Tapestry of Grace
Evaluations:
Using
Evaluations as PLANNING tools
SUGGESTIONS:
Grammar
Level Evaluation Strategies
Dialectic
Level Evaluation Strategies
Rhetoric
Level Evaluation Strategies
STOCK TOOLS FOR EVALUATION:
Published Tests: preparing for them and taking them.
Evaluations and the Home School Setting
Tapestry of Grace is an innovative, integrated program. It may present a new teaching method to you. If you've read the philosophy of education section of this web site, you understand the goals of this program. It probably won't surprise you to learn that when we rethink teaching methods, we need to rethink evaluations as well. This page is designed to help you think through the possible forms of evaluation you might combine to faithfully assess your child's progress this year as you plan for the year.
Before beginning to read through this page, realize that it summarizes an ongoing process.
- I want to warn you to beware of the sin of comparison as you start to read.
- You may or may not have been introduced to the ideas below, and it may take awhile for you to come up to speed in using Evaluations as planning strategies.
- If there's a central, single idea here, it's that parents alone are capable of fully assessing the growth of their own children, and need only to be presented with the vast variety of possible methods so they can develop their unique, God-given ministries to each of their children.
- Families differ, and children within families differ, as to gift mixes, experiences, training, church environments and life goals. PLEASE do not feel that you must do ANY suggested activity on this page. It's a resource, not a requirement!
Evaluations serve a variety of purposes, and it is well to start the thinking process with goal setting. Here are some purposes for evaluating our children's educational progress that should be familiar to you:
- See how one student's skills and knowledge relate to other students’ achievements across a broad spectrum (usually determined by standardized tests taken annually).
- Determine a grade for the course. (This goal, among home schoolers, might be reserved for those wishing to interface with traditional schools--i.e. for parents who think their children might re-enter a traditional school, or for parents of High Schoolers seeking to build a transcript and determine a GPA (grade point average). There are multiple ways of arriving at "grades"--and all teachers struggle with trying to assign a grade that sums up the entire educational advancement for a student.)
Here are some possible goals for evaluation that may be new to you:
- Help the student "sum up," "overview," and "solidify" his course material. (This is a natural byproduct of studying for traditional tests profiled above, however it suggests new methods for evaluation, such as: graded portfolios, graded projects and presentations, and self-testing/self-evaluation. Don't worry--details abound at links connected to this page!)
- Learn more about the subject already studied. (Again, couple this idea with evaluation and you open a world of possibilities: in-depth research papers, presentations, demonstrations, and even teaching the course to younger siblings or other students.)
- Combine the honing of life skills with the academic, factual subject matter. (This element opens up the world of oral tests, oral presentations, interviews, learning logs and journals, observation checklists, performances and exhibitions.)
- Use as a corrective DURING learning, rather than simply allowing the student to wander through course material without any feedback and thereby not profit from the experience as fully as he might. (This implies such evaluative measures as corrections of rough drafts, pre-tests of spelling words, coaching in oral presentations, checklists, graphic organizer review, and the like.)
"Assessment has long been the "missing link" in effective school programs. Teachers who introduce exciting educational strategies like cooperative learning, higher-order thinking skills, multiple intelligences, and integrated curricula challenge students to expand their thinking and stretch their creativity. Their teaching signals a new order of change and challenge, but when they end the unit with a multiple-choice test, their assessment signals a return to tradition. It does not take long for students to figure out how to study and what to value. If teachers teach what they think is important, then they need to test what they think is important." [emphasis added]
When I went to Houston, I came across a GREAT resource that's not new to many of you,
but it was new to me. Formerly published as How Do You Know They Know What They
Know? by Grove Publishing (1977), Teresa Moon's book now is called Evaluating For
Excellence: A Handbook For Evaluating Student Progress. (ISBN is 1893103048,
but is now out-of-print).
I LOVE this book, and when I get around to writing evaluations for my Year-Plans, they will
refer to, and use forms from, this excellent resource. Until I can get back to helping you
craft specific evaluations, all you really need are these pages and this excellent book! Enjoy!
I think we are all
familiar (and most comfortable) with published tests from curriculum
providers. This page is designed as a
“worksheet” of sorts: it's goal is to help you discover new and
wonderful ways of using evaluations to plan your student's assignments, to
motivate your student to do his best work, and to evaluate your student's
performance in a worthwhile way. It will ask you a series of
questions, and offer a series of model tools, that will give you the
opportunity to arrive at the best possible method for evaluating
Father’s unique creations with which you’ve been entrusted.
BEFORE BEGINNING:
Step 1: Pause to pray for guidance.
- Ask the Lord to quicken ONLY the parts of this
discussion to you that are meant for your use.
Ask the Lord to make you open and receptive to new ideas that
He may have for you. Finally,
if you are a wife, ask the Lord to lead you through your husband’s
wisdom as you explore evaluations.
- Also ask the Lord to show you the goals He has for your child this school year. Ultimately, we all share the same educational goal: to teach our children to love the Lord with all their hearts, souls, minds and strength, and to love their neighbors as themselves. All we do for and with our children is ultimately for His glory and through His enabling power. For this reason, no two evaluation plans will be alike: families will differ from each other, and children within families will differ from each other. We need wisdom and grace in order to discern the Lord's plan for each of our children individually.
- I suggest that you now get out one piece of paper for
each child in your family, and head these pages with their names.
Step 2: Consider: how does your child learn best?
- You are probably familiar with the fact that each
student learns best through a unique blend of learning modalities: a
combination of seeing (visual learning), hearing (auditory learning)
and doing (tactile learning). You’ve
probably already assessed each of your children as to their
combination of strengths. On
your papers, write down the strongest modalities for each child.
Example: Christy:
primarily auditory, but a good visual learner through reading.
- Tapestry of Grace is designed with the needs of all three modalities in mind. As you know, YOU are the teacher, and Tapestry is only a plan that presents options. Only YOU can choose between these options for your child. No child should be expected to do all the suggested assignments or activities outlined in the curriculum.
- However, Tapestry does present a plan that strengthens the same set of basic skills for all students: strong reading ability, wide reading in many subjects, reading classical literature, studying the course of history (and analyzing it from a Biblical perspective), church history, literature, science, and human culture.
- Similarly, while Tapestry encourages you to develop individualized plans for evaluation, it also encourages “backbone” test-taking skills that all older children will need to learn in order to take their place in the world and effect it for Christ.
Step 3: Ponder: what stage is my child in?
- Tapestry of Grace also recognizes, and
optimizes, the “stages of learning”—Grammar, Dialectic, and
Rhetoric. You have
probably placed your child within this structure.
On your papers for your children, note which “stage” best
describes your child’s anticipated learning level for the following
year. Then, for the rest
of this “worksheet,” I suggest that you jump to the level
appropriate for each child in your family, and, one at a time, work to
develop a complete evaluation plan for each student.
- For each child, click on the appropriate level to continue this worksheet:
Grammar Level Evaluation Strategies
To return to "Typical Week" page, click here.
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