Diagnostic Assessment : An Essential Tool For Teachers

3. Assessment of Literacy Development in Early Childhood is a research that was conducted by Johnson, Peter H, and Rogers, Rebecca. Both authors highly believe in assessing literacy development, since it is a huge aspect in students’ literacy development. Both authors state, “Most literacy assessment occurs in the school years because, at least in most Western countries, literacy learning is considered the responsibility of the school, though when school literacy instruction actually begins…In the United States, since the thirties, literacy-related assessment has occurred in the early years of schooling because of beliefs about the relationship between learning and development” (pg. 1).

The term ‘formative assessment’ is used to describe the activities and processes used by teachers and learners to gather information that informs future teaching and learning. Assessment becomes formative if the information gathered is used as feedback to adapt and modify teaching and learning (Black and Wiliam, 1998, p.2). There are a variety of different methods and techniques that can be used by teachers and learners that can contribute to enhancing learner progress. These include

Effective assessment will identify individual educational needs of all children as well as informing them about their specific performances and achievements, this will then allow teachers to use approaches that are personalised to the needs of a child. Assessment can be used not only to measure learning but also to promote learning by teaching pupils how to ask questions as well as answering them, by emphasising to a child that it is acceptable to ‘have a go’ and that by giving the wrong answer is still an opportunity to learn. It further provides the student with an understanding of what levels they are working at, what level they would like to working towards, and plan on how they are going to reach that level.

Before any actual classroom teaching can take place, initial and diagnostic assessments must be carried out. These are paramount in agreeing individual learning goals, and planning the progression of the learner with the teacher.

An initial or diagnostic assessment establishes the starting point and ascertains the student’s previous skills and knowledge. This enables the student to see how much he/she achieves during the course, it also fosters a more reflective approach to learning and enables the teacher to effectively plan the individual student’s needs. The teacher can then review the students’ progress and achievements, which improves the quality of teaching

Assessment is a valuable tool to measure students learning and achievement. It is an essential element for teacher to reflect on what and how they teach. To assess students is to collect evidence of their learning. Teachers use the information to modify their lesson plans and adjust their instructional methods; students need feedback on their performance to concentrate on their vulnerable areas. Assessment is necessary for parents to reinforce their children strength and assist them where extra attention is required. The data collected will inform school

The initial and diagnostic assessments are closely linked; all information gathered from these assessments are put together to help the learner and the teacher build a clear picture of the individual. This information will then be used to agree goals and actions, personalise learning, develop an ILP, tailor session plans to meet the individual learners needs and use teaching methods to cater for all learning styles.

“Assessments should be a regular process; it might not always be formalised, but you should be observing what your learners are doing, asking questions and reviewing their progress throughout their time with you”.

Through the identification of these assessment methods, I will analyse their purpose and the role that they play in my learner’s development; and how these are used to identify learner progress and confirm their knowledge and understanding. I will explore theories and principals of assessment, covering formative and

Assessing is a crucial component of education that informs teachers on individual development and understanding (Booker, Bond, Sparrow

Assessments are the process of evaluating an individual’s learning. They involve generating and collecting evidence of a learner’s attainment of knowledge and skills and judging that evidence against defined standards. Formative Assessments (quizzes and practical tests) are used to

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of the Classroom Diagnostic Tool (CDT) as a predictor of student performance on the Keystone exam in algebra. There were two guiding questions that lead this research. The first was: To what extent, if any, does the CDT predict student performance on the Algebra Keystone exam of those who are enrolled in a Keystone algebra course? The second question was: To what extent, if any, does the CDT predict student performance in eligible content categories (i.e. numbers and operations, geometry, algebra etc.) when considered independently of the overall scaled score?

Assessing the children understanding is considered to be a good indicator of their learning and development process (Reys et al., 2012). Stiggins (2002) discussed the difference between the children’s assessment for learning and assessment of learning. Teachers need to be familiar with both. Assessment for learning (or as we call it the formative assessment) helps the students to learn more about different concepts and increase the opportunity to develop various skills. On the other side, assessment of learning (summative assessment) is to give the teacher an evidence of students’ achievements for purposes of accountability and reporting. For example, assessment for learning can include the teacher’s observations, in-class assignments,

Included below is an example of initial assessment and diagnostic assessment for both Numeracy and Literacy, which shows how I use this within my teaching practice.

Recently, whenever I hear current teachers discussing about assessing students, ‘Formative Assessment’ is sure to be highlighted. Nowadays this method (formative assessment) is becoming popular among schools and is being applied widely in schools including my own school. Loughland and Kilpatrick (2015) identified in the few past decades, formative assessment has turned out to be the main goal for teachers and educational systems. On the foundation of Loughland and Kilpatrick (2015) findings and from my experience in the field of teaching, I found out nowadays teachers and school stakeholders strongly feel that formative assessment is the best method to assess in order to enhance students’ learning. For these evident reasons, I am interested in finding