Description
The focus of the readings and discussions for EDAT 6115 this week were on the concepts of the importance of assessment usage and development within the classroom. This was followed by the discussion of how important is it for a teacher to use formative assessments within the class and how does it benefit the teacher and student.
Analysis
Chapter 13
Slavin argues that all assessments are based from the learning objective from a lesson that a teacher has constructed. These lesson objectives allow the teacher to understand what they want their students to understand or be able to do at the end of a lesson. The assessment part of the lesson is an illustration of whether or not the student has mastered that objective or goal (Slavin, 2012). The process of creating the learning objective and assessment to follow. Making sure the objective is specific, follows the previous lesson, and identifies the specific goal for the student to master are all key components. A teachers tests or quizzes should also include different components to make sure a student has a well rounded understanding of the learning objective. There should be different forms of questions with different levels of thinking. The questions must align with the learning objective goals set forth by the lesson as well as the assessment should be reliable and valid (Slavin, 2012). To add to that argument, Stiggins argues one step further to make assessments more impactful and that i making students become a part of creating and assessing their own formative or summative assessments (Stiggins, 2011). This can allow a sense of responsibility for self learning and self monitoring, a great skill that teachers try to instill within their students. According to Black and Wiliam when an assessment is improved an improvement on the quality and quantity of learning occurs causing a learning surplus within a child, because the student understands the importance of the assessment rather than looking at it as just a number or grade (Black and William, 1998).
Within the last few years, assessments in education have gained more importance. The frequency of assessing students has also grown. There is more to assessments than standardized state tests. Inner classroom assessments have gained more importance due to the need of qualitative and quantitative data for teacher instruction as well as allowing teachers to see if their students are mastering the standards. Assessments come in many different forms now other than quizzes and tests filled with multiple choice questions and vocabulary words. Assessments can be either formative or summative and can range anywhere from a simple ticket out the door to a unit exam. Slavin argues that assessments are a key tool in education because they illustrate to educators if the learning objectives have been met and if students have made progress in their education (Slavin, 2012).
According to Slavin a “formative assessment” is “designed to illustrate to teachers whether an additional instruction is needed and to tell students if additional learning is needed: (Slavin, pp,410, 2012). Formative assessments provide teachers and students with an extremely valuable piece of information; feedback and data. Feedback from a formative assessment provides information to a teacher that showcases if their students are mastering the standards or if changes need to be made to the lesson plan or lesson objectives. Assessment feedback to students provides more than a grade. They give students a chance to see their strengths, weaknesses, and what they have retained from the lesson. Furthermore, according to Powell, formative assessments demonstrate to students organization, self-efficacy and responsibility skills that provide more than just academic information (Powell, 2013).
Reflection
It was not until I was in my second year of teaching where I learning the importance of assessments usage within the classroom. This concept means a lot to me because as an educator it illustrates to me whether or not my students are grasping the material or if I need to re-evaluate and reteach. I feel that these concepts are of great importance for educators to understand and make sure that they are used daily if possible within the classroom. Assessments need to be all shapes, forms and sizes to allow for an over all picture of the students knowledge and mastery level of the standards. I would implement qualitative and quantitative assessments as well as formative and summative to make sure that my students are learning the knowledge and understanding the impact.
The positives of the concepts is that it showcases to teachers and students the importance of well created assessments and well given feedback. Negatives are the time and understanding it takes for an educator to really develop a sound and valid assessment as well as the criteria to understand their impact on student achievement and mastery level.
I learned how to create a better assessment and how valuable student impact on creating them can allow for better achievement scores. This can allow me to become a better teacher because now my feedback as well as my students feedback will be heard and evaluated to make the best decision for the next lesson.
Slavin, R. E. (2012). Educational psychology: a foundation for teaching. Educational psychology: Theory and practice. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Powell, T. (2013). The Importance of Assessments: How Portfolios Can Impact Students' Self-Efficacy and Comprehension in an Online Graphic Design Course. Online Submission,
Editorial. (1999). Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice Assess. Educ., 6(3), 317-319. doi:10.1080/09695949992766
Stiggins, R. J. (1994). Student-centered classroom assessment. New York: Merrill.
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