1.Discuss the importance of using tests to improve learning and instruction and not just to
assign grades.
“Assessment is one of the most effective instructional strategies to increase learning.” (Edutopia)When teachers think about assessment quality, they often focus on the accuracy of the instrument itself- the scope of which the assessment item tasks and scoring rubrics produce accurate information. It is imperative to use the different testing technique to improve learning. By taking tests, students can establish that they are independently capable of expressing their understanding of the material. I will have an opportunity to analyze each student's understanding and ability to apply learned information. I can then decide whether the
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class as a whole or individual students need more opportunities to practice the material to better. For an example, (Individual white boards) This works well with math. I have students record their answer to a given problem or question on their white boards. They will look for the signal, they will raise their boards so I can see they arrived at a reasonable answer. This process of assessment can be used for smaller group work. Posting a question such as how many cups are in a quart. I give them time to think, students record their response, and when requested, show their answer. I note students who are having difficulty. Those students will work in my reteach group. This year our group working on science projects, rock formations. I have students demonstrate knowledge of a particular set of standards by preparing information to the entire group. I designed a rubric that is given prior to the creation of the presentation, and the group is evaluated via this rubric. Small groups lesson will be created as a result of this information. I need to take an full role in making decisions about the purpose of assessment and the content that is being evaluated. One of my major challenges in teaching is planning, and to be a good planner, I have to think about what I’m trying to undertake and craft an arrangement of the content and the instructional approaches, but also the assessment. These are the questions I think about before I’m ready to assess my students. If test scores were poor, I must accept the opposite. It is time for me to find another method or use a different tactic to teaching. 2. Unit 4—Objective Test Items –Video After watching the video create one really good multiple-choice item that you could use as a diagnostic item. Diagnostic Multiple-Choice Example: Our second-grade students are learning how to read friendly letters. This is an example of a letter they will read on a test. Students will answer each question from the multiple-choice questions. Students will read the selection "Jessie and Josie Write to Grandma." Then choose the best answer. Jane and Judy Write to Grandpaw Dear Grandpaw, We live in Dallas now! We like our new city. People here call it "Poketown." Our family is very busy. We are moving into our new home in town. Our neighborhood has tall trees and lots kids to play with. One neighbor is a boy named Paul. At first, he thought one girl lived in our house. Then he saw us together. He said, "Aha, you are twins!" Our house is near the woods. We have seen squirrels there. Paul says they are chipmucks, though. We miss you. Please write. Our new address is below. Love, Jane and Judy 1.Our family is very busy. We are moving into our new home. Which word from the letter helps the reader know the meaning of busy? A. family B. very C. moving D. area 2. Why did Pual think the girls were one girl? A. They look alike, and he had not seen them together B. They never went outside, so he had never seen them. C. They played a joke to make him think they were one girl D. They wore the same outfit each they would go out. 3. Our house is near the woods. The word woods means — A. house B. forest C.
animals
D. yard
Students choice from among the choices, which include the right response and the incorrect responses or distractors. Question 1 –C is the right answer, and A, B, and D are the distractors. Question 2 –A is the correct answer and B, C, and D are the distractors. Question 3 –B is the answer and A.C, D are the distractors.
I had to take in concered what distractors to use that will give me information that students will choose the correct answer from the group. When I first started planning multiple-choice questions they were lengthy, difficult stems students did poorly on the test. I had to write incorrect responses, know as distractors. I try to keep all answers choices the equal length. I wanted to make this test measure knowledge rather than test-taking skills “test wise” learners.
Unit 5-Assessmnet of Instructional Outcomes
1.How might you use rubrics to communicate learning targets in your classroom?
