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The importance of educational assessments
Traditional assessments in education
The importance of educational assessments
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Assessments and analyzing students’ literacy levels is continuous through the entirety of the school year. Teachers use many different assessments to guide planning and students to academic success. AIMS web is one assessment used frequently by teachers at Skyline. Students are assessed at the beginning of the year (fall), winter, and spring. Students are also take the STAR reading test to asses students’ comprehension ability. The data collected is used to create groups and identify where students are preforming at. Students who are struggling and need progress monitoring are monitored every two weeks. Students read a different story that is the same level as the previously read. Teachers then track students’ progress and hopes of closing
Assessments should guide instruction and material selection. Any likely manner, assessments should measure student progress, as well as help, identify deficiencies in reading (Afflerback, 2012). One important indicator of reading deficiencies is spelling. Morris (2014), advocated the importance of administering a spelling assessment in order to have a better understanding of a student’s reading abilities. My school uses the Words Their Way spelling inventory to assess students’ reading abilities at the beginning of the year and throughout the reading year.
The running record assignment provided me with insight on how to effectively assess a student, analyzing and interpret data and consider strategies to address areas of need and/or strengths. The process of giving this assessment has allowed me to better understand and appreciate running records. I understand the value of using an assessment that evaluates a student’s reading ability. The data is vital information that influences instruction and planning.
The program was doing well to improve student literacy, until there became a problem with the fluency monitoring. The teachers would administer the prompts to the children in three different levels. They would collect their data on the students by recording the number of words read correctly per minute. The scores seemed to improve at all levels in the first through fourth grade and at the first and second level of fifth grade during the first year. But, at the third level of the fifth graders the scores took a huge drop. The scores continued to drop the following year at the same level as well. The teachers reported their problem and the passage at the fifth grade level was more difficult than the passage of the sixth grade level. When the passage was later analyzed, it was placed at the 9th and 10th grade level. The committee examined all the prompts and assessed the readability levels of all the passages. They chose two prompts for each grade level and devised a protocol whereby the teachers will use the same prompts at each of three points during the year. The teachers will give the difficult prompt first and if the student scores in the 50th percentile, the student will not require any further testing. The student’s success with a reading will depend on the difficulty of the text and the students background knowledge and own interests.
When I met with my host teacher Miss. S, I was able to observe her class during their literacy times. In her class she has twenty three students, ten boys and thirteen girls. Of the twenty three students, two of the students are ELL, two have special needs services, two have ADHD and one of the two is on the autism spectrum, five students have reading intervention, and three are in speech. We talked about the different techniques for teaching words that she uses with her students.
Morrison (2012) reported that less than 50% of children in the grade one age cohort had achieved "mastery in the Grade one Readiness test" in 2007. According to the Vision 2030 Education Sector report, this is a test that all the children at the grade one level should be mastering. The test is intended to provide specific information about competencies and deficiencies so that corrective measures can be taken. The target was that 90% of children should achieved mastery by the year 2030. The 2011 reports stated the national results for 2008 by subject area and the number of children that was proficient. Overall, 46.7% in General Knowledge, 67.1% in Number Concept, 48.2% in Oral Language, 67.6% in Reading and 62% in Writing and Drawing. These are the basics for which less than half the children are proficient in some areas, and no more than two thirds of the children are proficient in others. These statistics reflect that there may be deficiencies in different aspects of students’ listening skills and literacy development. Thus, The Grade One Individual Learning Profile was introduced in 2007/8 which replaced the Grade One Reading Inventory. One of the areas of literacy that may be contributing to students’ poor performance is their underdeveloped listening skills.
The program works with more than 100 schools in seven states. The program is geared toward students from low-income families. The statistics for children’s literacy in the United States are astonishing. “In 2011, just thirty-four percent of the nation’s fourth graders in public school could read proficiently” (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011). The program itself has had exponential success.
