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Assessment means, by definition, the evaluation or estimation of the nature, quality, or ability of someone or something.

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The Cognitive Domain is only one piece of the puzzle. It is equally important to practice ongoing assessment of the affective constructs. That is, the parts of us that contain our values, attitudes, dispositions, and moral and ethical views.
Proper ongoing assessment of the affective domain, sometimes referred to as dispositional assessment, has the power to support us as individuals in improving our educational pedagogies and philosophies.
In turn, this internal assessment, paired with proper ongoing affective assessment of the children in our care as educators, works to improve academic achievement.
This additional piece of the puzzle enables us to recapture our learners as we plan lessons and materials that are designed to meet them where they are.

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So, now that I know how beneficial affective assessment can be... how the heck do I do it?!

Simple!

"Hopkins(1998) indicated that Likert, rating, and semantic differential scales, as well as self-report inventories, self-esteem inventories, Q-Sort instruments, questionnaires, and adjective checklists are all acceptable tools for collecting affective assessment data." (Affective Assessment, Romona Hall, Winter 2011)

The best tool is always one designed with the children in mind. You know your learners best! It is wise to use a variety of assessment tools throughout the school year to gather different sets of data.

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While the K-12 educational reform tends to be in a perpetual state of limbo - taking into account all three domains of learner behavior (cognitive, affective, and psychomotor) could gives us a solid push in the right direction. If we take the time to check in on students dispositions and values (by utilizing affective assessment strategies) towards education and the content material in focus we can use the information gained to our advantage in creating effective tools that draw the child's attention back in and reignite their passion and desire for learning. This may just be the missing link that our educational systems so desperately need!

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One of the ways we assess is by assessing the cognitive domain. This gives us information as to what skills an individual has mastered and how well they can apply all that they have learned. This form of assessment is important yet it does not offer us the amount of in-depth personalized information needed to truly tailor instruction to further benefit the child in coming into their full potential. It may also be viewed as an unjust way of measuring educators ability to perform as many standardized tests are more or less used to judge and rate schools and educators.

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One of the key factors that ensures you will get the most honest responses from affective assessments, regardless of the tool you use, is that it remain completely anonymous. This means no names on papers, no collecting papers by hand, or even into piles or stacks as this could also be used to trace responses back to specific individuals based upon order. Ballot boxes and typing any written responses by computer are great options if available!

Allowing children to submit their responses anonymously encourages honest feedback and participation which will provide the most useful information for educators.

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Affective Assessment paired with the generally required standardized assessments administered by school systems everywhere allows us to look deeper into the mind of the child and discover what it is that they need. We are able to ask questions that urge the child to think deeply and take a closer look internally at what it is that they need and feel. This is closely linked to the aspects of Cosmic Education and 'Follow the Child' in Montessori Philosophy. If assessment must be given, let us vow to make them genuinely more insightful and purposeful.