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The role of assessment in education
The role of assessment in education
Importance of assessment in Education
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Assessment Tool Assessments are an essential element of teaching (“Assessment Techniques,” n.d.). An assessment is “the process of collecting and documenting information on individual student learning” (“Assessment Techniques,” n.d.). They are used to indicate the child’s progress, their perceptions of others and their self, they specify the child’s weaknesses and strengths and they outline behavior patterns (Beaty, 2014, p. 2). There are numerous tools that can be used to conduct assessments. One of these tools is known as authentic assessments. Authentic assessments are performed in a child’s natural setting and can include observations, essays, interviews, performance tasks, portfolios, journals, teacher-created tests, checklists and …show more content…
The course provided checklists that I used to assess one five year old kindergarten boy. I conducted this assessment through a series of interviews and performance tasks to evaluate nine key elements. These elements included a language sample, “social and emotional development”, physical development, cognitive development, letter knowledge, “concepts about books and conventions of print”, phonological awareness, “concepts about books and comprehension”, ‘writing development; mechanics of writing”, and “motivation and attitude” (Morrow, …show more content…
First, the results can be used it to identify what specific areas in language and literacy that the child already knows. By knowing what the child understands and what their language and literacy strengths are, it will allow the teacher to use the child’s knowledge to scaffold new learning material into classroom instruction. Subsequently, this information can be used to identify the child’s weaknesses. When the teacher understands what areas a child does not fully understand, it allows them to adjust their lesson plans and activities accordingly to fit the child’s specific
They have begun to develop sound-symbol understanding to speak the written words (Reading map of development, 2013), this is demonstrated by their ability to point at the word they are reading. The child is beginning to understand the book and its meaning, however fluency is not yet developed and several semantic mistakes were made. They display a good understanding of a graphonic cue and can do this mostly without prompt from the parent. Visual/pictorial cue can be achieved with prompt from the parent, the child is beginning to gain an understanding of how the pictures can match the text and this with more prompting should become an automatic cue. Vocabulary is still limited however it is expanding through their continued reading (Reading map of development, 2013). They know and understand that books are read from left to right and top to bottom. They also know how to ask for assistance when they get stuck on difficult
The district is now making all teachers use an assessment tool called iReady. It is a website that assesses students in math and reading. They are first tested on a kindergarten through fifth grade range to find out what they know. Then the program takes that score and determines the right level for the child and they are tested again on the level. Once all students have been assessed the program orders the students from highest to lowest and by average grade level skill they are on: early second grade, middle second grade, late second grade or any other grade. The teacher uses those scores to create her reading groups, math groups and the students she will give extra assistance to. They haven’t officially established how many times and when they will do this iReady assessment but for now they are doing it once a week for forty five minutes. The test also flags if they spent too long or too little time on a question. The ones that spent less than 15 seconds per problem are to go back and do the assessment again.
Codding, Karen. (n.d.). Test of Kindergarten and First Grade Readiness Skills. [Electronic version]. Retrieved April 20, 2003, from http://www.steoltingco.com/tests/catolog/TKFGRS.htm
...he assignment or did not try their best. Another one of the strategies that I have seen quite often is the disrupting student read-aloud. This has happened to me while teaching many times. I honestly most times thought that these children were causing a ruckus and interrupting because they had behavior issues. Now after reading this section I am much more aware that the instances I have encountered could have been just the child not understanding. After reading this article I feel like I have a fresh and new look on how to better spot children who are falling behind in their language proficiency.
To obtain a complete understanding of the word knowledge of students who are learning English, it is important their reading abilities (WTW, 2012). There are many ways to assess the reading abilities for ELL’s. For example, spelling inventories help explore the literacy knowledge of an ELL; however, the test should be first administered in their primary or first language. According to Words their way: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling instruction, “a spelling inventory in students’ spoken language can indicate their literacy levels in the primary language, and more specifically, show which orthographic features they already understand” (WTW, 2014). Bilingual learners rely on knowledge of their primary language to spell words in a second language (WTW, 2014). Teachers can also assess ELL’s reading comprehension through sequencing activity (Ada, 1990). For example, teachers can have ELL’s write individual sentences from the text on separate sheets of drawing paper; then read or have the students read each sentence and illustrate it (Ada, 1990). Teachers can also informally test students’ ability to sequence material from a story by printing sentences from a section of the story on paper strips, mix the strips; have students put them in order (Ada, 1990). According to Spanish-Language Children’s Literature in the Classroom, teachers should “read to newcomers every day” (Ada, 1990). Appropriate reading material for beginning English Language Learners (ELL) should include numerous illustrations that help clarify the text, story plots that are action-based, little text on each page, text that contains repetitive, predictable phrases, high-frequency vocabulary and useful words, text that employs simple sentence structures (Ada, 1990). When you read to beginning ESL students, be sure to make language comprehensible to them (Ada,
In doing so I had chosen two activities based on the learning domain literacy, the first resource exposes the child to blocks and the second was an alphabetic sensory table, both of theses resources provided the basic understanding of how literacy can develop from play based learning. Blocks can be placed in any part of the early childhood setting either indoors or outdoor play spaces, however the sensory table can be used in any indoor play space area. As educators we all know that the first few years of any child’s life is essential to their learning, development and growth, and with theses activities we can give new meaning to the interactions young children have towards language, communication and their
I always help students identifying their learning and progress and give them feedback. Students need to be aware of their achievement and progress. I adapt practice and plan further learning, this will make the assessment meaningful and effective as it will answer to the learner needs. 6.3 Use types and methods of assessment, including peer and self-assessment, to: - Involve learners in assessment - Meet the individual needs of learners - Enable learner's to produce assessment evidence that valid. Reliable.