"Rubrics" allow me to be more impartial in scoring/grading student performances and learning skills. When using a rubric, it helps students comprehends clearly just what is expected of them in goings-on assignment. I love to compose rubrics together with my class and to revise them to show students learning performance. When I use rubrics with my students it gives a reference point and language for raising potentials learning and
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achievement. Our secong grade teacher worked on a rubric to help us evaluate our writing skills. We found that it gave us an enormous amount of feedback to students. We continue to design other rubrics so we could use them on any types of projects, from papers, oral demonstrations to performances and group projects.When using Rubrics,for any project it provides students with a strong understanding of what is expected of them. I see my students have concrete guidelines about what does a good project, a good journal writing piece will give them I believe rubrics helps students to reflect on their own way of thinking and possibly about their own standards for what is "good.": to evaluate their own work and process to see exactly how it matches up with the skills explained in the rubric. By using rubrics, I want to give my students experience in their higher-level thinking processes. When we are working on math skills that involve problem-solving questions. We designed a rubric where students can use higher –level thinking processes. They knew what was expected of them to work out the math problems. Whenever we complete a project, I use rubrics to provide formative and summative feedback to class so they will have an improved understanding of what skills are needed to be taught in the future. What did you learn about using rubrics with students?” I learned that when you create a rubric with your students a project students can collaborate, to set goals for the project and suggest how their work should be evaluated. When I hand out rubric with an assignment, my students will know my expectations and how they’ll be graded. This will help them master the learning objectives by guiding their work in appropriate directions. With my students I use a rubric for grading student work, including questions on exams, essay, and return the rubric with the grade on it. I also develop a rubric where students exchange drafts of their work and give peer feedback using the rubric; then I give students limited days before the final drafts are turned in. Then I place the draft and scored rubric with their last paper. Students will view the information from the rubric so they can correct the paper for the final entry to be viewed. This was useful for our writing projects.This is an excellent way for students to get feedback on their journal writing. I also developed peer-assessment rubric so students can grade other students writing assignments.Finally, by watching the video, I learned that if you give rubric in advance it helps children to see what you are looking for with that skill you presented to class. I love the way students write in the margins of the rubric to convey their own ideas and their expectations. This was wonderful way for them to become a part of their learning process by getting involved in their score. After view the vedio creating rubrics will help me teach, and students learn, it can create a way for me to pursue my own evidence of leaning. I can see that rubrics can communicate learning in any individual classroom and school. Unit 6---Standardized Tests 1. What would you say to a parent who is confused because her son has a ‘B’ average in your class but has only a 75th percentile score on a standardized achievement test? First of schedule a one-on –one conference with the parent who has difficutlty understanding the standardized achievement test score.
Explain that the standardized test scores can give them useful information about their child. Explain the standardized testing usually sever several purposes, it evaluate and improve the school district, improve the individual school, identify their child academic strengths and identify areas where their child may need to improve. I will point out that a testin g program is only one of several tools use to evaluate their child performance. I will explain that children are never measured on the basis of one test alone. Clarify how the test results will be used. I will explain to the parent that even though he is making a B this grading period that standardized tests can be one part of a comprehensive assessment system. However, they offer just a small piece of the picture. I will let the parent know that there are better methods of evaluating her chid’s needs and progress already exist. She needs to know that I give careful observation and documentation of her child’s work and behaviors it is more helpful than a one-time test. The parent needs to understand the the 75th persentle does not reflect how he has performed in class. I need to be prepared to share work samples if needed so parents can see eveidence of their child’s work samples. It’s important to remember, this is someone's child, who this parent loves more than anything.
When the scores have been shared, it is my job to end on a positive note by ensuring the parent, that I will be working hard with the child to make great strides in the areas of their strengths and weakness.
Current educational policy and practice asserts that increased standardized student testing is the key to improving student learning and is the most appropriate means for holding individual schools and teachers accountable for student learning. Instead, it has become a tool solely for summarizing what students have learned and for ranking students and schools. The problem is standardized tests cannot provide the information about student achievement that teachers and students need day-to-day. Classroom assessment can provide this kind of information.
“Education is not the preparation for life; education is life itself.” - John Dewey. Every year, as we enter a new grade, new challenges approach us. Eighth grade is no exception., and will be very different from 7th grade. As I enter my eighth grade school year, I will be bombarded with a variety of new experiences and challenges such as buddies, academics, and being prepared for high school. One of the most important tasks that is thrust onto me is buddies.
...ry curricular diversity, test developers have to create a one size fits all test. These test developers however, can’t really pull it off. This leads to some questions in a standardized test that are not necessarily aligned with the curriculum in a particular setting. An important study done in 1993 in Michigan regarding this issue on standardized tests concluded that 50 to 80 percent of what was measured on standardized tests was not covered in the textbooks for that particular curriculum. Based on this study, it can be concluded that if the content of standardized tests is not addressed in the textbooks, topics that are covered on the test may not have been covered in that particular classroom setting This is an unfair flaw in test design which can result in lower test scores not enabling the tests to accurately measure the students’ learning achievement.
Standardized tests have been a controversial issue regarding whether they are helping or hurting students and their academics. People that are for standardized testing argue that the tests are fair because all students nationwide are learning and being tested on the same thing. Bruno, Kemmerling, and others agree that these tests are beneficial to schools, students, and teachers. Others who are against standardized testing disagree because teachers are only teaching to the test. Littky, Caines, and Hanford see the negative aspects of standardized testing and want to change how people perceive it. Both sides of the issue have a credible argument.
