Assessing What Matters

In "Assessing What Matters," Robert J. Sternberg asserts that assessments should go beyond academics to assess wisdom and creativity.

Sternberg reflects, "When I look at the skills and concepts I have needed to succeed in my own field, I find a number that are crucial: creativity, common sense, wisdom, ethics, dedication, honesty, teamwork, hard work, knowing how to win and how to lose, a sense of fair play, and lifelong learning. But memorizing books is certainly not one of them."

Do you currently assess wisdom and creativity? If not, how might you go about incorporating those skills into your assessments? Is this something teachers should be doing?

Go to the December 2007 / January 2008 issue of Educational Leadership magazine to read more articles on Informative Assessment. ASCD members log in to read the full text of "Assessing What Matters."

Comments

[Maja Wilson]

Like Sternberg, I value creativity and wisdom more highly than the qualities generally measured on the standardized tests used to make high-stakes decisions. While I try to inspire, encourage, allow, ask for, describe, celebrate, and sometimes even preach these qualities in my high school English classes, I don't measure them. Once attached to grades, entracnce or exit exams, scholarships, and school funding, these qualities will be dissected into smaller and smaller parts, mixed with coercion, and dished up as an unrecognizable and unpalatable substitute for the real meal. I'm grateful to Sternberg for pointing out what thoughtful educators have suspected for years: that the qualities he values are better indicators of success than the skills we're told to kill and drill to meet AYP. But plugging a test for creativity into the current testing landscape will simply make a mockery of creativity. We'd be better off studying the conditions necessary for creativity, making our classrooms rich fodder for creativity, and then revelling in what students create rather than trying to measure what they've done with "creativity rubrics."

[Aim]

I definitely agree with him. There is more to success than memorizing books. I don't know how but it sure would help if we come up with ways to educate youngsters about other life skills. I found out about the Young Entrepreneur Society and went to www.YoungEntrepreneurSociety.com. Interesting site.

[Eve Godin]

I have spent the better part of this past semester reviewing and reflecting on current assessment practices in our department (Learning Strategies Program). As a first year teacher in LSP, I was surprised to find out that the students were not required to fill out a self-evaluation at all.......and this program is driven by student initiative, self-advocacy, and motivation to become a life-long learner. I am constantly reminding myself that assessment must match the content and objectives being covered. I'm considering oral one-on-one's as part of student assessment for the next reporting term. Many of my kids are poor writers, and I feel you can learn a lot more (sometimes) through interactive discussion. I'd like to spend more time with the student, and less time filling out paperwork and marking standard practice learning inventories and mini-assignments. My goal is to think outside the box, and try some new methods of assessment this semester.

[Katie]

I totally agree that current assessments fall short on some very important aspects of our students development. Creativity and wisdom both enhance all the other aspects of learning. As the other comments, I fully agree that these vital, but difficult to measure qualities need a second look.