1. What different types of assessments are likely available to him from which to choose?
There are actually a two main forms of assessments that Mr. Bossley can chose from. He can choose to use formative assessments, which are assessments designed for learning. Formative assessments check what the student has learned and how to proceed with expanded that student’s knowledge. Also formative assessments help improve a teacher’s ongoing instruction and focuses mainly on improvement. The other type of assessment that Mr. Bossley can use, is summative assessment, which are the assessments of learning. Summative assessments are assessments that usually happen at the end of a unit or lesson. Summative assessments are often reported using grades,
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Overall however, it would be in Mr. Bossley’s best interest to use both forms of assessment to obtain the greatest form of student achievement.
2. What types of assessments are appropriate for teaching social studies?
There are a plethora of assessment types that are available for Mr. Bossley. First, is the more obvious choice, which are end of chapter tests. These tests can be given to the students at the end of each chapter to test their knowledge of the content. These tests can include multiple choice, essay questions, or even true and false statements. Second, Mr. Bossley can use portfolios to help track a student’s progress. Having a portfolio on ever individual student will help Mr. Bossley figure out where each student is at knowledge wise on the content being taught.
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They need to look and see if the assessment is covering the standards and objectives that are being covered in that content. Teachers also need to make sure that the assessments are fair to all students, where individually the student can perform to the best of their abilities. Teachers also need to make sure that their assessments are made with the intent of giving positive feedback to the students, not just grades. To determine what is not a good assessment, teachers need to look at the opposite of these things previously listed. If the assessment doesn’t correlate with the standards and objectives with this content, then it is not a good assessment. If the assessment isn’t fair to all students, then it is not a good assessment. Lastly, if the assessment is unable to give positive feedback to the students, then it is also not a good
In Ms. Hall’s seventh period ESL freshman biology class I chose to do a write around or pass a question formative assessment probe. I came up with three different questions and printed each one on an individual sheet of paper. The three questions were; 1. What is one thing you were surprised to learn about the past few weeks about genetics, what is one thing you wish you could learn more about related to genetics, what was the hardest topic for you to learn or that you are still confused about? I started the class by talking about what the purpose of the write around activity was. I informed them that this activity was an opportunity for them to reflect and talk about the lesson they were working on and also an opportunity for me to read about what students thought about their genetics unit. I placed students into groups of three and then asked them to read the first question and take 2 minutes to write as much as they could about the question at hand. If students were confused at the question at all I encouraged them to ask me about their confusion or ways in which to respond. After the 2 minute time slot students then passed that question to and the next person would spend 2 minutes to respond to the previous person’s comments or respond to that new question as well. This was repeated one more time so each student had an opportunity to respond to each question prompt. The classroom consist of 17 students whose first language is not English. Primary languages of the students in the class consist of Spanish, Arabic, Russian and Polish.
It is how you make many educational decisions regarding the classroom. My CT stated that she knew how most of the students would do but there were a few that surprised her. Having this digital way of assessment is also convenient for parent reference. The students individual scores are easy to print and also the classroom scores are given to the principal for review. It is a smooth, efficient and manageable way to assess the students equally. Assessments like this could also be helpful in creating a seating arrangement or partner system. I think it is beneficial to pair lower and higher skilled students together. You could use the higher skilled students to help teach other students. Students teaching students can be a valuable resource to struggling
Although somewhat vague compared to summative assessment, several key features help frame formative assessment. First, formative assessment happens while learning is taking place as opposed to at the end of content delivery. Rather, this is considered “assessment for learning,” (Chappuis, J., Stiggins, Chappuis, S., & Arter, 2012, pg. 5). The format is formal or informal, but the outcome in its use is an in-progress check of what students know and what students do not know. Chappuis, Stiggins, Chappuis, and Arter (2012) define formative assessment as, “Formal and informal processes teachers and students use to gather evidence for the purpose of improving learning,” (pg. 24). Second, this type of assessment is used to make instructional strategy adjustments. If student learning did not happen via one instructional method, the teacher must make the necessary accommodations to reteach the concept or skill. Next, it is not only used by teachers for feedback on instruction, but formative assessment is also used for providing timely, descriptive feedback to students and extends to allow for student self-assessment (Chappuis, J., Stiggins, Chappuis, S., & Arter, 2012; Popham, 2008). Formative assessment provides opportunity to provide specific feedback to students on where they are currently in their learning, and where they should be headed.
