Assessments span across all classroom settings; whether it is a general education classroom or a special education classroom, assessment always seems to be a vital part of teaching. There are several types of assessments used across the field of education, including formative and summative. Therefore, there are different ways to approach assessments in every classroom. I believe that assessments are used to guide instruction in the classroom and also to improve student achievement. Teachers can use assessments to determine how much prior knowledge students have and how much time they need to spend on each subject matter. Conderman and Hedin (2012) suggested, always waiting till the end of instruction to assess tends to allow the teacher to miss out on reflecting on the effectiveness of their instructional strategies (Conderman, 2012). Therefore, it is beneficial for teachers to assess students throughout their lessons, at various times, in order to get an adequate representation of their students’ knowledge. This approach also allows teachers to make revisions to their instructional practices that will enhance student achievements. However, while I strongly agree with this aspect; I also think there can be other ways to guide instruction without having to formally assess students. Another type of assessment that I am really fond of is self-assessment. Self-assessment can be used in various ways in many different grade levels and that is why I like it so much. Self
I believe assessment is important and is the basis of planning for instruction, whether it is diagnostic prior to learning, formative during units or lessons, or summative to evaluate student learning. Rowan’s quote in Every Teacher’s Guide to Assessment, "After all, in the end, the problem is less the idea of testing itself, but how we design them, apply, them, and make use of their data." definitely has an impact on my assessment practices. I feel it is necessary to make sure the student acquires all aspects of the learning. Assessment should be used to bring a value for students. Within my instruction, I implement daily formative assessments which may include turn and share, quick writes, graphic organizers, online discussion responses, KahootIt, and other forms. Designing the appropriate formative assessment to match the lesson is important to assess how the learning is taught and whether the students are showing progress. In addition, I have worked on building blocks of formative assessments in checklist style leading up to the point of reviewing for a summative test. Each of these are checked off as completed and instant feedback is given. Feedback from an assessment is essential to student learning and how a teacher will ensure the content is being acquired.
There is so much to consider when talking about assessments. There are all kinds of different types of assessments. There are assessments that happen on a daily basis in the classroom and then there are the tests that everyone knows about; the state mandated assessments, map test, and some know about DIBLES tests. These are the types of tests that parents, teachers, and administrators debate about. The debate is whether or not these test are doing students any good or harming them. It is good to have data on student and school’s progress, it keeps everyone accountable however, some believe that schools are testing too much. That all this time focused on testing is actually taking away from learning time. Each type of assessment has it’s own set of challenges.
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 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
Assessments are used to track not only learner but tutor progress. Below I have documented some utilised in my everyday teaching life:
Educational assessment serves a valuable purpose in today’s education system. In the age of high-stakes testing, educational assessments serve to hold educators accountable for students’ progress. However, I believe that quality educational assessments serve a much greater purpose. High-quality educational assessments provide educators with the ability to make valid assumptions in regards to where a child stands in understanding a topic and what their misconceptions are in regards to the topic. This information is invaluable in determining the instructional steps the educator will take following the assessment. Educational assessments also play a role in validating what educators are teaching. What teachers choose to assess shows students what is important and valuable for them to know.
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.
Assessments should contribute to a student’s education and learning by including students in the learning process educators are able to assist and extend students learning (SCSA, 2014).
Assessment provides information to support the planning of effective learning experiences. By assessing my students I will understand better what they know and can do, so I can further extend their learning where they are already accomplished or I can support the areas which need work. Assessment is also useful as a diagnostic tool (McConney 2015 pp1) when it comes to learning problems and also giftedness in students, so that they can then be better provided for.
Within the classroom their needs to be a variety of assessment strategies as not all learners will be able to express their knowledge to the best of their ability in some forms of assessment.
Assessment is often thought of as a punitive exercise. But the purpose of assessment is to ensure that students meet specific standards of progress and to rectify learning deficits before a child falls too far behind. Assessment can also identify a child's strengths as well as his or her weaknesses. As well as comparing the child's performance with his or her peers, the teacher can assess specific learning needs, learning styles, interests, aptitudes, and other critical components of the child's developing learning personality.
As an educator it is very important that a teacher uses different methods to teach the variety of different learning styles, and it is also important that the teacher uses a variety of assessment procedures. People don’t learn the same, and people don’t test the same either. I personally, am horrible when it comes to taking multiple choice and problem solving type assessments. I do better with essay and writing assessments, presentations, and teaching back what I have learned. With the understanding of how I can best be assessed myself, it will be important when I am the teacher that I use many methods to assess and grade my students work.
I use various forms of formal and informal assessments within my lessons and my classroom. I use pretests, observation checklists, student check-ins, student conferences, student observations, student conversations/discussions, unit tests, Fountas and Pinnell Tests, NWEA score, rubrics, and posttests. I am always checking in with my students because I want my instruction to be purposeful and meaningful for my students. I use my assessments to guide and adapt my instruction as well as my lesson plans.
Assessments are an everyday occurrence in classrooms around the world. There are many different types of assessments, which generally fall into formal and informal. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. The major importance is selecting the right assessment. It is up to the teacher to decide what information is needed and how that information is collected.
Evaluating a student using summative assessment using technology an educator can use Scantron exams. These are multiple choice tests that is corrected based on