Personal Survey Of Assessment Literacy

I am a strong believer that one test defines a students. Therefore, variety is key when assessing students. When using formative assessment I use student reflections, journal entries, exit cards in addition to non verbal communication such as thumbs up or down. I also make anadotal notes on students to help assess the overall learning journey of the student. When using summative assessments, I use district assessments, state assessments, portfolios, short answer, multiple choice, and student based projects. In all forms of assessments, students are provided the appropriate accommodations. My learning goal for assessing students is to have a valid assessment that demonstrate the student’s understanding of the specific skill. It is crucial that I understand the purpose of the assessments and the content that is being taught, therefore, I often start instruction with the assessment piece in

Assessment, both formative and summative, plays a significant part in the learning experience as it determines progression and enables learners to demonstrate that they have achieved their desired learning outcomes.

Assessment is carried out through formative (checks throughout the course), ipsative (to test against previous marks), and/ or summative (at end of course) activities to help the learner see their development whilst allowing the Assessor to give valuable feedback when appropriate. It’s purpose is to measure the learners understanding of the subject against the anticipated outcomes set by the criteria.

A summative assessment is given at pre-determined intervals. It could range from a state assessment to a benchmark test, or an end-of-unit test. It specifically is testing the knowledge that a student should have mastered by a particular point in time. A summative assessment is used for accountability.

Assessment is defined as any practice or task that is used to produce information about student learning, and is categorized as either formative or summative (Wallace & White, 2014). There is a distinct difference between the various types of assessments, specifically formative and summative. Formative assessments are informal quizzes that are used to guide instruction

Outcome 1 Explain the functions of assessment in learning and development? The function of assessment and development is primarily used to provide a cycle to enable you to see a student’s progress. Assessments can be formative or summative; formative checks would be assessed throughout the course of the student whereas summative assessment would be the final process, or examination for the student. The purpose of assessment is to enable the assessor to see whether or not the student is gaining an understanding of the subject against the criteria, which is followed.

The function of assessment in learning and development is to provide a measure for the learners progress.

A true teacher who values education will not stand for a system centered on test scores rather than learning” (Burnt at High Stakes) 10. Many teachers value the true meaning of school: education and learning. These amazing teachers have left the teaching profession because they will not stand for an education based off of the standardized testing, which is what the school systems are becoming. A way to make it so that the teachers did not have to worry about a changing central focus of education is to allow the students to assemble portfolios. These portfolios would allow freedom of learning and bring the focus of school back to its original meaning, knowledge. The teachers that do stay are faced with another issue. They must change their teaching methods and conform to the new idea that has been instated, that all school revolves around testing. “Teachers have started planning their curricula around state tests…teaching only material that will be seen on tests or simply test taking skills…teachers lose some of the dynamism and creativity that makes school effective and enjoyable-that there is more value placed on concepts and hands-on projects that require a greater challenge that what can be tested in multiple choice format” (Evans) 2. Due to the increase in testing, teachers have begun teaching only what is needed for testing. They no longer go above and beyond, teaching all the information they can, but rather stay within the confines

Based on the knowledge gained from this course, I believe assessment literacy matters because assessment is about the process of growth. Assessment literacy gets to the heart of education as it is more than just testing and teaching. When educators are assessment literate, they provide transformative opportunities for their students. They enrich their learning environments beyond traditional assessment

Morgan et al (2015; p22) further to this idea suggesting that “by the time summative assessments are completed and graded, the course [of learning] has moved on, and before long, many students [potentially] find themselves swimming in a sea of confusion” and disengaged from the subject. Thus, summative “assessment should be used to aid learning and not just measure it” (Wareing 2012; p8). Throughout my second placement I have been heavily involved in monitoring and using formative summative assessments (as per the school policy) and hence I have seen the benefits of this practice. Once a fortnight I would provide each of my students a Key Assessment Opportunity ‘test sheet’ (KAO/end of topic test), this would indicate to me and to them, which areas they need further work upon (see appendix

The outcome of a summative assessment can be used formatively, however, when students or faculty take the results and use them to guide their efforts and activities in subsequent courses.

Students may not take it as seriously as summative assessment. It can be a time taking process. Students need different kinds of formative assessment at different stages in their learning.[2]

Formative evaluation and summative evaluation are the two factors that determine the purpose of educational evaluation (Glickman, Gordon, & Ross-Gordon, 2014, p. 225). Robert Stakes says it best in his comment: “When the cook tastes the soup, that 's formative: When the guests taste the soup, that 's summative” (Billard, 2011). Just as a cook, evaluators are using formative evaluations to keep the program in balance, to improve the program, to eliminate distractions from goals and to reassure that the program follows the pre-established guidelines. Consequently, the evaluators are using the summative evaluations to determine if the programs are fulfilling their purpose; the sole outcome of summative evaluation is to keep the programs, to modify dramatically the programs or to terminate the programs (Glickman et al., 2014). As an inference from Stakes’ quote, the summative evaluations can include the findings from formative evaluations (Glickman et al., 2014).

Assessment had been driving learners’ behaviors (Frederiksen, 1984) in learning for many decades. In my training school, assessments have been an important aspect in driving what were taught during lessons. The general concept of having an assessment in my training school is to affirm that learning had taken place. In general, summative assessments have been the key choice of appraisal because of the large numbers of attendee in the courses that the school handles and the ease of managing the assessments. Summative assessment is also chosen due to the nature of the skill knowledge transfer of the course.

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).