Purpose: How do we assess our students, and how should we?
Assessment
is absolutely essential to make sense of what is being taught and learned.
There are two types of assessment; formal high stakes standardized tests, and
informal authentic approach. Many teachers have used multiple types of informal
or alternative assessment in order to evaluate the learning and progress of
their students. Today, there is much discussion over the results of students
from formal, high stakes assessment, and points for and against these
assessments are recognized throughout this chapter. Lastly, the organizing
principle of chapter four is that instructional
assessment in a process of gathering and using multiple sources of relevant
information about students for instructional purposes. This type of
assessment demonstrates the importance of the direct correlation between
instruction and evaluation in order to nurture an ideal learning environment in
the classroom.
First
of all, I did not entirely understand the amount of assessment that should
occur in the classroom prior to much of my recent field experiences and
courses. There must be constant
checking for understanding. Lessons are not presentations, and students are not
simply sponges. There should be frequent interactions, and constant cycles of instruction
and assessment in order to facilitate active listening and assure that students
are remaining attentive and comprehending the lesson. Then as a teacher, I can
decide to change the pace of the lesson, elaborate further on a topic, or
possibly review a certain concept. In my teaching internship last summer at
Breakthrough Saint Paul, I panicked the first few times when I would assess
that I needed to elaborate further on a concept that I had not initially
planned. I am a relatively organized person, and I felt flustered straying from
the carefully set out lesson plan. However, that is exactly what needs to be
done! I’ve learned that teachers must be trained to be flexible and quick on
our feet. We must do our best to anticipate the many loops and turns that a
lesson could take. And in order to know when these changes are absolutely
necessary to assure the best learning experience possible for the students, is
through constant variations of assessment.
Last
summer, I tried out several different ways to assess my students. Almost
everyday I made an effort to integrate mini whiteboards throughout the presentation
of new material. I would make guided notes that were sometimes traditional, but
were also a guide to discovering the material. Then I would switch from
presenting material, or prompting discovery, and then assess their
understanding and progress by having them write something on the whiteboard,
and also by spot-checking. Sometimes I would assess during guided practice on
big whiteboards they would work at around the room, classroom discussion, exit
slips, and many other ways. I found that assessment is absolutely on the
forefront of learning, and not simply a test to assess what the students
absorbed, by any means! A huge advantage to constant assessment became evident
with my ELL students. They were extremely hard workers and successful in
mathematics. However, with the various types of assessment, I would catch
myself if I had spoken to quickly, or not said the instruction in a few
different ways. Word problems were also obstacles, and I would then make an
effort to assure the vocabulary was understood.
As I have learned much about informal assessment, I have
also discussed the issue of standardized testing in every single education
course I have taken. It has also been discussed in other education experiences
I have had, including field experiences, and an internship I had at Breakthrough
Saint Paul. The validity of standardized tests is extremely controversial. Many
teachers are outraged by the weight put on such tests, and I am included. These
tests can put teachers in extremely conflicting positions. It may be something
as extreme as, a teacher may need her students to score at a certain level in
order to keep his or her job, as it is now something that some principles use
to assess how their teachers are doing as well. Therefore, knowing it may not be
the ideal way to teach the material, a conflicted teacher may then chose to
give students formulas to succeed, without having the proper time, or
appropriate timing in the curriculum to fully give understanding to the
formula. Then students are memorizing formulas that they are simply going to
forget. Mark Twain stated, “Education is what is left over when you forget all
the facts that your teachers made you memorize when you were at school”. I am
passionate about the value of developing problem solving skills through
mathematics that are extremely valuable in all types of professions.
The text also goes into detail of more reasons for
inaccuracy of the exams. Students are becoming focused on the end result, and
losing sight of the process of problem solving, which is so valuable. Students
can become extremely discouraged by these scores that can be debated as not
true indicators of a child’s potential. If the student does not understand the
topic of the prompt because of their background and failure of exposure to
something, they may not be able to answer the questions correctly, when they
are actually quite literate. I was able
to catch this with my Hmong English Language Learners last summer, however,
these tests cannot assess that a student does not know a vocabulary word that
is crucial to understanding the passage they’re reading and being assessed on.
There is also further inaccuracy as, the more the students are taking these
tests, the more familiar they are with them, and may be reason for increased
test scores. However, promoters say that it helps a school address the concerns
of the particular school.
In the text, it also discusses the unfortunate consequences
of accountability associated with the tests. Schools that do not meet the
standards will face serious consequences such as losing federal funding,
replacing teachers, or even being closed. I had discussed the pressure of
meeting AYP before, however, there was one fact that was particular
discouraging that I had never heard before. The text states that states are
even lowering their state standards and adjusting their proficiency
requirements in order to preserve federal funding and give the illusion of
progress when test scores are increased. The use of these formal assessments
needs to be evaluated if this is what our country has to succumb to. I’m not
sure they’re exactly serving the purpose they supposedly were supposed to
serve. Lastly, I actually received an email regarding this pressing issue just
the other day. Maybe change is on its way.
No comments:
Post a Comment