Self-Assessments: "How Am I Doing?"

Every year at the New Hampshire Homeschooling Coalition Spring Workshop, a handful of experienced homeschooling parents, serving as panelists, answer questions about homeschooling. The workshop typically begins with an overview of the NH Home Education law (RSA 193-A). Panelists are then asked about their personal experiences. Why did they choose to homeschool? How did they get started? Where do they find educational resources? How do they connect with other homeschoolers?

At some point in the middle of the workshop, there's one question that's always asked:

"What are your goals and how do you know you’re accomplishing enough?"

While (as a panelist), I realized this question was about educational goals, I couldn't answer without stating the obvious: my highest priority as a parent was my children's well-being. I wanted them to have fond memories of our time together, so I focused on how they learned—I adamantly refused to use a system of rewards and punishments to manipulate, coerce, or shame them into reaching academic milestones. If my kids didn't feel loved and respected and valued for who they were, no amount of accomplishment would ever make up for it.

If I'm honest, though, I have to admit: knowing whether we were accomplishing enough wasn't easy. Most of the time, I went through an informal process of trial and error. When my kids seemed bored, I tried to help them find more challenging work to do. If they were frustrated or stuck, I encouraged them to slow down and take things one step at a time. "Assessment" was generally something that happened dynamically and continuously as I had regular conversations with my children about how they were doing, what interested them, and where they were struggling.

More formally, I could see my kids were making progress when I helped them assemble their annual portfolios at the end of the year. Their portfolios included a written summary of the major milestones in their lives, photos, samples of work, programs from performances, and other evidence of what they'd done during the year. It was always obvious that they had accomplished much, but was it "enough"? How much was enough? That was difficult for me to evaluate without comparing what my kids had done to what other kids the same age were doing.

All of which leads me to these questions: What can an educator reasonably expect from a student? What should students—or lifelong learners—expect from themselves?


Recently, it occurred to me that perhaps the only question we really need to be asking ourselves is this: 

Could we be doing better? 

Sometimes, as teachers and learners, we know we could be doing better. We feel confused, uncertain or frustrated by a lack of progress. That's when we usually turn to others for help. We ask for feedback and advice, and in doing so, we take a chance, become vulnerable, and expose our weaknesses.

Developing Academic Mindsets In Teachers and Students

As a participant in the Deeper Learning MOOC, I have learned about schools that are developing formal, iterative processes for teachers to give and receive feedback on their classroom practices. Teachers meet several times a month, sharing or co-developing lessons, assessments and student work. In some cases, students are included in the review process so that teachers can learn from them as well. (The atmosphere during these review sessions—friendly, supportive, respectful—reminded me of monthly homeschool support group meetings, during which parents are free to vent their concerns and share ideas.)

What underlies all these assessment and training activities is a "learning mindset," a belief that educators can develop their teaching skills with practice and feedback. According to Academic Mindsets for Learner Success, there are four essential mindsets that facilitate learning:

1. I belong in this learning community.
2. I can change my abilities through effort (a growth mindset). 
3. I can succeed.
4. This work has value and purpose for me.

These mindsets apply to students as well as teachers, as we are all learning, all the time.

As a home educator, I was unaware of these mindsets and made no conscious effort to develop them. I guess I was just lucky to have acquired them serendipitously. I have felt a strong sense of belonging among families in the homeschooling community. I have felt supported. With effort, through a process of trial and error, I have been able to develop my abilities over time. I have been encouraged by others who were successfully homeschooling their children, which led me to believe that I could be successful, too. And, naturally, educating my children is work that has had incredible value and purpose for me. 

Personal Development for Home Educators?

Many parents have successfully educated their children without sending them to school. There's little doubt that homeschooling can be effective. What I would like to know is whether all home educators (and others who don't have the infrastructure of a school available to them) have adequate opportunities for learning how to do their jobs better. Specifically: 

• If you are a home educator, are you receiving enough encouragement and feedback from monthly support group meetings, online forums, curriculum fairs, and annual workshops? 
• Do you think you could be doing a better job if only you had more support? 
• Are you already the best teacher you could be, or is there a little room for improvement? 
• If there's room for improvement (c'mon, be honest), how do you plan to develop your skills? 

If there were a safe, supportive, respectful forum for school administrators, teachers and home educators to give and receive authentic feedback on their work, perhaps we could all learn how to become better at what we do. 

What do you think?