In an era that demands greater accountability from teachers and stresses the importance of students' engagement in their own learning, unit of work assessments hold the potential to have a positive and lasting impact in our secondary school. To do so, unit of work assessments must be reenvisioned so they capture the real issues that impact student learning.
The goal of any educational system is for students to live up to their potential and move toward a hopeful future. To reach this goal, our teaching and learning environment must promote students' self-worth, ensure students are meaningfully engaged, and affirm that the information students are learning is both rigorous and relevant.
The iKnow My Class unit of work assessment is designed to assess and address the conditions that inspire students to reach their fullest potential. It provides valuable information and formative assessment, which research acknowledges is essential for student growth and learning, to individual classroom teachers.
iKnow My Class is an online instrument that comes in two versions:
- A short version (20 questions)
- A long version (50 questions)
The short version is designed to give teachers a quick snapshot of student perceptions at any point in the unit of work, while the long version is designed to give a more complete picture of students' experience of the unit of work. The survey is anonymous and teachers receive results in real time.
iKnow My Class allows for ongoing, formative assessment of student perceptions and engagement and allows teacher to make necessary mid-unit adjustments. Teachers are encouraged to enhance the assessment by adding their own questions.
The iKnow My Class unit of work assessment tool has been developed based on research and investigation into student engagement completed by Aspirations Unlimited International, the Successful Practices Network, and the Student Engagement Trust of the United Kingdom.
All three organisations strongly believe students need to have a voice in their education if they are to reach their fullest potential.
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