ASSESSING FOR LEARNING
Teaching and Learning Cycle Meets Needs for Accountability

by Don Burger

Successfully teaching students to read is a challenge that has perplexed teachers, curriculum developers, and researchers for years. The federal government has been monitoring student at age 9, 13, and 17 since 1971. Figure 1 indicates that there has been virtually no change in reading ability despite doubling
the amount of money spent on education. Strategies used to improve student learning include school restructuring programs, new curricula, textbooks, computer teaching systems, and using test scores to
motivate teachers to work harder. Singly, these efforts do not appear to be the “silver bullet” researchers and practitioners hope for. Why haven’t these initiatives improved student learning? Perhaps the current results are the best that can be obtained from the traditional teaching process used by large numbers of teachers. The diagram in Figure 2 describes this teaching process, which has been handed down over the decades: the Traditional Teaching Cycle (TTC).

The Traditional Teaching Cycle
The goal of the TTC is to cover the textbook during the school term or year (see “Features of the Traditional Teaching Cycle”). In the first step of this process, teachers map content onto the
school calendar, and instructional units are designed in order to meet this goal.

The second step is teaching. The pace of instruction is dictated by the length of the school year and the number of pages in the textbook. Whole class instruction is the basic mode of instruction in the TTC. Instructional units target the ability level of students at the middle of the class. The instruction will be too easy for some students, too difficult for others, and just right for many.

The third step is classroom assessments. In the TTC, classroom tests are used solely for the purpose of assigning a letter grade. In his 2002 Phi Delta Kappan article “Assessment Crisis,” Richard J. Stiggins notes that classroom assessments are assessments of learning rather than for learning. Testing signals that learning is over.

The fourth and final phase is evaluation. Letter grades are assigned based on test scores and other class assignments. Classroom grading is used to motivate students, rather than to promote student learning or more effective instruction. When the cycle ends, teachers move on to the next unit regardless of
whether the students have learned the targeted skills and content knowledge.

Teachers using the TTC need assessment data to assign letter grades. In fact, these teachers have few skills in using test data to inform or improve instruction. Reporting test scores in the newspaper along with school-to-school comparisons creates anguish that school staff do not have the skills to remedy. School administrators can only exhort their teachers to work harder. But working harder using the same teaching process really doesn’t improve student learning.

Accountability for learning in the TTC is split between teachers and students. Teachers are responsible for presenting material and for coverage, and the students are responsible for learning. Whether students learn or do not learn is attributed to the intelligence and effort of the student. Once testing has ended, no effort is made to re-teach concepts or material that was not learned. Some students learn well under those conditions, but others do not; this outcome is considered acceptable. Distributions of test scores in the TTC resemble the normal curve.

The Teaching and Learning Cycle
The new emphasis on student achievement and accountability postulating “all students can learn” may require a different teaching model. Adopting an “all can learn” approach has tremendous implications for classroom assessment practices. According to Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam in their 1998 Phi Delta Kappan article “Inside the Black Box,” using classroom assessment to inform instruction rather than to assign letter grades increased student achievement dramatically. Since student learning is now the goal, the teaching model changes and the pace of instruction changes. Figure 3 describes a different teaching process, the Teaching and Learning Cycle (TLC) (see www.rcowen.com/TLNpgs.htm).

The TLC begins with assessment (see “Features of the Teaching and Learning Cycle”). Teachers must find out what students know and can do prior to planning instruction. Now, teachers need to know and apply new assessment skills. They need to learn how to build classroom assessments and tests that
measure learning targets and inform instruction for both teacher and students. Teachers must be able to create classroom assessments, and they need systems that can help them monitor student progress toward learning goals. Teachers must be able to make meaning from the data and transform that data into instructional strategies for re-teaching and grouping. The need to continually monitor student progress changes recording practices from traditional grade books to continuous progress monitoring
systems organized around learning targets.

Teachers learn to use assessment information from a variety of sources. Classroom assessment is their primary tool, because they have the data immediately. Turn-around time is critical to teachers.
There is a role for large-scale assessments that are valid and provide reliable measures of the learning targets. Teachers also recognize the power of bringing student self-assessment into the learning process. Students who know how to evaluate their own work have learned one of the most important skills we can give them. The TLC creates a balanced approach to use of sources of assessment information.

The second step in the TLC is the reflection/interpretation phase. Teachers must know how to interpret assessment information and use that information to plan instruction. Curriculum and instruction remain integral parts of the TLC. However, in the TLC model, components are integrated. In fact, students may
not be aware of the transitions between assessment and instruction. Teachers are constantly collecting information that impacts instruction.

The third step in the TLC process is planning. Teachers plan approaches for each student rather than for whole class instruction. The planning process includes selecting curricular materials and flexibly grouping students. Flexible grouping means that groups constantly change based on student learning. The classroom may have several small groups working on different aspects of the instructional unit. Teachers apply a variety of instructional strategies that target specific skills. Students remain in the group until learning targets have been achieved. The teacher selects curricular materials and instructional strategies based on the needs of the group.

The fourth step in the TLC is instruction. Teachers facilitate the learning process for each group rather than present material to the whole class. The teaching process for groups of students is called differentiated instruction. If something is important enough to teach, it is important for students to learn. Without student learning there has been no teaching. After instruction, the process cycles back to the assessment phase to check for learning. Those students who have not met the achievement standard continue working on the learning target.

Teachers using the TLC have the tools to respond to the increased demand for accountability. Just as important, the TLC model puts student learning where it belongs: at the center of the teaching process.