XKCD Comic 303: Summative Assessment

In this paper I will critically reflect on the teaching and learning cycle I engaged in to improve my assessment of student learning. I focussed on assessment due to its potential to improve instructional design and student performance (Brookhart, 2007, cited in Wiliam, 2011, p.8; William and Thompson, 2007, cited in Dixon & Worrell, 2016, p.155). The teaching and learning cycle led me to identify areas of

I am a strong believer that one test defines a students. Therefore, variety is key when assessing students. When using formative assessment I use student reflections, journal entries, exit cards in addition to non verbal communication such as thumbs up or down. I also make anadotal notes on students to help assess the overall learning journey of the student. When using summative assessments, I use district assessments, state assessments, portfolios, short answer, multiple choice, and student based projects. In all forms of assessments, students are provided the appropriate accommodations. My learning goal for assessing students is to have a valid assessment that demonstrate the student’s understanding of the specific skill. It is crucial that I understand the purpose of the assessments and the content that is being taught, therefore, I often start instruction with the assessment piece in

Assessment, both formative and summative, plays a significant part in the learning experience as it determines progression and enables learners to demonstrate that they have achieved their desired learning outcomes.

Shepard, L. A. (2006, Creating coherent formative and summative assessment practices. Orbit, 36, 41-44. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/213738810?accountid=8194

Assessing the children understanding is considered to be a good indicator of their learning and development process (Reys et al., 2012). Stiggins (2002) discussed the difference between the children’s assessment for learning and assessment of learning. Teachers need to be familiar with both. Assessment for learning (or as we call it the formative assessment) helps the students to learn more about different concepts and increase the opportunity to develop various skills. On the other side, assessment of learning (summative assessment) is to give the teacher an evidence of students’ achievements for purposes of accountability and reporting. For example, assessment for learning can include the teacher’s observations, in-class assignments,

Efficient educators know and understand the importance of selecting, planning, and implementing effective assessment tools and strategies that measure student’s levels of understanding. Different types of assessments are used for a broad range of purposes that include formative, placement, diagnostic, and summative assessments. However, the main purpose is to “foster learning in all its forms” (Lefrancois, 2013, Ch. 6.1). Teachers use pre, formative, and summative assessments to determine what students know before, during, and after instruction. Each measurement is used to plan, modify, and adjust instruction to meet the needs of all learners. Although each form of assessment plays a critical role in ensuring all students succeed, educators

Assessments are vital to the educational process. They provide feedback about what the students know and what they may need to learn in order to obtain the content within a given curriculum. It provides teachers with a glimpse into the student’s readiness on a particular topic or subject. One of the six key principles of having an effective differentiated classroom is having a formative assessment that informs teachers on the effectiveness of their teaching. It also provides teachers with the readiness levels of their students and shows them exactly where the students’ readiness, interests, and learning profile needs really are (Tomlinson, 2014).

For the majority of these classes, I must rely on my own assessments to measure my effectiveness. Using the TI-Navigator system, I formatively assess students by sending questions to solve throughout the period. I then determine whether to address the entire class or to work one on one with a student. Often students mimic the mathematical process, but have little understanding of “why” so I assign writing journals to encourage mathematical thinking. Reading the journal provides me insight into the student’s understanding, their decision making, and any misconceptions they may have to guide my future lessons. Within my classroom, I integrate a variety of hands-on activities that expand my students’ understanding of mathematics: dressing as a zombie to model exponential growth, performing “Function Aerobics” to move as the graphs shift, and measuring football lights outside using trigonometry. I always seek innovative ways to teach mathematics that is relevant to my students’

When I teach I really want to know what individual needs a student has. Formative assessment was one of my assessment tools that I used most when I was teaching AP Computer Science. I’ve also used critical and creative thinking questions and activities to strengthen the thought process of my students by extending thinking about concepts and ideas addressed in the unit. I’ve provided activities that prompt the six level of bloom’s taxonomy to practice critical thinking. Anderson et al. (2001) revised the Bloom’s level of thinking that emphasizes recall, memorization, identification, comprehension, apply, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize. Recall, memorization, identification and comprehension are considered to be at low-level comprehension and

The assessment process in a teaching environment is a necessary requirement to enable you to be able to measure a student’s knowledge and understanding. Assessments come in many different forms and use many different methods, each are important in obtaining an outcome to which the tutor can obtain positive outcomes.

In order to uncover the misconceptions my students had prior to teaching a new learning target, I decided to administer short, diagnostic probes that put emphasis on explanations of their thinking and reasoning (in place of an answer-only response). I stressed that this was not graded, instead meant to help me understand their thinking so I could plan, design, and provide instruction that would be much more responsive to their needs. This was the first time I administered a formative assessment prior to a lesson.

As a Middle School Language Arts teacher, I have found that assessments are a daily part of our job. Everything that my students do in the classroom ultimately ends up being assessed in some sort of way. I must admit that it can at times be overwhelming for assessments to be such a huge part of our curriculum; I understand the necessity of each one. I haven’t always been focused as intently on assessments. I really didn’t consider the importance of assessments as much. As I gained experience and knowledge I realized that assessing my students provides me with information that makes my job more successful. I believe to effectively teach my students, I must understand and implement the right assessments properly. My assessment philosophy is that to be able to ensure our students are learning and that we are teaching the right way we must include proper assessment for validation. With that being said it is very important to use different forms of assessments to gauge student performance. One of the outstanding features of studies of assessment in recent years has been the shift in the focus of attention, towards greater interest In the interactions between assessment and classroom learning and away from concentration on the properties of restricted forms of test which are only weakly linked to the learning experiences of students (Black 2015) This research supports the idea that assessments

An assessment is when you gather evidence for feedback. It’s being keenly aware of what students know and understand and having appropriate evidence of this understanding. Assessments can be broken down into three different categories: Diagnostic, Formative, and Summative. Diagnostic assessment happens before learning. It’s when you identify the student’s knowledge and any misconceptions. This helps determine on what you need to review or where to begin your teaching. Formative assessment happens during the learning. It’s like a “coach”, where you listen and look for specifics. The goal is to improve students’ learning rather than simply measuring it. Summative assessment happens after the learning process. As a teacher, you’re like a judge, you render an opinion. It’s important to offer a grade that accurately reflects the students’ learning. These three types of assessments are used to determine how the student is learning, how to improve their learning, and accurately reflect their learning. The last term in our goal we need to understand is Standards Based Classroom. This is based on the mastery of the students’ learning and that all students are guaranteed the same right to learn the common curriculum. As teachers, we are responsible to deliver the material to expand the students’

When a teacher introduces the idea of formative assessment to a classroom, modifications may need to be made for it to work its purpose. The teacher might need to alter their teaching method and the student will need to be open to changing their learning style to accommodate the change. If both the teacher and students can achieve this, then formative assessment will be successful (al., C. E., 2016). If unsuccessful then formative assessment can be seen by both the teacher and student in a negative light. For example, The Classroom Experiment (Barry, 2010), showcased a range of different formative assessment techniques that can be quite successful in the classroom. One technique that Dylan Wiliam posed was that the teachers give each student

Thank you for planning this high yield strategy to implement with your class. You asked two out of your six students to explain how there definition of array has changed from the first time they wrote it in their academic notebooks. Your use of the academic notebook is a great strategy to use with revising knowledge. In order to move to applying the majority of your students ( five out of six ) would need to revise their knowledge correctly in the first column they had in their notebook, which was, "I