Teachers Values

Teachers certification course

Edutopia (2015, Mar 16). Five Keys to Comprehensive Assessment . Retrieved from:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HFimMJL3Wz0&fulldescription=1&gl=AU&hl=en&client=mv-google.

Now you have an overview of assessment and the important role it plays in your daily practices.  

Here are some questions to consider when you get in the classroom:

The Nature of Assessment

Assessment is a continuous, ongoing process that involves examining and observing children’s behaviors, listening to their ideas, and developing questions to promote conceptual understanding. An authentic assessment has relevance to the student inside and outside of the classroom.  

Constructivism is the idea that learning is an active process of building meaning for oneself. Assessment based on constructivist theory must link three related issues:  
prior knowledge (and misconceptions), 
student learning styles (and multiple abilities), and 
teaching for a 
depth of understanding rather than for breadth of coverage. Meaningful assessment involves examining the learner’s entire conceptual network, not just focusing on discreet facts and principles.

The Purpose of Assessment

Using a wide variety of assessment tools allows a teacher to determine which instructional strategies are effective and which need to be modified. Assessment can improve classroom practice, help plan curriculum, and develop teaching practices. Assessment will always provide information that guides your instruction and informs parents and students.  However, assessment is more than just “a grade.”  Through assessment, the information should empower students to be self-reflective learners who monitor and evaluate their own progress as they develop.  Assessment data can be used by a school district to measure student achievement, examine the opportunity for children to learn, and provide the basis for evaluating the district’s programming.  There are many purposes and facets of assessment. The teacher’s role in assessment requires a change from merely a collector of data, to a facilitator of student understanding.

The Tools of Assessment

When selecting appropriate assessments:

· Validity and Fairness— Does it measure what it intends to measure? Does it allow students to demonstrate both what they know and can do?

· Reliability— Is the data collected reliable across applications within the classroom, school, and district?

· Significance— Does it address content and skills valued by and reflected in current thinking in the field?

When looking at all the available assessment strategies, ask yourself,  “What is your target?” or “What are you trying to assess?” As an educator, you will not only assess concepts but sometimes assess the process of 
how students arrived at the correct answer. Below are some examples of various targets that you may assess:

We can divide the assessment into three stages: 
baseline assessment, formative assessment, and summative assessment.

Baseline assessment establishes the “starting point” of the student’s understanding. The baseline assessment gives teachers a brief understanding of a child’s entry-level. Examples of baseline assessment are Running Records, Literacy Intervention Scales, pre-assessments in subject courses, first-draft expository writing samples… The intent is to measure the progress of the student’s performance over time. Therefore, these assessments are re-visited during, and at the end of the term, they are being used.

Formative assessment provides information to help guide the instruction throughout the unit.  These assessments offer ongoing feedback — allowing educators to improve and adjust their teaching methods and students to enhance their learning. Most formative assessment strategies are quick to use and fit seamlessly into the instruction process. The information gathered is rarely marked or graded.
Formative assessment examples:
Impromptu quizzes or anonymous voting;

Short comparative assessments to see how pupils are performing against their peers;

One-minute papers on a specific subject matter; Lesson exit tickets to summarize what pupils have learned;

Silent classroom polls;

Ask students to create a visualization or doodle map of what they learn.

Summative assessment informs both the student and the teacher about the level of conceptual understanding and performance capabilities that the student has achieved. The summative assessment aims to evaluate student learning and academic achievement at the end of a term, year, or semester by comparing it against a universal standard or school benchmark. Summative assessments often have a high point value, take place under controlled conditions, and are more visible. 

Examples include:
End-of-term or midterm exams
Cumulative work over an extended period such as a final project or creative portfolio
End-of-unit or chapter tests
Standardized tests

Classroom assessment can take on many forms and functions; therefore, it requires the use of a variety of assessment formats. The table below shows a variety of formats, purposes, and stages.  

The types of assessments used will measure various aspects of student learning, conceptual development, skill acquisition, and application.  Using various assessments can yield a more meaningful understanding of what students know and can do, which is, after all, the primary purpose of assessment.

Badders, W. (2000). DiscoveryWorks. Houghton, Mifflin. 

Below is a link to various types of assessments and tips for implementation.  Save this document in your Canvas Tool Box Folder to access as a resource when you get in the classroom.

Assessment formats.pdf


ATTACHED

A key component to assessment is for teachers to evaluate the evidence and evaluate student learning.  

– What evidence will you collect to demonstrate mastery of the TEK?  What should students have been able to 
do at the end of your lesson?

– What evidence will you collect to demonstrate the language demands? 

Assignment:

1. On your LPG form, complete 
7. Assessment / Evaluation and select a formative and summative assessment method that is in alignment with your TEK, Central focus, and Essential question in sections 
1 and 
4 on your LPG. 

Remember, during this planning stage, it is perfectly fine to “tweek” your objective to make sure that everything stays in alignment.

You will also need to reflect on the assessment documentation that you will collect to determine the students mastery of the language demands.  Think about the strategies that you implemented to teach and support the language and what types of evidence you can college from these activities.   

Save your LPG to your Canvas Tool Box Folder