In Tovani’s Chapter 8, “What Do I Do with All These Sticky Notes?” Assessment That Drives Instruction, the focus is on assessment methods in the classroom. Tovani starts off by introducing a story about her students’ curiosity regarding tests, and she responds by explaining what she expects from her class. Moreover, the chapter explains an educator’s outlook on tests and how they are applied. Aside from the views, the process for selecting assessments is also mentioned.
1. What are some important steps in interpreting data from high stakes assessments? In order to make assessment data useful teachers must understand what information is being reported and determine if additional information is necessary to understand student performance. Specifically, for assessment results for students with disabilities, teachers would have to identify what accommodations were being used.
Assessments are a teacher’s tool that builds a profile on student’s growth and are the “tell-tell” detectors that provide the with teacher information on a student who may need additional services in and beyond the
(2.1) Explain the importance of involving the learner and others in the assessment process? When students are actively involved they can participate in selecting evidence (for example, samples of their work) that best demonstrate the intended learning outcomes. The process of assessment develops students’ understanding of the desired outcomes and success criteria. Making judgments is closely linked to developing the skills of self and peer-assessment.
Assessment in learning and development plays a key role in any education as it allows the assessor to keep track of learner’s work they have completed or completing which then can allow for targets to be set for the learner. This is where the assessment cycle comes in – Plan, do, review. This can then motivate the learner and also provide the learner with feedback and constructive criticism when
Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority (2015) define assessment as a measure of student achievement to determine future learning goals. ACARA (2015g) requires an assessment to be aligned with the Australian Curriculum with balanced results made on performance demonstrated from pre-determined criteria. These guidelines warrant that grades across the nation are consistent. With this in mind, students have the right to non-subjective, consistent and authentic assessment, which accurately reflects their achievement against set standards. Subjective assessment is based on the teacher’s opinion, rather than evidence (Callcott et al., 2015).
Students should be assessed on the lessons taught not questions picked from a
Classroom assessment and grading practices have the potential not only to measure and report learning but also to promote it. Indeed, recent research has documented the benefits of regular use of diagnostic and formative assessments as feedback for learning (Black, Harrison, Lee, Marshall, & Wiliam,
The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) is a process for gathering and recording information about a child for whom a practitioner has concerns in a standard format, identifying the needs of the child and how the needs can be met. It is a shared assessment and planning framework for use across all children’s services and all local areas in the UK. It helps to identify in the early stages the child’s additional needs and promote the best help for the child. Its purpose is to focus around the needs of children and young people. Its aim is to support early intervention and improve joint working and communication between practitioners.
As a future educator, understanding how to design, implement, and interpret results from a range of assessments is essential to being an effective teacher. Throughout my time at Pittsburg State University I have gained an understanding of the several ways to engage learners in the assessment process, how to align instruction and assessment with learning targets, and how to engage the learners using technology. I gained this knowledge through the major teaching unit in Techniques for Teaching Secondary Mathematics, and activities completed in both the Manipulatives for Teaching Secondary Mathematics and Educational Psychology. While completing the major teaching unit in Techniques and teaching two of the lessons that I wrote, I have developed
2:1 Compare the strengths and limitations of assessments of a range of assessment methods with reference to the needs of individual learners. Workplace Observations, question and answer/professional discussions, projects/assignments, portfolios, witness statements. A good assessor will always take into account their learners needs and what particular subject they are studying for prior to confirming with learner type of assessment method to be used. Workplace observations
However, she notes that the educator must grapple with all of these concerns and have a “thorough understanding of assessment issues and the means both for understanding school and districtwide assessment practices” (p. 334). Therefore, she lays out criteria to guide assessment, including: (1) assessment should be focused on learning, (2) should be equitable, (3) should be congruent with the aims of curriculum, (4) should recognize the limitations of assessment methods, (5) should reduce competition and increase cooperation in the classroom, (6) should include participation by students, and should include consistent and meaningful reporting (Ruddell, 2008, 334-336). Additionally, Ruddell (2008) lays out assessment tools for educators to employ to evaluate their subject area reading and writing, as this can provide important data about mastery of content knowledge through an understanding of how the student comprehends and utilizes the literacy behaviors specific to the
In my classroom, I implement both subjective and objective assessments. In the morning, we do our daily brain busters which review what we learned the day before as review. In the subjective and objective assessment, I use a combination of multiple choice, fill in the blanks, and essay questions. In my view, I prefer subjective assessments over objective assessments. Now, students have to take the Georgia Milestones Assessment and there are many subjective test questions on the assessment.
I incorporate this learned experience daily and learn through each success and discovered area of improvement. Addressing my students needs using a variety of assessment tools has been a beneficial practice to help guide instruction. Students have different learning styles and their strengths and weaknesses are not always apparent using the same methods of assessment. Utilizing formative, standards(goal)-based, anecdotal, observational and benchmarks has driven my instructional programs. The combination of different assessments provides me with a multi-dynamic perspective of my students allowing me to better understand their strengths, weakness and academic needs.
Authentic assessments should be tied to real-world contexts and require the student to “do” the subject. For example after a Math lesson on telling time to have the students complete a “time” worksheet. Tell each child to write their beginning time and once they
