It isn't just about numbers

Wisdom from the Field #24

Katelyn Jetelina writes regularly about COVID-19. An epidemiologist by trade, she explains the science of pandemics so the rest of us can understand what it all means. In her most recent post about mitigating risk such as wearing masks, she notes:

Objective numbers cannot be separated from subjective experience when assessing risk. In other words, risk calibration is based on the statistical and physiological chances of disease but also dependent on where you were born, where you live, who you are, how often you do something, the reality you’re forced to navigate, and the complexity of decision-making.

In other words, to say whether someone should wear a mask or take any other related action is dependent on one’s environment and their health situation. Only looking at quantitative measures can leave a person uninformed. As Jetelina notes, “numbers are only half the story when calibrating or recalibrating individual-risk.”

Knowing Readers’ and Writers’ Full Stories

I see a correlation between assessing risk and assessing students. Why do we continue to depend so heavily on numbers to decide whether or not a student has achieved mastery, or if they are progressing toward a goal? Responses may include time, efficiency, and requirements from our respective district and state.

Unfortunately, we miss learning readers’ and writers’ full stories when we stop at quantitative measures. An example from today: A student was making a book in a primary classroom. I could not read what he wrote, so I asked him to tell me more about it. “The first page gets right into the middle of the action. The second page is the origin story.” This student (who apparently watches a lot of superhero movies :-) was able to articulate a fairly complex writing tool - origin stories - plus showed understanding that a narrative typically doesn’t start at these points in the plot. Yet if I were to “assess” his writing, it would likely not be deemed proficient.

Numbers have a place in our assessment system as long as we have a richer picture of the students behind them.

The entire Wisdom from the Field series is available here. It is also a feature in my new book through Corwin, available now.