Introduction To Student Involved Assessment For Learning

“Tests today are not like the tests most parents took when they were in school. New forms of teaching students' work are already in use, and even more changes will be coming in the years ahead. The term "assessment" has come into common use to describe these new ways of measuring students' accomplishments.

Assessment and data driven instruction are a vital part of teaching. Assessments are used frequently to guide the proceeding lessons. I am interested in learning more about the different types of assessments and the appropriate uses of each. I think it is critical as a future teacher to have many resources to back up my techniques, especially with the growing interest in data and tracking students’ progress. Gathering information about assessments will allow me to broaden my own techniques and strategies that I use in the classroom, more specifically the ways in which I grade and provide feedback on assessments so that students can use that feedback in a positive way. In my past experiences I have noticed my cooperating teachers providing grades on all assessments with no feedback because they want the students to correct their own mistakes. This may work on summative assessments but I think that there needs to be comments on formative assessments so that students know how to correct their mistakes for the end of the unit tests.

The article from Angelo and Cross, while dated, is a valuable lesson and read for educators (and myself). Many of the concepts covered in this article highlight the ways that assessment can help college teachers gain useful feedback and analyze student learning. The article encourages educators to review the central aim of college which is to help students become more effective and efficient learners. Additionally, by focusing on the characteristics of classroom assessment (learner-centered, teacher-directed, mutually beneficial, formative, context-specific, ongoing, and firmly rooted in good practice) educators can see what students are learning. Learning is a collaborative effort, both the educator and student need to work together.

Assessment is a vital piece of instruction, as it determines whether or not the goals of education are being met. Assessment influences choices about evaluations, placement, progression, instructional necessities, educational programs, and, at times, funding. Assessment inspires us to ask these hard inquiries: "Are we teaching what we think we are teaching?" "Are students learning what they should be learning?" "Is there an approach to educate the subject better, consequently advancing better learning?" Using multiple assessments can help educators find what assessments work for each student and make modifications if

Assessments have been used in the classroom throughout the years as feedback to educators on how effective they are at teaching and how well students are learning. Since school’s decision-making is being predicated off assessment scores, they are increasingly becoming more important. “Assessment affects decisions about grades, placement, advancement, instructional needs, curriculum, and, in some cases, funding” (Edutopia, 2008, para. 1). With more and more reliance on assessments, it forces educators to take a step back and reflect on their lessons in order to ensure that all accommodations and strategies are in place to promote student success. Among those strategies, teachers must be able to “demonstrate skills at selecting, developing, applying, using, communicating, and evaluating student assessment information and student assessment practices”(Buros, 2014, pg.1). While reflecting on my own skills or competencies involving student’s assessment, I have found that my strengths lie in administering, scoring, and interpreting assessments; and choosing assessment methods appropriate for instructional decisions. On the other side, my weaknesses lie in developing valid grading procedures that incorporate assessment information. This paper will analyze these strengths and weaknesses and examine how they impact the development of assessment inside the classroom.

An assessment is when you gather evidence for feedback. It’s being keenly aware of what students know and understand and having appropriate evidence of this understanding. Assessments can be broken down into three different categories: Diagnostic, Formative, and Summative. Diagnostic assessment happens before learning. It’s when you identify the student’s knowledge and any misconceptions. This helps determine on what you need to review or where to begin your teaching. Formative assessment happens during the learning. It’s like a “coach”, where you listen and look for specifics. The goal is to improve students’ learning rather than simply measuring it. Summative assessment happens after the learning process. As a teacher, you’re like a judge, you render an opinion. It’s important to offer a grade that accurately reflects the students’ learning. These three types of assessments are used to determine how the student is learning, how to improve their learning, and accurately reflect their learning. The last term in our goal we need to understand is Standards Based Classroom. This is based on the mastery of the students’ learning and that all students are guaranteed the same right to learn the common curriculum. As teachers, we are responsible to deliver the material to expand the students’

Assessments are integral parts of instruction, they determine whether classroom goals have been achieved, and help teachers know what areas they should focus on and maybe reteach. They are great tools for developing lesson plans and answer questions such as; “do my students possess full understanding of the material?” There are many ways of assessing students’ learning, one of which I have personal experience with are on-the-spot assessments.

Everyday in classrooms teachers will never stop assessing their students. Observing anything as small as group discussions, retelling, reflective thinking, oral language, in class work, and communication skills. The question and content I have focused on is assessment in the classroom and why is it so important for students to be assessed?

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

Educators in present education systems are constantly acquiring essential information about the academic strengths and weaknesses that their students possess. In order to gain information that will be beneficial for students’ learning, educators must evaluate the academic performance of their students as a means to improve learning in content areas. Ultimately, at the heart of education lies assessments. Educators use assessments as a means to further understand the learning process of their students as well as to address concerns or areas that need improvement, with concepts like instruction, in order to help students reach full academic potential within the classroom. To acquire additional information pertaining to how educators use assessments within their classroom, I interviewed Mrs. Beth Vondran, an Kindergarten educator at St. Mary’s East Primary School in St. Mary’s Ohio. Mrs. Vondran is currently in her 29th year of education and has years of experience using assessments to monitor academic student achievement as well as using those results to alter her instructional practices to benefit her students. It should be noted that through The Ohio State University Education Program, I am currently observing and educating in Mrs. Vondran’s Kindergarten classroom in order to complete my Junior Level field work requirements. Therefore, being involved in the classroom, I have been given the opportunity to witness first hand how multiple assessments administered to students

Educators are faced with many challenges in accurately assessing and evaluating students, and although these two codes are closely related, their effective completion requires different actions. Assessment is a systematic process of collecting and interpreting information about students’ achievements, while evaluation refers to a value judgement that attaches meaning to the data obtained through assessment (Mc Donald, 2007). Educators are called upon to assess and evaluate students who they instruct based on the students’ learning outcomes and course objectives.

Assessments play an integral part in the classroom. The book, Content Area Reading states that an assessments purpose is to “gather and synthesize” information about a student’s learning. Teachers utilize a variety of assessments in the classroom to gauge a student’s strengths, weaknesses, and gains. Assessments exercised in the classroom are in several formats: performance-based, formative, and summative. However, assessments must be authentic to be effective in the classroom. An authentic assessment “successfully engages students in instruction with personally meaningful real-life contexts.” The information obtained through an assessment provides teachers with a better “understanding and insight” on ways that can effectively teach and

Assessment enables educators to provide feedback to their learners, this in turn promotes self-evaluation by the learner, as they use the assessment feedback to scrutinise and make judgements about the quality of their work (Spiller, 2009:6 & 7).

In learner-centered curricula, learners should be encouraged to be active participants in the assessing process rather than only being the passive test takers. Despite the fact that some teachers may be reluctant to transfer the responsibility of assessment to their learners, but proponents of this trend argue that there is much to be gained from it, and that the students are capable of evaluating themselves if they are given the adequate and necessary guidance. However, self assessment is another method of creating interactive learning atmosphere, where the students focus on applying their knowledge.

Student assessment can be used in the creation of instructional groups as noted by Fuchs, Fuchs and Bishop (1992).It can also be used in identifying skill deficits (Whinnery & Stecker, 1992),screen students for cases of potential early school failure as noted by Speece and Case, (2001) as well as help in the evaluation of the reintegration process for the students who are moving from special to the general education setting as noted by Shinn, Powell-Smith, Good and Baker (1997).Student assessment is noted by Shapiro (2008) to have value