Assessments are an important part of teaching. Assessments are a good way for teachers to monitor students’ learning and understanding. Knowing students’ level of understanding can help teachers improve students’ learning and guide their instructions. In the future, I plan to continue assessing students in multiple ways such as, asking questions, illustrations and writing to adjust my instruction. I also plan to encourage students to assess their own work so they are involved in their own learning as well as look for ways to “employ technology to support assessment
There are different methods and uses of assessment that are used in the Education system, the reason for this, is that not all assessments serve the same purpose for its methodologies, the feedback that learners receive needs to correspond with the purpose of the assessment. (Sieborger, 1998)Thus educators tend to make use of multiple assessments to establish a fair and just measurement of the learner’s capability. This essay will extensively describe and analyse the tensions between the two methods of assessment: Summative assessment and Formative assessment and further reflect on their ability to integrate.
Assessment plays an integral part of the teaching and learning process by providing teachers with information on students’ developing mathematical capabilities (Booker, Bond, Sparrow, & Swan, 2010; Reys et al., 2012). Assessment is a daily requirement within the primary school context and when properly developed and interpreted can be used positively to encourage students, provide information to direct and modify teaching and learning activities, provide feedback to students about progress and contribute to reporting (Department of Education and Early Childhood Development [DEECD], 2009; Junpeng, 2012; New South Wales Department of Education and Communities, 2011). This essay will examine formative and summative assessment strategies teachers
‘Self and peer assessment are important aspects of assessment for learning practice. Assessing their own work or that of others can help pupils develop their understanding of learning objectives and success criteria. Research has shown that pupils make more progress when they are actively involved in their own learning and assessment’ NFER, (2012). There are 3 main types of assessments; initial, formative, and summative. Initial assessments are done at the beginning of the course and gather information about the learners; their past experiences and any factors the teacher should know to help the learner.
Assessments are according to Edglossary.org (2014), “the wide variety of methods that educators use to evaluate, measure, and document the academic readiness, learning process, and skill acquisition of students”. Assessments can be used to identify several important aspects of learning and development. First, they can be used to distinguish a child’s strengths and weaknesses as well as measure specific knowledge and skills. Assessments can also be used to demonstrate what a child has learned and what they understand (“Assessment,” 2014). My opinion of assessment has not changed; however, now I understand how to use assessments that will help ensure that I am providing the most benefits for my students.
Assessments allow for teachers to monitor the progress and growth of his/her students, help engage students and help guide teachers as well as students in their decision making. Teachers should know that tests are not the only way to assess students in the classroom. It is important for educators constantly assess their students on comprehension and progression.Teachers can take use of both formal and informal assessments so that they can engage students in their own learning, as well as monitor their comprehension and progress.
It is important that teachers give children a fair chance to show their knowledge when assessing. “The purpose of assessment is to provide feedback that can be used to improve student performance” (Orange 2000). Teachers assess children to ensure that they are understanding the material, and to make sure they are learning. For young children, tests should never be the only criteria for assessment. Instructors should always make sure that their assessment is fair.
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.
For my homophones lesson in Mrs. Anderson’s class, I feel that I did a great job teaching the lesson and providing plenty of practice opportunities. I believe that the formative and summative assessments that I used throughout my lesson provided the information Mrs. Anderson and I hoped to get out of this small unit.
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
It is my goal to make assessment and grading a positive element to my classroom for both my students and me. I want to give many opportunities for my students to do well and achieve mastery as well as become the best student they can be. Students should not just be measured by the end result. Learning is a process and I believe that it is in this process that true learning occurs. Aside from being graded on the basic facts, students need to be measured on how well they apply their knowledge. Assessment will be a huge part of my classroom; however, I will hold more importance for a student’s performance and progress rather than a factual test. Down the road, these students will need the skills learned during their early years. A multiple choice question isn’t what is going to help them in the long run
However, as I have grown professionally, I have become more eclectic in my assessments. I now incorporate a student-performance, along with test of the material presented, and a humanistic approach on how my students are impacted by the grades they receive. For instance, my Asperger student, Lukas, needs his assessments to contain fact-recall questions, and essay questions need to have step-by-step answers. He does not perform well if questions regarding interpretations of emotions or non-factual data of information are part of the assessment.