barassingpublicspotlight.

Anotherkindofsafetytakestheformofapeerenvironment
sensitivetotheplightofthosewhoperformlesswelandsupportiveoftheiratemptstogrow.
Stlanotherkindofsafetycomesfromhavingtheopportunitytolearnmoreandperformagain
laterwiththepromiseofahigherlevelofsuccess.Nowhereispersonalsafetymoreimportant
tosoundassessmentthanwhenthatassessmentisconductedthroughpublicpersonal
communication.

StudentsUnderstandtheNecdforHonesty.Personalcommunicationworksbestas
assessmentwhenstudentsunderstandthatsometinestheirteacherneedsanhonestanswer-
nottheiratemptatabestpossibleanswerortheanswertheythinktheirteacherwantstohear.
Thismodeofassessmentprovidesitsbestinformationmostefficientlywhenasound
interpersonalrelationshipexistsbetweenyouandyourstudents.Again,thekeyistrust.
Studentsmustknowthatiftheygiveyouthe"socialydesirable"responsetoaquestion—a
responsethatmisrepresentsthetruthabouttheirachievementorfeelings-thenyouwilbeless
likeiytohelpthem.

AMeanstoKeepAccurateRecords.Becausetherearenotangibleresultswithassessments
conductedviapersonalconmunication,recordsofachievementcanbelost.Overaspanofa
fewmomentsorhourswhenthecommunicationfocusesonnarowtargets,thismaynotbea
problem.Butwhenthecontextincludesmanystudeats,complextargets,andarequirementof
extendedstorage,youabsolutelymustmaintainnoretangiblerecords-writenortapedrecords
ofsomekindifyouhavenomeansorhopeofdoingsowhennecessary,youwoulddobeterto
reviseyourassessmentplans.Figure93summarizesthefivebenefitsofandsevenpractical
keystotheeffectiveuseofassessmentbymeansofpersonalcommunicationdiscussedahove.

MoreaboutSampling

Remember,anyassessmentrepresentsonlyasampleofanidealassessmentofinfinitelength.
Thekeytosuccessfulsamplinginthecontextofpersonalcommunicutionistoaska
representativesetofquestions,onethatislongenoughtogiveconfidenceinthe
generalizationsdrawntotheentireperformancedomain.

EixampleofanEasyFit.Here'sascenarioinwhichitiseasytomeetthesestan.dardsofquality:
Ateacherisabouttoinitiateanewsciencereadingactivityonfishwithhisthirdgraders.Asa
prereadingactivity,hewantstobesurealstudentshavesufficientinformationaboutfishto
understandthereading.Hechecksthestorycarefulyforvocabularyandconceptsthatmight
bestumblingblocksforhisstudents.Thenhebeginstoaskquestionsofhisstudents,probing
underst.andingofthosewordsandideas.Ashesamplestheirpriorknowledgethrough
questionsandanswers,hetakesgreatcaretoseethatthosewhodidn'tkrowthemeaningwhen
askedunderstandthatmeaningbeforebeginningtoread.

inthisscenario,theperformancearenaisquitesmalandfocused:vocabularyandconcepts
fromwithinonebriefsciencestory.Samplingbymeansofpersonalcommunicationissimple
andstraightforward,andtherearenorealrecord-keepingchalengespresented.Theteacher
simplyverifiesunderstandingonthepartofeachstudentbeforeproceeding.Afterthat,most
recordsofperformancecanbeputonthebackburner.Theteachermightmakeamentalnote
tofolowupwiththosestudentswhohadthemostdifficulty,butalotherrecordscanbe "deleted."

ExampleofaMoreCbalengingFit.Nowhere'sascenarioinwhichtheassessmentchalenges
aremoreformidable:Ahighschoolhealuntegcherwhoreliesextensivelyonsmal-andlarge-
groupdiscussionofhealth-relatedsocialissuesasherinstructicnaltechniquewantsto
encouragestudentparticipationinclasediscussionsToaccomplishthis,sheannouncesatthe
beinningoftheyearthattwenty-fiveperentofeachstudent'sgradewilbebasedontheextent
andqualityoftheirparticpationinclass.Sheiscarefultopointoutthatshewilcalonpeople
toparticipateandexpeectsthemtobeready.

Thisachievementtargetisbroaderintwoways:itcontainsagreatdealmoreelements(the
domainismuchlarger),anditspansamuchlongerperiodoftime.Notonlydoestheteacher
faceanimmensechalengeinadequatelysamplingeachindividual'sperformance.buther record-
keepingchalengeismuchmorecomplexanddemanding.Considertherecord-keeping
dilemmaposedbyaclassschedule.

thatincludes,say,foursectionsofeleventh-gradehealth,eachincludingthirtystudents!And
remember.mentalrecordkeepingisnotanoption:Whenwetrytostoresuchinformationinour
graymaterfortoolong,badthingshappen.Thesearenotunsolvableproblems,buttheytake
carefulpreparationtoassess.Inthissense,theyrepresentasignificantchalengetotheteacher.

