I attended a two day training this week on the book Classroom Assessment for Student Learning (or CASL for short). There is an initiative across Livingston and Washtenaw Counties to implement the kind of assessment and structures that this book describes, including a ten year plan to make it basically county-wide.

I would not say that this training revolutionized how I think about teaching. I would not say that CASL is perfect by any means. It did make me think about a lot of things I have been doing in my classroom, though. It did make me want to do some things differently.

The end-goal of CASL is to align grade books to the skills and standards that students should master. It involves motivating students to learn what they should be learning instead of to simply complete the work. At its heart is the idea that teachers should have clear learning targets based on the standards, and that teachers and students should use formative assessments to constantly track how students are doing on those learning targets.

I am not totally sold on the idea. The CASL book and the first presenter were very focused on preparing for standardized tests, and that turned me off to begin with. I think there are things students should learn that aren’t included in any standards, and things that are not tested on any test. Actually, the presenter yesterday, Ken Mattingly, agreed with that. He talked about his kids as his kids, and about how he teaches more than science. He helps teach human beings. He seemed to be a very engaging and compassionate person. He made me realize that there are some things I do like about CASL, and even some things that I already try to do.

One of those things is making learning targets clear to students. I think it helps them know what they should be learning about. I remember a unit I taught on the Industrial Revolution in the U.S. At the end of it, even though we’d been talking about it for two weeks, no one knew what industrialization was. I hadn’t made it clear to them what we were learning.

Another is the importance of re-teaching and opportunities for revision. Ken asked us a question: “When was the last time it mattered that you used to not know something, that you do know now?” Teachers who use CASL give students the chance to learn what they missed, and to retry or revise their work based on new learning. I agree that learning should not end with the second draft or with the test.

I could say a lot more about the good I found in CASL. I could also say a lot more about the things I found problematic. I think that is probably true with any teaching and assessment model. Alas, my time is limited this morning. I will be thinking about how to explain learning targets and give better feedback for revision as the new school year starts.