Assessment FOR learning

Oh my gosh. I feel so move by the goal Rick Stiggins has about Assessment FOR learning. The goal is to "keep failure from becoming chronic and thus inevitable in the mind of the learner".

Could there be a more noble goal than this? Than to care for the soul of a child?

I personally experienced some failures lately, that made me tell myself, "Not again. Ops! I did it again. I have not made any progress regarding this issue." And this situation made me very depressed.

So I read with great interest Stiggin's vision of helping all children not have to face this situation or negative perspective that I just experienced. He wants to help children experience success by the process of an experienced person showing the child where to go, examples of good and bad, how to get there, by giving feedback. Thereafter teach the child how to do self-assessment, set his or her own goals and give him or herself descriptive feedback.

I find this so noble.

It makes me think Stiggins has great empathy for children who struggle with learning.

This is really a different approach to assessment. He says "we must recognise that assessment is about far more than the test score's dependability - it also must be about the score's effect on the learner. Even the most valid and reliable assessment cannot be regarded as high quality if the causes a student to give up."

Gosh, this view is revolutionary! Don't you think so? So much of my educational experience made me feel like a failure and like giving up, or simply finding a quick fix to get my grades. I didn't know maybe some teachers' desire was not so much that I get my As, but... that I develop fortitude, that I believe that I can improve and he or she was willing to help me attain it.

(sorry for getting all emotional here. This really pulled a heart string in me)