Introduction To Student Involved Assessment For Learning

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.

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

Assessment needs to be an ongoing, integral part of the teaching and learning cycle. It must allow teachers and students themselves to monitor learning. From the teacher

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.

Assessments are vital to the educational process. They provide feedback about what the students know and what they may need to learn in order to obtain the content within a given curriculum. It provides teachers with a glimpse into the student’s readiness on a particular topic or subject. One of the six key principles of having an effective differentiated classroom is having a formative assessment that informs teachers on the effectiveness of their teaching. It also provides teachers with the readiness levels of their students and shows them exactly where the students’ readiness, interests, and learning profile needs really are (Tomlinson, 2014).

Classroom assessment involves the professional decision of the teacher to determine how to implement assessment, what should be assessed, and when should assessment occur. Teachers must be able to interpret each students’ unique learning abilities in ways that are credible, fair, and free from bias. Possible factors to consider when creating these multiple formats for assessments include gender, ethnicity, culture, socio-economic backgrounds, and special needs. Each and every student in the classroom should be give the same opportunity to display their strengths. And it is important for teachers to properly manage an assessment plan that will benefit students, as well as the teachers, in the classroom. Eventually, a well-constructed assessment plan will be able to contribute to the development of lifelong learners within the teacher and the students.

The assessment process in a teaching environment is a necessary requirement to enable you to be able to measure a student’s knowledge and understanding. Assessments come in many different forms and use many different methods, each are important in obtaining an outcome to which the tutor can obtain positive outcomes.

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.

Therefore teachers’ knowledge, skills and competencies in classroom assessment practices are very important (Koloi-Keaikitse, 2012). As teachers play a major role in student achievements and preparing them for future, it is essential for them to understand how to assess and evaluate students’ learning outcomes (Koloi-Keaikitse, 2012). For this reason, Reynolds, Livingston, & Willson, (2009); McMillan, (2008); Nitko, (2001) maintain the common argument that because AFL plays a vital role in teaching and learning related activities teachers should master basic assessment competencies. Without this ability the type of assessment will be useless for the future learning of the students. For example, most common type of assessment provided in the classrooms are pen and paper tests taken at the end of a unit, the result from this is never used to improved student learning as teachers perceive the topic as completed and done with. Vandeyar and Killen (2003) argued that regardless of educational setting, high-quality assessment practices should satisfy essential principles such as validity, reliability, fairness, discrimination, and meaningfulness. For Vandeyar and Killen (2003), if teachers have a clear understanding of these principles; they can have an informed framework of using assessment results to make better-informed decisions from assessment results. When teachers misunderstand these principles, their assessment practices are more likely to generate worthless information and this might hinder them applying various classroom assessment strategies and form to assess and evaluate the students. Therefore in order to be more competent and knowledgeable in AFL; teachers are in need of professional development in order to foster effective AFL in in their classrooms. In addition, another factor that will increase an awareness of classroom assessment

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’

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

The second category has to do with assessing which is important because as a teacher you must know about your students what their needs and how you can help them. In reality, assessing students is a useful for teacher to be able to observe their outcome in a specific class. The topic of assessment may be one that some learners, parents, and students think there is only one way of assessment which is testing. In fact, testing is the fundamental form of assessment. However, it is not limited to this choice. Assessment is important in order to exhibit the student’s ability as well as diverse weaknesses for the student to improve.

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?

The assessment process is one that an educator often contemplates while planning a curriculum, implementing instruction, and after the assessment. Creating an assessment that helps students continue their learning should be the main goal. One way to help foster an assessment environment of continuous learning is to provide students with authentic assessments that they play an active role in. Performance assessments that give students authentic tasks to complete help teachers assess what students know and are thinking (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010). It is important that students are able to demonstrate their learning in a way that suits them. In order to do this, assessments should be aligned with the standards and should be

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).