Page 369 - Foundations of Learning, 4th Edition (Revised)

Example of Designing and Using an Assessment

Feeling good about how much assessment helped in English class, David decided to use assessment to help
him tackle a problem he was having on the soccer field. Let’s see how formal assessment, with criteria,
attributes, and scales, helped David become a better player and more ready to play first-string and start games.

Scenario: David plays well, but tends to tire before the end of the game, sometimes
Purpose of Performance: asking to be subbed out in order to rest.
Purpose of Assessment:
to be able to play a full 90-minute game without needing to leave the
field to rest

to identify areas for improvement that will allow him to work specifically
to increase his ability to last through a full game

David drew up a list of criteria, attributes, and scales upon which he would base his assessment:

Criteria: Endurance
Attribute 1: ability to walk/jog/run/sprint when necessary

Scale: still enough still enough still enough still enough
energy to walk energy to jog energy to run energy to sprint

Attribute 2: length of time in the game without his play slowing down or needing to be subbed out
to rest

Scale: measured in minutes (0 to 90)

David asked Coach Miller, his mentor, (who attended all the college games) if he’d be willing to take
notes on these attributes while David played. Coach Miller, who believed that David had potential to play
professionally one day, agreed. Coach Miller would note when David’s level of play seemed to slow down
(when he failed to demonstrate having the energy required to walk/jog/run/sprint). He would take note of
how long David was able to remain in the game before needing to rest.

When the game was over, Coach Miller gave David the notes he had taken. David was then able to use
those measurements in order to determine his areas of strength (he played at a full energy level for the entire
first half of the game and only began to slow at around minute 60) as well as areas for improvement (his
endurance seemed to suffer most because of the amount of sprinting required). David realized that while
he had played midfield in high school, he was now playing forward and was therefore required to sprint
for longer periods of time, when driving for the goal.

He now knew exactly what he needed to work on in order to increase his endurance (sprinting) and improve
his performance. David later did a bit of research and found out that in a typical game, a forward will sprint
for 9 to 13 minutes, or roughly 10% to 15% of the time. David drew up a training circuit, specifically
designed to increase his ability to sprint that long and often:

JOG SPRINT JOG RUN JOG SPRINT JOG WALK
(2 min) (1.5 min) (2 min) (5 min) (2 min) (1.5 min) (2 min) (5 min)

Chapter 13 — Assessment for Self-Improvement 363