Stiggins, Richard J.
From WikEd
Richard J. Stiggins, B.S., M.A., Ph. D.
http://www.assessmentinst.com/images/RickPic-9-03.jpg
Educational & Professional Background
- Founder, in 1992, and President of the Assessment Training Institute, Inc., Portland, Oregon
50 SW 2nd Ave., Suite 300
Portland OR 97204
(503) 228-3060, fax (503) 228-3014
e-mail: ati@assessmentinst.com.
- Bachelor's degree in Psychology from State University of New York, Plattsburgh
- Master's degree in Industrial Psychology from Springfield (MA) College
- Doctoral degree in Education Measurement from Michigan State University
- Director of Research & Evaluation for Edina, Minnesota, Public Schools
- Member of the Faculty of Educational Foundations at University of Minnesota
- Director of Test Development for American College Testing Program, Iowa City, Iowa
- Director of the Centers for Classroom Assessment & Performance Assessment at Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon
- Taught Educational Measurement & Program Evaluation courses at University of Minneapolis, Minnesota and at Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Oregon
Descriptions, definitions, synonyms, organizer terms
Assessment Literacy
Dr. Stiggins "coined the phrase assessment literacy to represent the standards of professional excellence to be attained". (Stiggins, 2001, p 531)
Learning Teams
Dr. Stiggins has also "pioneered the use of local learning teams as an effective means of low-cost, in-service assessment training." (Stiggins, 2001, p 531)
Assessment FOR Learning
"If we wish to maximize student achievement in the U.S., we must pay far greater attention to the improvement of classroom assessment. Both assessment of learning and assessment for learning are essential. But one is currently in place, and the other is not." (Stiggins, 2002)
Student-Involved Assessment (Student-Led Conferencing)
Unique to Dr. Stiggin's vision of assessing student achievement is "the need to involve students deeply in the classroom assessment process to build their confidence and maximize their achievement." ("AIT," n.d.)
Application in classrooms and similar settings
Identify achievement targets and transform targets into daily classroom achievement indicators."If there's knowledge to be mastered, what knowledge? What are the reasoning proficiencies, performance skills, or product development capabilities we want?" (Sparks, 1999)
Recent research shows that student achievement improves when teachers focus on student work through assessment. Michael Fullan (2000) believes teachers must become assessment literate. By this he means that teachers learn to look at assessment data, and then work with other teachers to create action plans that will lead to improved performance.
Dr. Stiggins' book, Student-Involved Classroom Assessment, 3rd edition (Stiggins, 2001):
- Emphasizes what teachers need to know to manage day-to-day classroom assessment effectively and efficiently.
- Focuses on student well-being in assessment contexts, placing emphasis on student self-assessment.
- Offers practical guidelines on how to construct all types of assessments.
- Provides a unique explanation of how to match achievement targets to assessment methods.
- Emphasizes time- and energy-savings ideas for teachers.
- Clearly relates the concepts in the book to traditional notions of validity and reliability.
Dr. Stiggins' book, Student-Involved Assessment FOR Learning, 4th ed. "focuses on showing teachers how to develop assessments that accurately reflect student achievement." ("Amazon", 2005)
Evidence of effectiveness
Student self-assessments and peer assessments strengthen formative assessment in the classroom. Improved formative assessment raises students' overall achievement especially for low achievers. (Black, 2003 and Black, 1998) "The key is to understand the relationship between assessment and student motivation. In the past, we built assessment systems to help us dole out rewards and punishment. And while that can work sometimes, it causes a lot of students to see themselves as failures. If that goes on long enough, they lose confidence and stop trying. When students are involved in the assessment process, though, they can come to see themselves as competent learners." (Sparks, 1999)
Williams, Jennifer. (2000). Implementing Portfolios and Student-Led Conferences. Eisenhower National Clearinghouse Focus on Assessment that Informs Practice. [Electronic version]. Retrieved February 5, 2005 from [1]
Critics and their rationale
Alternative explanations due to Diversity considerations
Signed �?life experiences�?, testimonies and stories
Testimonial by G. Johnson
Back in 1998 I was part of an inservice that was based on Stiggin's Assessment model. Because we didn't have a voice as a faculty about what we were supposed to be learning (it was just thrown at us), many of us tuned it out, and learned very little from it. Recently, however, I was reexposed to his ideas and found them very interesting and useful in the classroom. This speaks to the need to get buy-in before any major change initiatives are invested in.
Customer Reviews at Amazon.com for Student-Involved Classroom Assessment, 3rd ed. by R.J. Stiggins
Damian, Carol. (2000). Facing - and Embracing - the Assessment Challenge. Eisenhower National Clearinghouse Focus on Assessment that Informs Practice. [Electronic version]. Retrieved February 5, 2005 from [2]
References and other links of interest
Amazon.com. (1996-2005). Retrieved February 5, 2005 from http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0131183494/qid=1107653394/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-6221401-3695942?v=glance&s=books
Black, Paul; Harrison, Catherine; Lee, Clare; Marshall, Bethan; and William, Dylan. (2003, April 22). The Nature and Value of Formative Assessment for Learning. Paper presented at AERA. Retrived February 5, 2005, from http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:Ph-MeVrcqJsJ:www.kcl.ac.uk/education/papers/AERA%2520Pres.pdf+England+study+improved+formative+assessment+raised+student+achievement+overall+but+that+it+helped+low+achievers+most.&hl=en
Black, Paul and Willam, Dylan. (October 1998). Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment [Electronic version]. Phi Delta Kappan, 80 (2). Retrived February 5, 2005, from http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kbla9810.htm
Fullan, M. (2000). The three stories of education reform, Phi Delta Kappan,81, 581-4.
Assessment Training Institute. (n.d.). Retrieved February 5, 2005, from http://www.assessmentinst.com/meetati.html
[http://wps.prenhall.com/chet_stiggins_student_4
Prentice-Hall Companion Website for Student-Involved Asssessment for Learning, 4th edition]
Sparks, Dennis. (Spring 1999). Assessment without Victims: An Interview with Rick Stiggins [Electronic version]. Journal of Staff Development, 20 (2). Retrived February 5, 2005, from http://www.nsdc.org/library/publications/jsd/stiggins202.cfm
Stiggins, R. J. (2002). Assessment Crisis: The Absence Of Assessment FOR Learning. Phi Delta Kappan. Retrieved February 5, 2005 from http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0206sti.htm
Stiggins, R. J. (2001). Student-Involved Classroom Assessment. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Stiggins, Richard J. (Summer 1999). Teams [Electronic version]. Journal of Staff Development, 20 (3). Retrived February 5, 2005, from http://www.nsdc.org/library/publications/jsd/stiggins203.cfm
