Language assessment literacy refers to the familiarity of the stakeholders with measurement practices and the application of this knowledge to classroom practices and issues of assessing language (Inbar-Lourie, 2008). Appropriate assessment provides teachers with important information about student performance and about the extent to which learning objectives have been achieved in the classroom. Despite the importance of student progress assessment (Taylor, 2009; Scarino, 2013), many teachers and test users have a limited understand¬ing of assessment essentials (Popham, 2009). Competencies that language teachers need to acquire in order to develop assessment literacy include the ability to understand proper testing practices, use various means of assessment, interpret assessment results, and use the results in their teaching (Boyles, 2005). Language teachers, who also fulfill the role of testers, want a practical text that includes relevant activities. In addition to textbooks, other approaches to develop assessment literacy are traditional as well as face-to-face workshops, online tutorials, reference frameworks, video projects, pre-conference workshops, and series of narrative accounts.
This study can be helpful for all stakeholders including language teachers who also are often testers; an online tutorial is much more beneficial than other ways of assessment literacy, due to its ease of access and no need for participation (Alderson & Huhta, 2005). Using group
Improved Assessment Literacy: Unlike the current education system that treats assessment more separated from teaching, the core teaching standards recognize that teachers need to have greater knowledge and skill on how to develop a number of assessments, how to balance use of formative and summative assessment as
The term assessment is the process of using a wide variety of abilities and knowledge, in this case, of students. The textbook explains that the purpose of assessment in reading and writing instruction is for the students and the teachers. It is important for the students to understand their progress in literacy and learning and to evaluate their own strengths and weaknesses. Assessment in reading, for teachers, involves comprehension and appreciation for how children interact with print in authentic reading situations (Vacca p. 144). There is a multitude of different types of assessments and tools to getting the results that we know impact individual students, schools, districts, and even nationwide.
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
Ch. 2 – Who are the various users of assessment and its results? What specific instructional decisions can be made based on assessment results? Why must we build balanced assessment systems to support the instructional programs we offer students? This chapter nails down the purpose of assessing, which is gathering information to inform teachers of students of their instruction and learning, respectively. In this way, assessment is individualized to each student and classroom, and because all students/classes are different, it should inform the teachers of what is working or not working in the classroom, which should then influence some sort of change to instruction. This chapter also talks about the different levels of assessment – from the individuals
Assessment is essential as the information gathered is how the students are progressing to the learning outcomes and performance standards. Upon completing this artifact, it is recognized how assessments impact how instruction should be delivered, and recognizing that all students will learn differently. As an educator, flexibility and adapting to the diverse learning environment is necessary to ensure all students are grasping the material. Realizing there are those who do not test well and trying to find ways to assess those skills through class discussions or group work while encouraging the students and praising them for their efforts. Designing and creating unique ways to ensure all students are learning the material and meeting the objectives and goals set forth in the lesson plan. It is the responsibility of an educator to develop goals that will reinforce lesson plans, lectures, and instruction. Those students who have an IEP modifications will be made based on their IEP recommendations. For ESL/ELL students in the class, modifications will be made on a case by case as recommending to ensure the students are successfully meeting their learning goals to their fullest
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).
Based off of the experiences we have shared together so far, the assessments have revealed some of my tutee’s strengths and challenges from several areas of literacy. Bryan excelled in the certain areas of phonics when it came to the spelling inventory. His strengths were consonants, short vowels, digraphs, and blends. There are also other literacy areas that can be explored in this process and some in which I have already seen; areas include reading, writing, speaking, and listening. A challenge Bryan may face when reading or speaking is the pronunciation of words. Although my CT said Bryan was very fluent in English she also told me his mother speaks no English, she only speaks Spanish. I am curious as to if Bryan is struggling with reading
As a Middle School Language Arts teacher, I have found that assessments are a daily part of our job. Everything that my students do in the classroom ultimately ends up being assessed in some sort of way. I must admit that it can at times be overwhelming for assessments to be such a huge part of our curriculum; I understand the necessity of each one. I haven’t always been focused as intently on assessments. I really didn’t consider the importance of assessments as much. As I gained experience and knowledge I realized that assessing my students provides me with information that makes my job more successful. I believe to effectively teach my students, I must understand and implement the right assessments properly. My assessment philosophy is that to be able to ensure our students are learning and that we are teaching the right way we must include proper assessment for validation. With that being said it is very important to use different forms of assessments to gauge student performance. One of the outstanding features of studies of assessment in recent years has been the shift in the focus of attention, towards greater interest In the interactions between assessment and classroom learning and away from concentration on the properties of restricted forms of test which are only weakly linked to the learning experiences of students (Black 2015) This research supports the idea that assessments
Thank you for joining me today to discuss your daughters recent assessment scores. We do Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills assessment or DIBELS 3 times per year. This information tells us where Suzie is in her reading skills and where we would like her to be. We gave her three very short assessment only consisting of 1-2 minutes each assessment. The three assessments that we gave her where Letter Naming Fluency or LNF for short, Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF) and Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF).
Standardized assessments are beneficial for ELL in terms of placement, process, and existing ELL programs because it tells us about the student’s background and what they already know and also what they still need to know. Assessment strategies are incorporated as a component of this theoretical overview on the grounds that teachers should make adjustments to their teaching strategies on the knowledge they have of their students' developing skills (Herrell, A.L., & Jordan, M., 2016). Teachers are able to use assessments to “identify students’ English language development levels, strengths, and learning levels and use those results to identify areas to be addressed by differentiated instruction and possible approaches to use” (Herrell, A.L.,
Literacy assessment results can and should be transmitted to students and parents in ways that foster literacy growth and help make students successful learners. Parris, Fisher, and Headley (2009) state that assessment practices signal to everyone what counts in the classroom (p. 117). Parris, Fisher, and Headley (2009) describe “two different types of learning assessment: assessment of (summative) and assessment for (formative)” (p. 117). The purpose of Assessment of Learning (AoL), according to Parris, Fisher, and Headley (2009), is reporting out, summative assessment, and measuring learning for parents and the public (p. 118). Likewise, Parris, Fisher, and Headley (2009) declare the purpose of Assessment for Learning (AfL) is guiding instruction,
Student learning and retention can be maximized through assessment literacy practices. Students should know and understand the targets for their learning. They should learn from effective feedback from their teachers. The feedback they receive should improve their achievement and stimulate a growth mindset. Students should use their own assessment results to expand their learning.
Developing assessments that align with core language instruction will assist English learners in progressing the skills needed to acquire English. As I interviewed each of my colleagues, I was able to gain a better understanding of how to assess while providing quality instruction to my English learners.
This Thematic Unit integrates assessment consistently into instruction by establishing clear criteria and develops strategies for assessment that help students in their understanding of what they know and can do in light of their school experiences. I have included a variety of individual and group assessments in which the variety of information provided by the data of these assessments will help to inform future teaching. Students are assisted and supported in monitoring their own work and growth in their speaking, listening, writing,
Assessments are a critical tool in monitoring the progress of English language learners at all grade levels. The main purpose of assessments is to ensure students are receiving quality teaching instruction in accordance to academic and content standards. Even though these tests are not the only resource used for testing students, they provide teachers with invaluable data to determine if the student is growing in certain academic areas. There are several types of assessment that can be used to measure a student’s progress. In this paper, various alternatives to