This study was conducted in hopes of increasing academic performance in a core English class with my Literacy Extension students. The students in this classroom were diverse and required extra support in reading and writing. Due to the different strengths each student held in learning, it was difficult to have one method to teach the skills that were needed for their english Core class. Rheingold et al (2013) understood that “there is no single strategy or tool that provides the answer to effective instruction”, but they believed academic notebooks (interactive notebook) are a key resource for supporting a diverse classroom. I believed that the use of interactive notebooks would help bridge the gap of skills needed for their core class. Plus,
As a content area teacher, literacy is extremely important to the success of my students in my classroom. Each student must have certain skills to be successful such as being an independent reader, have fluency and atomicity, scientific vocabulary, and having word recognition. It is important that as a teacher we realize our words have a great influence on our students. We should always speak in a positive and loving manner at all times. Genesis 1:1-13 discusses that our words as teachers should build up confidence of the student (Genesis 1:1-13).
The team recommends communicating with parents via newsletters, blog, school messages, and teacher direct communication letting them know the importance of the test and the significance of the students’ full cooperation. When the children take the STAAR test, we make a big deal in the school by having a parade, putting up posters, and getting kids to understand the importance of the test. Similarly, the same emphasis needs to be present before taking the online reading test. Students need to prepare by taking the online tutorial using a computer to get familiar with the test well before the mandated administration date. The online reading assessment contains fifty questions and requires stamina and possible breaks in between.
A comprehensive approach to literacy instruction is when reading and writing are integrated. This happens by connecting reading, writing, comprehension, and good children’s literature. A comprehensive approach to literacy should focus on the many different aspects of reading and writing in order to improve literacy instruction. This includes teachers supporting a comprehensive literacy instructional program by providing developmentally appropriate activities for children. Comprehensive literacy approaches incorporate meaning based skills for children by providing them with the environment needed for literacy experiences. This includes having a print rich classroom where children are exposed to charts, schedules, play related print, and
In our schools today, literacy should not just be a task for the English or Reading teacher. Instead, literacy should be a shared venture by all teachers within all content areas. Teaching literacy in all content areas is important because a teacher with a solid understanding of teaching literacy in his/her content area will tremendously help all students achieve greater success on class assignments and standardized assessments. There are three main points that surround the idea of teaching literacy in all content areas. Teachers need the necessary skills and knowledge to teach literacy, once the necessary skills and knowledge are gained then there is justification for teaching literacy across content areas, and
I personally think that with these practices, the country will have an increase in literacy and education across the nation, which will result in our health and personal well-being and success increasing across America. Since uneducation and absence of knowledge leads to problems we face such as STD’s being spread, homelessness, and the inability to get jobs and succeed, the increase of literacy will help prevent these issues from continuing to harm us. Based on my results working with these problems, I believe public health will increase based on literacy increasing, and I expect more and more people to become literate throughout the next few generations. There are several groups of people, including my children and grandchildren, who will
Measurement of the academic success of the students in Strategic Plan Goal One relies on EOG and Reading 3D data. The focus area of the goal includes increasing the graduation rate and using technology for teaching and learning. Using pre-and post-test data to evaluate the efficacy of teaching is a key point in the classroom along with following the Balanced Literacy approach to language arts. Multiple programs and activities along with implementation of Talent Development enrichment assist students in reaching their academic potential. A large component of this goal
As teachers, we have to monitor the progress our students make each day, week, quarter and year. Classroom assessments are one of the most crucial educational tools for teachers. When assessments are properly developed and interpreted, they can help teachers better understand their students learning progress and needs, by providing the resources to collect evidence that indicates what information their students know and what skills they can perform. Assessments help teachers to not only identify and monitor learners’ strengths, weaknesses, learning and progress but also help them to better plan and conduct instruction. For these reasons, ongoing classroom assessment is the glue that binds teaching and learning together and allows educators to monitor their efficacy and student learning.
The teacher will also make norm-referenced and criterion referenced interpretations of assessment through this website. They have graph and color-coded bands that show widely held expectations for children’s development and learning. The teacher will use this website and graph to communicate twice a year with the parents about the child’s strength, weakness or any area of