The Importance Of Practices Used By Teachers

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

Welner (2014) states that “standardized assessments are linked to curriculum standards and performance standards and tied to specified consequences” (p. 39). Welner discuses that the standard-based testing in American schools are a mess and need to be untangled because of the consequences of underperformance. Schools are defunded, teachers and principals are laid off, and schools are marked as ‘failing’. There needs to be a reform in schools that need academic improvement and the way to figure out which schools need development is by testing the students. Jones & King and McLaughlin & Overturf provide different feedback on standard-based testing. According to McLaughlin & Overturf (2012), “Using formative assessments is not only an effective way to monitor student progress, but also a viable way to glean information for planning future instructions” (p.157). In order for teachers to know if their lessons are effective or not, teachers give standard-based tests and assessments to their students. Without tests, student progress cannot be tracked in a concise manner. Jones & King (2012) agree that by building new assessments and curricula, American schools are redefining success (p.37). That success can also come at a price when dealing with more rigorous standards that are new to the

There are many reasons why students are assessed and this first section summarises some of the key benefits to students, institutions and teachers as suggested by Race et al (2005). In order to gain qualifications or complete a course, students will be required to prove their competence, knowledge or exposition of a skill, usually through the use of assessments to demonstrate that learning has taken place. Students may find assessment useful as it provides information regarding their progress, or identify areas for further development. Comparisons can be made against other students and this can help to

In this paper I will critically reflect on the teaching and learning cycle I engaged in to improve my assessment of student learning. I focussed on assessment due to its potential to improve instructional design and student performance (Brookhart, 2007, cited in Wiliam, 2011, p.8; William and Thompson, 2007, cited in Dixon & Worrell, 2016, p.155). The teaching and learning cycle led me to identify areas of

In today’s classrooms, schools and educational settings, teachers and educators are overloaded with the responsibility to produce data, analyse students learning and development and assess this against the National Quality Framework outcomes, the Australian curriculum and State Curriculum and Standards. With this high demand each day, teachers and educators need to find a way to best utilise their time with their students’ and use strategies and learning approaches to get the most out of the learning experiences. By integrating an inquiry approach into a classroom, teachers and educators are providing students with a well-rounded approach to learning. Murdoch (2015) describes an inquiry approach as ‘an approach that places the learner

However, these comments are something which can only become reality if practitioners are enquiring into their practice. On reflection, it is my opinion that as assessment is such a widely-debated idea that it should be enquired in a teacher practice on a regular basis. I feel that by just concentrating on effective questioning it has implicated my practice and made me feel more confident and knowledgeable. However, there are many other factors a teacher uses daily which can change the form of a child’s learning. Therefore, I feel another important next step in my practice would be to follow other formative assessment tools as a line of enquiry. Specifically, into LI and SC and understanding the most effective way to use this in the classroom, such as discussion or visibility. I feel that this next step would be a natural movement in the action research cycle (see Appendix 9).

Additionally, I have also learned from the class discussion that there are other alternative assessments or assessment options in having students realize meaningful objectives about not only what they have learned from what is being taught, but also how they can investigate deeper into pursuing from the opportunities from what they have learned. One example was with the group that I participated in doing a test analysis of the Brigance Transition Skills Activities. From analyzing this set of materials, our group uncovered that this assessment (if one was to call it that) served not so much in having students demonstrate what they have learned in translating to various measurements academic achievement or status of learning comprehension so much as to have available for the instructor an organized curriculum designed to help

Questioning can get there thinking beyond the comprehension level. Students should evaluate and analyze what they are learning instead of just remembering or understanding. Assignments would be given that encourage them to be creative, whether that is creative writing or making something that has to do with the concept of the lesson. The world around us is all about technology, I want students to continue this skills in the classroom. In English, it is thought that there is no need for technology that you only read books and write papers. This is not true, there are multiple ways that students can use different programs that will emphasize what they learn and help them become well rounded. When students start to have assignment that are all higher level thinking, this knowledge will have them meet higher standards. If teacher give low standard assessments such as, answering closed ended questions or only testing basic easily memorized knowledge, this isn’t a high standard to set. Teachers need to get them to work together in groups, create projects, use technology, or have them teach a proportion of a lesson, etc. to have these students go beyond expectations. High standards in the classroom welcome more competitive thinking and higher order strategies. As a teacher I want to give my students the opportunity to work their hardest and expand their thinking to meet these

Inquiry-based learning is not a foreign concept to educators, it is a model of teaching that has been exercised in different forms and presented through various techniques for decades (Spronken-Smith and Walker, 2010, p.726). It is not unknown that there is an abundance of knowledge available at our fingertips, what is

In the outset of chapter four of the book, Moran and Keeley indicates the procedures that should implemented to examine teaching practices which has a real significant in light of the various eras that researches included in this chapter were published in. Furthermore, Researchers should take into consideration the differences among

Over the years the educational system has faced various controversial issues, but the most recent one making a negative impact on students, is standardized testing. Standardized testing is a type of testing used to evaluate students academic abilities . It is a way to measure if standards are being met but does not provide a variation in the type of administration based on the students needs (Sacks, 2000). In other words, all children are provided these test to track their learning progress based on their grade level. Some believe this is the best way to measure students knowledge, others believe it is doing more harm than good, and I believe it is an unrealistic form of an academic evaluation. Throughout this piece, I will evaluate the various aspects of education affected by standardized testing and how we, as educators, must take a stand for our students.

Inquiry based learning involves people posing questions to make sense of the world and how it works (Crombie, 2014). Traditionally, a child at school with a question would explicitly receive the answer from the educator (Crombie, 2014; Reynolds, 2012). The educator views themselves as the expert and provider of

Researchers have dedicated countless hours of investigation to the complex activity of teaching. There is no shortage of opinion about what constitutes effective practices in education and how to improve this practice. Education reform has been a topic of political and public interest for many years, and given that students spend a great part of their day with teachers, teachers and their practice are often at the center of the debate. Teacher effectiveness is linked to positive student achievement (Nye, Konstantopoulos, & Hedges, 2004) in that the better equipped a teacher is to perform their job, one can expect better results in student learning.

Question method: This method is based on the ability of the teacher to pose appropriate questions which not only invite but also provoke and ignite students’ intuition and thinking. Questioning is one of the most regularly used teaching method. As Caram and Davis (2005) observe, when teachers’ ask questions effectively, they can enhance pupil learning by developing critical thinking skills, reinforcing pupil understanding, correcting pupil misunderstanding and providing feedback for pupils. Wood & Anderson (2001) also found that the questioning by teachers stimulates students’ thinking in classrooms. Dymoke and Harrison (2008) further strengthened that questions posed in classrooms are seen as the backbone of communication between students and teachers. This teaching methodology also encourages interaction and discussions among teachers to jointly criticize and rebuild their teaching practices. Some other advantages of question method given below:

There is no one size fits all teaching strategy for all students. Therefore teachers must use a variety of teaching strategies to cater for a variety of different learners (Gill, 2013). It is important for teachers to regularly evaluate their practices and whether they are meeting the learning needs of all students (Zeichner & Liston, 1987). Self-evaluation can assist teachers to improve the educational experiences provided for students and assist in identifying the professional education you need to further develop your capacity to teach well (Schwartz, n.d.). As a future teacher developing learning programs, teaching, assessing, providing feedback on student learning and reporting to parents/carers are skills I must be proficient in.