common definitions of mastery that are applied and understood consistently across educators, students, and guardians. In some cases, mastery is articulated on a developmental scale, in others mastery is defined binarily.
In blended and personalized classrooms, learning objectives are clearly stated and commonly understood by all stakeholders. Objectives (sometimes framed as “competencies” or “learning standards”) are explicit, specific, measurable, and transferable.
As student needs drive the design of the learning environment in blended and personalized schools, all operational elements (staffing plans, space utilization, and time allocation) respond and adapt to support students in achieving their goals.
Educators and students set aside concrete blocks of time to look at data, set goals, and plan. This planning time may happen as a set part of each instructional period, or happen outside of class through structures like teacher collaborative planning.
Once data are analyzed, educators, students, and families use the insights gained to identify specific, concrete steps to address progress. In some cases, software might recommend specific interventions or next steps.
As data are collected, analyzed, and compiled, educators, students, and families engage in an ongoing monitoring and sharing process to set goals, change plans, and stay on track. This process is often ongoing and informal, but may include more formal periodic check-ins as well.
A record of progress (sometimes referred to as a “learner profile”) shows an up-to-date record of each student’s individual strengths, needs, motivations, and goals. At the educator level, this individual record can be aggregated to show learning progress across a group or groups of students. This record of progress is transparent and used by stakeholders at many levels (educators, students, families, etc.) to build understanding, motivate, and inform action.
Analysis is collecting and reviewing data to identify patterns and learning trajectories at the individual and group levels. Analysis, which can be done manually as well as through the help of tools and data systems, helps educators and students answer the questions “what happened?” as well as “how do we know?” to inform further stages of data use.
Assessment refers to the different ways – methods and tools – educators and students use to reflect on, evaluate, measure, and document readiness, learning progress, skill acquisition, and/or learning needs. Assessment approaches, and the type of data collected, vary widely. It can be used for diagnostic, formative, interim, and/or summative purposes. It can be used formally and informally, and undertaken by self or others. Finally, the data gathered through assessment activities can be qualitative and quantitative.
