I had assessment backwards—treating it as a terminal measure of what students know rather than a diagnostic tool to use while learning is still in progress. The safety quiz example forced me to confront that. A passing score measured reading comprehension and recall instead of procedural competence on equipment. I had confused validity with convenience and built a barrier into my own classroom without recognizing it.
I am shifting toward more frequent, low-stakes formative checks embedded in daily shop work, offering students multiple ways to demonstrate competency and framing feedback around process and next steps rather than grades. The open question is how to balance this formative orientation with the summative technical assessments required for industry credentials. I am not convinced that the two are incompatible, however they often operate on different design logics and I am still working through how to hold both of those effectively and equitably.
