PAIR Up or Miss the Clues, Everyone Grab your Deerstalker!
Hello again! In my prior posts, I introduced the PAIR model, our new model for assessment that actually fits how we think and work, as well as delving into the P in PAIR, which stands for Prepare, the phase where we choose a purpose, pick a meaningful outcome, and build the foundation for everything that follows. Today, I want to talk about the next phase: where the cape comes off and the work gets real.
A = Assess, a.k.a. Moving Beyond Grades to Data that Builds Better Curriculum
Here’s where we put on our deerstalker hats, you know, the pointy ones, and start collecting evidence to find out if all that heroic prep work last spring paid off. Students write essays, complete projects, work internships, attend speakers, just to name a few things we grade. We turn that into data and then, like Batman, Sherlock, or maybe a green witch, we examine the clues to determine whether students are meeting the outcomes we aimed for. Spoiler Alert: In I = Intervention, we will use that evidence to strengthen the curriculum and support student success.
Pro tip: Batman doesn’t just punch villains, he collects evidence. Same idea here. Be Batman.
Tempting as it is to stop here and just report on the evidence we’ve collected, that’s not the end of the adventure. Assessment without reflection is just grading with extra paperwork, AND no one, especially CART and your DAC, wants any of us to have to do extra paperwork just because!
This is the moment when we engage directly with student work, not just grade it. Rather instead of just grading, we’re examining it for patterns that help us understand what students are learning (or not learning). We gather consistent data and look for trends that highlight strengths, gaps, or surprises. This means we use the same tool from the utility belt in every section, a shared assignment and/or rubric, so the evidence is comparable. When we’re all on the same page, we can spot trends across an entire course. Because it’s really less about “how did our students do?” and more about “what does this tell us about our course, our program, our teaching, and our student supports?” That’s how assessment turns into curriculum that counts and drives real student success.
According to Assessment Guru, Linda Suskie (2018), “Good assessment is a tool for improvement, not just accountability.” In other words, don’t just float over Oz in a bubble waving your wand; let’s land, listen, and learn! Assessment isn’t about the smoke and mirrors; it is about getting behind the curtain to understand how learning is happening (or not). It also isn’t just about evaluating where we are at; it’s about learning from what the data say to get better, which requires analysis and, gasp, maybe change.
Not sure how to make assessment work for you? Whether you need a sidekick, a consulting detective, or a little magic, email assessment@gccaz.edu.
#CurriculumThatCounts
Stay tuned for Post 4 of this 5-part series: I = Intervene, this is the step that turns assessment from a static report into a dynamic tool for improvement.
