Description
Analysis
With the push of Georgia Milestones
constructive response type questions have been the new buzz word and shift in
teaching. “Constructed-response items
require the student to supply rather than to select the answer” (Slavin, 2012,
p.422). Asking appropriate constructive
response questions means the teacher needs to be very specific in the
expectations. If questions are too broad,
then students will interpret how to answer the question in various ways. These types of questions are good because they
allow the student to produce their own thinking and ideas. On the other hand, however, scoring
constructive response can be unreliable due to teacher judgement.
Grading is another aspect of
education that seems to be a hot topic.
The idea of retesting and reassessing is a very controversial
topic. At my school currently students
are allowed to retest anything that they score below a 70% on. The rationale behind this is to ensure that
students are finding mastery of the standards and not just “moving on” because
it’s time for the next unit. However,
does retesting them show that they have mastered that standard, or is it taking
away student motivation and reflection knowing they can always retest? Maybe a better idea would be using
performance grading. With performance
grading “teachers determine what children know and can do and then report this
in a way that is easy for parents and students to understand” (Guskey,
2006). The parents can then understand if
their child is performing around the expected range for their grade level.
We can look at students’ performance
based on two types of evaluation, norm-referenced and criterion-referenced. “Norm referenced interpretations focus on comparisons
of a student’s scores with those of other students” in contrast “Criterion-referenced
interpretations focus on assessing students’ mastery of specific skills,
regardless of how other students did on the same skills” (Slavin, 2012,
p.411). In most cases formative
assessments are criterion to show what students are having trouble with what
skills.
Reflection
The concept of assessing student learning is an
important concept to all teachers.
Intentional teachers plan their lessons and ideas around individualized
students learning. As teachers we cannot
teach the same lessons the same way each year.
Our students are all different and learn differently. If we use assessment data to drive our instruction,
then we are best meeting the needs of our children. Using formative assessment to see where students
are in their learning as well as for students to track their learning is
imperative. Using summative assessments
as a teacher is a way to ensure that your teaching matches up with student learning. Formative and summative assessments should be
closed tied together.
Something
I learned in this chapter was about lesson objectives. In my day to day classroom I use learning
targets, but I never thought about using lesson objectives. I am familiar with lesson objectives from conversations
during a student’s individualized education plan (IEP), but I have never
thought to do them for my general education students. I could see how this would be helpful in
determining the success and achievement level of students, especially my lower
learners. Planning for lesson objectives
really makes you be reflective of your students’ needs and what support they
need to be successful. Backward planning
with lesson objectives can help you better plan lessons to meet the objectives.
One
thing that I confirmed reading this chapter was ensuring my teaching objectives
line up with my assessments. I feel it
is only fair to test students on material that you have already covered or
taught. One way to ensure that this is
done is to look at your assessments and plan backwards. What skills would they need to learn in order
to be successful? In order for your
assessments to fairly match up to learning objectives as a teacher you need to
make sure your assessments align with your content standards. Assessments should fairly address what the
expected standards to teach are.
One
positive thing about assessments is the use of feedback. The feedback that assessments give is
beneficial for the teacher as well as for the student. Assessments should provide feedback,
information, and incentives. Students
should be reflective of their assessments to realize their strengths and weaknesses.
Teachers should be reflective of student
assessments to decide the effectiveness of their instruction. Many times teachers complain that all of
their students fail a test. Is it really
the students’ fault if ALL of them failed?
Maybe there was a flaw in the way the information was presented. Rather than put the blame on the students, teachers as well need to be accountable for their responsibilities.
References
Guskey,
T. (2006). Making high school grades meaningful. Phi Delta Kappan, 87(9), 670-675.