Thesetwoscenarioscapturetheessenceofthequaitycontrolchalengeyoufacewhenyou
choosetorelyonpersonalccmmunicationasaprimarymeansoftrackingstudentachievement.
Youmustconstantlyaskyourself:ismyachievementtargetnarowenoughinitsscopeand
shortenoughinitstimespantoalowforconscientioussamplingoftheperformanceof
individualstudentsorstudentsasagroup?Iftheanswerisyes,inyouropinion,proceedtothe
nextquestion:Isthetargetnarrowenoughinitsscopeandshorteroughinitstimespanto
alowmetokeepaccuraterecordsofperformance?Iftheansweragainisyes,proceed.Ifthe
answertoeitherquestionisno,chooseanotherassessmentmethod.

TimeforReflection

APEteacherisabouttostartanewgamewithaclassofthinyfourthgraders.Shethinksthe
rulesarefamiliartoal,butdecidestocheckjusttobesure.Soshepicksastudentandasks
whatthatsudentshoulddo.accordingtotherules,ifaparticuiarsituationarises.Thestudent
answerscorectly.Shecalsonanother,seekingasecondinterpretation.Corectagain.She
infersthattheclassknowstherules.Soon,thegamefalsintodisarayduetorulesviolations.
Whatmistake(s)didtheteachermake?Whatshouldshehavedone?

Assess/ngIndividualsortheWboleClass.Personalcommunicationassessmentsareusefulin
tappingthelevelofachievementofstudentsbothindividualyandasaclassorgroup.
Experiencedteachersknowhowtosampleaclassofstudentsby(a)selectingasmalnumber
representativeofthevariouslevelsofachievementinthegroup,and(b)askingasmalbut
representativesampleofkeyquestionsofthis"test"group,soastoinferaboutstudentmastery
ofmaterialjustcovered.Resultsofsuchassessmentsofgroupstatuscantelteachers
whethertoreteachormoveon.

Buttomakethiswork,wemustrememberthatthesamplesofstudentsandachievementmust
bothberepresentativeandhavesufticientdepthtojustifyourconclusions.ThePEteacherin
the"TimeforReflection"abovedidnot.Shecheckedtheknowledgeoftoofewstudentsto
supportherinferenceabouttheknowledgeleveloftheclassasawhole.And,sheaskedtoofew
questionsabouttherilesofthegametocorectlyinferaboutstudentknowledgeofaltherules.
Bothproblemsconspiredtomisinformheraboutherstudents'readinesstoplaythegame.

Beforeleavingsamplingissues,letmerestateinexplicittermsacriticalpointinsampling
individualstudentachievementthrouglpersonalcommunication:Bewareofthenatural
tendencytoundersample.Oftenateacherwilpoptwoorthreequickquestionsatastudent,
hearwronganswers,andmakeasnapjudgmentaboutoveralachievement.Twoquestionsisa
pretyshorttest

Whenrelyingonpersonalcommunicationtoassess-especialywhenusingthismode—besure
totaketimetogatherenoughinformation.RememberthattipIofferedearlierabouttheartof
determiningwhenyouhaveenoughinformationtodecide?Youknowyouhaveaskedenough
questionsandheardenoughanswerstoinferaboutstudentachievementwhenyoucan
anticipaiewithahighdegreeofconfidencehowthestudentwoulddoiyougavethemone
more.Keepthistipinmindanddon'tselyourstudentsshort.

SummaryofQualityControlIssues

Personalconmunicationinitsmanyformscansupplyusefulinformationtoteach.ersabouta
varietyofimportanteducationaloutcomes,includingmasteryofsubjectmaterknowledge,
reasoningandproblemsolving,proceduralknowledgethatsprerequisitetoskilandproduct
creationproliciency,andaffectiveoutcomes.Tocreateeffectivematchesbetweenthismethod
cfassessmentandthesekindsoftargets,however,theusermuststartwithaclearvisionofthe
outcomestobeatained,knowhowtotranslatethatvisionintociear,focusedquestions,share
acommonlanguageandopenchannelsofcommunicationwithstudents,andunderstandhow
tosampleperformancerepresentatively.Butnoneofthesekeystosuccessispowerfulenough
toovercometheproblemsthatarisewhenteachers'interpretivefilterspredisposethemtobe
inappropriatelybiasedindecipheringcommunicationfromstudents.

THEMANYFORMSOFPERSONALCOMMUNICATIONASASSESSMENT

Throughouttheabovediscussionofqualitycontrol,wehaveaddressedpersonalconmunication
asaclassofassessmentformats.Wenowconductathoroughanalysisoffiveformatsof
personalcommunication:questioning,conferencesandinterviews,lassdiscussions,oral
exams,andconversationwithothers.Ineachcase,wewildefineitandidentifyseveralkeysto
itseffectiveuseintheclassroom.

Pleasebearwithmethroughthissection,asIrelyheavilyonlistsasaconciseformof
presentation.Theyalowmetosharemanythoughtsinlitlespace.

InstructionalQuestionsandAnswers

ThishasbeenafoundationofeducationsincebeforeSocrates.Asinstructionproceeds,either
theteacherorthestudentsthemselvesposequestionsforotherstoanswer.Thisactivity
promotesthinkingandlearning,andalsoprovidesinformation