I think that the value of conferences for measuring understanding might depend on your purpose! If you are measuring understanding for the purpose of planning instruction...there is nothing better than conferring. I absolutely and totally agree! AND, I totally believe there are many audiences for assessment that do not understand the purposes of conferences and so do not understand their value. We have a lot of educating to do of our parents, colleagues and administrators! But suppose you are a reading specialist wanting to measure understanding for the purposes of predicting whether or not a child will be able to understand sixth grade reading material because you are sending them on to sixth grade and you want to know if they might be successful...then you might want to measure in a different way because your purposes are different. Or suppose you are an administrator who want to know if your students have grown in their understanding since the previous year...you might need to use something completely objective. A good question, Mike, one worth pondering deeply. What is everyone else thinking? Jennifer In a message dated 8/4/2008 7:22:06 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Group, I'd like to play devil's advocate for a second. Conferring is, absolutely, the most effective way to "measure" understanding. It has worked for me and countless others for years. Why? The best way to measure understanding of any concepts, be it reading, math, science, etc. is to ASK. It really is that simple. Talking with a child, not just talking to. Prompting and guiding, but asking the child to lead. Listening - not barraging with questions. However, what is a possible response for a supervisor or principal (just examples of who might ask) that might want more evidence than a conference note. I have run into many times where a conference note, even a series of them over time, is not deemed "worthy." Dig in our heels and be secure in our knowledge of what's best? Give in and pass out BCR's? What does everyone think? Mike Schul 1st Grade NBCT '08 Literacy **************Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos. (http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 ) _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