Literacy is the term used when talking about the ability to read and write. It leads to success in K-12 school, post-secondary school, the ability to compete in the job market, and participation in democratic process (Wei, Blackorby, & Schiller, 2011). Teaching young children how to read and write however is a very complex process that requires a teacher to employ a myriad of strategies to help students. When a teacher takes into consideration all the different abilities in a classroom having multiple strategies that help all students become proficient in speaking and listening, reading, and writing, is essential.
The school also offered developmental assessments that Seth and I take advantage of. The teacher found that Jeffrey was doing well with the peer group. He had even made several little friends. He also showed age-appropriate understanding of phonological awareness and the teacher recommends we continue reading and writing activities to help him prepare for literacy activities in kindergarten. He had no difficulty in adapting to “practice” kindergarten activities and was generally cooperative, avoided getting distracted, and stayed on task. He performed in the average range on tests of vocabulary and the ability to retell a story. He showed advanced ability to count, use numbers, understand quantitative relationships and classify objects. Jeffrey was fairly interested in the art projects that the teachers and students participated in and enjoyed the pre-math activities. Seth and I also completed another parenting questionnaire. We ranked in the top 15% in terms of affection and warmth and slightly above average in terms of discipline and
Teachers must pay attention to presenting to their students, is very important in their education. If the student finds it too much of challenge there will give up and if it’s too easy there will be bored. An example of teaching strategies is scaffolding strategic support that teachers provide that allows children to complete a task they could not accomplish independently (Vygotsky, 1978; Wood, Bruner, & Ross, 1976). Teacher needs to plan out a task according to the child ability to help they respond and engaged the lesson there increase their independent performance in school. It creates an understanding of English is pronouncing and how to read, both of these skills are important in life. By making these an important part of early child development it reinforces these
Teachers gather information everyday form student’s through classroom activities to get a picture of where a student’s progress and abilities are. There are many different ways to collect a child’s artifacts such as using a checklist, anecdotal notes, teacher reflections, video and audio recordings, and work samples. Each student has their own folder where all their notes, videos, recordings, and artifacts are kept. As stated in the text (Enz, 2014, p. 207, “They must systematically collect, store, organize, and analyze the samples in order to understand the children’s growth and to plan their next teaching” (Ackerman & Coley, 2012). I learned that an on-demand assessment is more like an annual physical checkup. On demand assessments happen at specific times during the course of the year. One day children will be asked to do something specific such as circle the numbers the teacher says out loud, or having to take a test with a pencil and paper. Some label on -demand assessments as tests. This is because children are asked to perform the same action at the same time and in the same manner during an on-demand assessment. “Standardized tests are administered, scored, and interpreted in the same way for all test takers” (Enz, 2014, p. 208). Some examples of an on-going assessment that could be used in a comprehensive approach to literacy
As a child enters a classroom they should be surrounded by literacy in every learning center around the room. “A learning center is a defined space where materials are organized in such a way that children learn without the teacher's constant presence and direction.” (Cited Landry, et al., 2014, pg. 12) These areas consist of blocks, dramatic play, music, toys and games, discovery, sand and water, art, easel, writing, library computer and listening. Each center needs to be set up to ensure supervision is assessable from all areas of the room as well as provide child friendly hands-on activities that generate individual creativity, observations and real life experiences. “Children should also receive multiple opportunities to experience specific linguistic concepts in diverse contexts and experiences organized to foster repetition as an integral part of the classroom routine.” (Cited Justice, 2004, pg. 42)
When assessing young children in particular it is important to look for more then simply right or wrong. An in depth look is necessary to see what the children really know before giving them a poor grade. Children’s work needs to critiqued in more then one way to be sure that they really do ...
As teachers, we have to monitor the progress our students make each day, week, quarter and year. Classroom assessments are one of the most crucial educational tools for teachers. When assessments are properly developed and interpreted, they can help teachers better understand their students learning progress and needs, by providing the resources to collect evidence that indicates what information their students know and what skills they can perform. Assessments help teachers to not only identify and monitor learners’ strengths, weaknesses, learning and progress but also help them to better plan and conduct instruction. For these reasons, ongoing classroom assessment is the glue that binds teaching and learning together and allows educators to monitor their efficacy and student learning.
Through assessment students and teachers are able to determine the level of mastery a student has achieved with standards taught. Both formative and summative assessment should be purposeful and targeted to gain the most accurate data to drive further instruction (Ainsworth, 2010). While this syllabus does a good job of identifying the need for both formal and informal assessments, the way in which this is communicated does not provide enough detail for understanding. Simply listing assessment types does not give any insight into how these assessments fit in the learning process of this course. While some of the assessments mentioned could be common assessments chosen by the school or district to gain insight into the effectiveness of instruction, the inclusion of authentic assessments is most beneficial to students and demonstrates learning in a context closer to that of a work environment (Rovai, 2004). Unfortunately, this particular course, according to this syllabus, relies heavily on quizzes and traditional tests and essays to form the bulk of assessment opportunities. While other activities, such as formative assessments, journaling and discussions are mentioned as possible avenues for scoring, they are given a very low percentage of the overall grade. This shows that they are not valued for their ability to show progression and mastery. If this is indeed the case, this puts the students as a