Reflection as a Way of Life

How can I authentically engage students to take an active role in their assessment?

In my first years of teaching I was always turned off by assessment.  Marking was tedious, comments did not seem to be having a huge impact, and grades seemed arbitrary.  As I have gathered a little more teaching experience I have found that I was just frustrated with poor assessment practices.  The definition of assessment is so much more diverse than what I experienced when I was a student, and continues to expand by incorporating new ideas that guide learning rather than review it.  That is the key difference in my new definition of assessment.  Effective assessment can be the largest contributor to learning and the more engaged students are in this process more skills and knowledge they have the potential to gain.

In order to answer this question, I plan to use an action research approach.  This is a framework that provides the opportunity for continuous growth and promotes further inquiry into the topic.  I also appreciate that this structure can be based off of any questions, and the outcomes of my research will directly impact my practice.  As I investigate this questions I will document my planning, actions, and reflections in a cycle (shown below) to track my progress.  

I think student engagement and student voice is so important to so many aspects of education;  assessment does not have to be any different.  A traditional understanding of assessment may require a teacher to assign a grade, but an alternative approaches that engage students in the process could have the potential to better guide student growth in their lives as a student and provide the skills and competencies required for success in the real world.