An Educational Crisis: The Need for Informal Assessment Essay

Assessments should contribute to a student’s education and learning by including students in the learning process educators are able to assist and extend students learning (SCSA, 2014).

Describe and explain the ways in which assessment practice has the potential to impact students’ learning:

“Tests today are not like the tests most parents took when they were in school. New forms of teaching students' work are already in use, and even more changes will be coming in the years ahead. The term "assessment" has come into common use to describe these new ways of measuring students' accomplishments.

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

Assessing is a crucial component of education that informs teachers on individual development and understanding (Booker, Bond, Sparrow

Student assessment is something we take very seriously. It is our duty to make sure our educators are doing what they are supposed to be doing and our students excelling. We have diverse learners attending our school district so this is something we take into consideration. Every child has a different way in developing and each student has a different way in learning. How they learn is what makes them unique. Coming up with the right methods to reach our students is something our educators do best. They

“…only twenty-two percent of those surveyed said increased testing had helped the performance of their local schools compared with twenty-eight in 2007” (“Public Skeptical of Standardized Testing.”). Furthermore the poll indicated an eleven percent increase, compared to last year, towards the favor of discontinuing the usage of students’ test results for teacher evaluations. William Bushaw, executive director of PDK International and co-director of PDK/Gallup Poll also stated, “Americans’ mistrust of standardized tests and their lack of confidence and understanding around new education standards is one the most surprising developments we’ve found in years” (“Public Skeptical of Standardized Testing.”). All in all, not only are these tests a concern for students, who are forced to sit through them, hoping to get a decent enough score to place into a class, receive their diploma, or even get accepted to the college of their dreams, but they are a concern for parents as well, who only want the best for their children and to see them succeed.

The United States of America has placed low on the educational ladder throughout the years. The cause of such a low ranking is due to such heavy emphasis on standardized testing and not individual student achievement. Although the United States uses standardized testing as a crutch, it is not an effective measure of a student’s ability, a teacher’s competency, or a school’s proficiency.

Standardized tests are largely unnecessary, ineffective, and overused. Despite the enormous monetary resources and hours that companies pour into the making of standardized tests, the unholistic pen and pencil approach of these tests tends to assess students' test-taking ability rather than their actual intelligence. All this new testing leaves less time for classroom learning than generations past. This time may seem negligible at first; however, it adds up considering the number of ACTs, SATs, graduation and annual state tests students take over their academic career. What little time left is sacrificed for busy work and teaching for the tests. Nevertheless, who can blame teachers when the results of standardized tests determine their job performance? The tests were mainly designed to showcase the efforts of teachers and schools to the state, and a reduction of standardized tests is integral to fixing our educational

Education has been an important part of society for centuries. Over the years it has slowly evolved into what it is today. The topic of education has been controversial since the beginning. It seems as though there is always someone that sees a need for change in how students are being taught and assessed. More specifically, many people think that standardized testing is not an effective way to assess students. While on the other hand, many also believe that standardized testing is the most efficient and effective way to assess people of all ages. The debate over standardized testing has been shown to effect students and the community in many different ways. Standardized assessments have had huge impacts with both teachers and students. Whether one thinks standardized testing is effective and efficient or misdirecting and unproductive it is a big part of the educational system. While the argument may present that standardized tests leads to simulated knowledge, others argue that standardized tests are very effective in assessing students.

The practice of evaluating students and teachers based on expensive and stressful standardized testing has been the focus of educational reform for over a decade and has thus far proven to be ineffective (Ravitch 51).

Assessments are integral parts of instruction, they determine whether classroom goals have been achieved, and help teachers know what areas they should focus on and maybe reteach. They are great tools for developing lesson plans and answer questions such as; “do my students possess full understanding of the material?” There are many ways of assessing students’ learning, one of which I have personal experience with are on-the-spot assessments.

In the article Classroom and Formative Assessment in Second/Foreign Language Teaching and Learning written by Ketabi and Ketabi states the importance of utilizing formative assessments to drive instruction (2014). “Teachers should continuously assess their students in order to help teaching and learning progress” (Ketabi and Ketabi, 2014, p. 435). The article gives a brief overview of different forms of assessments. Ketabi and Ketabi go on to explain the difference between formal and informal assessments. Formal assessments thoroughly planned and developed to acquire evidence about a student’s success in prearranged times while informal assessments are “occasional and unplanned comments and feedback” (Ketabi and Ketabi, 2014, p.436). The article continues to

Formal exams are useful in the fact that to some extent they do asses the thinking of the individual without the input of their peers or teachers ideas and therefore also avoid plagiarism. Exam results can also help with parent’s decision making on the best school of their child, as league tables give an indication to the performance of the school. Exam style of assessment can also provide teachers with the evidence needed for lesson plans as they give an understanding of what the child has understood and hasn’t understood. And since the education system is

Assessments provide learners opportunities to develop mastery of their ideas, skills and competencies, whilst educators use assessment tasks as both teaching and learning tools (Spiller, 2009:6 & 7).