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Teacher Tips—What Works!

Teacher tips are tried-and-true teaching strategies developed by health teachers around the country. Take a look at some classroom activities that really work. Send your Teacher Tips to Glencoe to share some of your own!

Learning to Love Assessment

Kathleen Middleton, M.S., C.H.E.S., Health Education Consultant for CCSSO-SCASS Health Education Assessment Project; contributing author, Glencoe Health

As the teacher, you need to understand what evidence of skill development "looks like" from the students' point of view.

The word "assessment" often engenders a groan from the average teacher. I remember that evaluation and grading was my least favorite task as a teacher. I loved the interaction with eager (and sometimes not-so-eager) students and the ability to inspire young people to make positive choices that affected their health. In fact, good health instruction can enhance the quality of their lives. However, the assessment aspect of the job was not what attracted me to the profession; in fact, I hated that part.

How then could a teacher like myself end up doing training in assessment–and loving it? I had a head-turning experience with assessment. I saw how clear goals and expectations for students could focus instruction. In a nutshell, I discovered rubrics. Once I was clear on what my students needed to produce in an assessment, I was able to skillfully guide them.

Knowing what students are expected to show you as evidence of learning will clarify what you teach and how you teach it. This is especially important in health education, because skill development is a critical component. As the teacher, you need to understand what evidence of skill development "looks like" from the students' point of view. This is where rubrics come in. Rubrics establish the criteria that help you measure students' proficiency in the skill.

Good assessment does not ambush or trick students. Good assessment is the same as good instruction. We all know how important the decision-making skill is when it comes to health education. But how do you assess that skill? You use a rubric that clarifies the steps in the decision-making process. And you use one of the many featured activities in Glencoe Health and Teen Health that integrate the content in the chapter with the skill. Each feature activity provides criteria that can be used as a rubric to judge student work. In the case of decision making, student work should show the following:

• A clear description of the situation (the decision to be made)
• Several options and the outcome of each option
• The influence of values on possible decisions
• A health-enhancing decision and an evaluation of that decision (i.e., "It is a good decision because...")

Throughout both Glencoe Health and Teen Health, the Teacher Wraparound Edition provides the teacher and student the criteria that demonstrate health skills. These criteria can be used to formulate the assessment rubric.

Good assessment does not ambush or trick students. Good assessment is the same as good instruction. Students should be provided instruction in what is to be assessed; they should be provided practice in what is to be assessed; and they should be given an opportunity to evaluate themselves using the same criteria that will be used in a formal assessment.

Assessment—knowing how students will demonstrate mastery of the content and skills—helps teachers focus and use their time wisely and more productively. With the assessment tools available in Glencoe Health and Teen Health, you too can learn to love assessment!

See related articles: So Much to Do—So Little Time! How Can a Teacher Help Students Become Health Literate? and Teaching to the Assessment

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