Developing studying skills that incorporate testing myself will take the ease of being overwhelmed, as well as help with concentration, and becoming more comfortable and confident. Practicing recalling information over time will help in recalling for an actual assessment, by retaking study guides, and creating at home pre-test. 3The information provided by Karpicke and Roediger can me as an educator and other educators by considering various methods of learning. Using test as an instrument of learning rather than solely an assessment on knowledge can be essential in helping students’ learning effectiveness. Since the experiment showed that the learning conditions where retrieval was repeated caused students to have 80% of the pairs recalled compared to the 33% of where retrieval was not practice shows that testing can be used as a tool of learning. In my classroom I would implement take pre-test for homework and/or extra credit assignments, as well as implement classroom activities such as games where testing occurs in a communal group setting. Retrieval is easier when related pieces of information are stored in close association with one another (Ormord p. 212). Therefore, I would have students get in pairs and test each other on the information as soon as the lesson is over as a form of review and test
Standardized testing is not an effective way to test the skills and abilities of today’s students. Standardized tests do not reveal what a student actually understands and learns, but instead only prove how well a student can do on a generic test. Schools have an obligation to prepare students for life, and with the power standardized tests have today, students are being cheated out of a proper, valuable education and forced to prepare and improve their test skills. Too much time, energy, and pressure to succeed are being devoted to standardized tests. Standardized testing, as it is being used presently, is a flawed way of testing the skills of today’s students.
This paper explores a few of the many alternatives to standardized testing within the education system. Also, this research helps the reader understand what standardized exams are, why they are used, and how educators can use other ways of assessing to “test” the children’s/students’ abilities throughout the year. Some of these substitutions may include personal portfolios, developmental benchmarks, and a variety of analyses on comprehension by recording different sessions. Furthermore, this exposition uses research from many different resources to support the importance, credibility, and objectivity of other assessment tools besides standardized test. By reading this composition, one will learn the pros and cons of uniform evaluation implementations and why it is important for everyone’s individual learning and development that standardized testing are no longer required.
In the following unit the two main things we learned about was rubrics, how to make them and what exactly does engineering mean in science. I really liked how we are focusing on rubrics because all my life that is how I have been graded but I do not see how they are made and the different types of rubrics there are. The first rubric we talked about was the holistic rubric. “Holistic rubrics are constructs that contain different levels of performance that describe the quality, quantity, or quantity/quality of a task” (Luft, pg. 25). Holistic rubrics are to help the teacher find the appropriate fit for the student’s work. This is usually based off a score of 1-4 or a letter grade which is divided into a broad category and helps the teacher find
Regular use of formative assessment improves student learning as instruction can be adjusted based on students’ progress and teachers are able to modify instructions to cater to students’ individual needs (Black & Wiliam, 2010; Taylor-Cox, & Oberdorf, 2013). Various forms of informal and formal formative assessment methods are conducted as learning takes place, continuously through teacher observations, questioning through individual interactions, group discussions and open-ended tasks (McMillan, 2011). tests can tell us a lot about students and be used to inform and guide teaching, rather than simply to determine grades. Teachers can learn a lot from test results if they analyse the data generated to inform their teaching and learning programs (Perso, 2009). However, high stakes tests may result in students becoming stressed, leading to misreading questions, careless working and incomplete answers (Booker et al., 2010).
They ways that I liked the rubric was for guiding me through the process of writing it and what I should have in the myth. I personally thought that the grading rubric was also kind of stressing. It pressured me to do every little thing on it which kind of made me stressed, but overall the rubric helped me out.
Pop quizzes are most effective for a variety of reasons. For one, it is a fair assessment. Every student is instructed to study and acquire an understanding of all the material. A student that takes advantage of his or her time will often succeed on the quiz. However, those that spend less time will most likely fail. This promotes one to stay on task and focus when given new material. But more importantly, every student is given an equal opportunity to make sure he or she is well prepared.
Assessments in the classroom are ongoing. Assessments are important for teaching in the classroom and for assisting in continuing the learning process of the students. Three purposes of assessment are to measure the amount of information a student has learned and retained, identify a students’ learning needs in and outside the classroom, and gather evidence to help increase learning for the students.
Through assessment students and teachers are able to determine the level of mastery a student has achieved with standards taught. Both formative and summative assessment should be purposeful and targeted to gain the most accurate data to drive further instruction (Ainsworth, 2010). While this syllabus does a good job of identifying the need for both formal and informal assessments, the way in which this is communicated does not provide enough detail for understanding. Simply listing assessment types does not give any insight into how these assessments fit in the learning process of this course. While some of the assessments mentioned could be common assessments chosen by the school or district to gain insight into the effectiveness of instruction, the inclusion of authentic assessments is most beneficial to students and demonstrates learning in a context closer to that of a work environment (Rovai, 2004). Unfortunately, this particular course, according to this syllabus, relies heavily on quizzes and traditional tests and essays to form the bulk of assessment opportunities. While other activities, such as formative assessments, journaling and discussions are mentioned as possible avenues for scoring, they are given a very low percentage of the overall grade. This shows that they are not valued for their ability to show progression and mastery. If this is indeed the case, this puts the students as a
In spite of the importance of assessment in education, few teachers receive proper training on how to design or analyze assessments. Due to this, when teachers are not provided with suitable assessments from their textbooks or instructional resources, teachers construct their own in an unsystematic manner. They create questions and essay prompts comparable to the ones that their teachers used, and they treat them as evaluations to administer when instructional activities are completed predominantly for allocating students' grades. In order to use assessments to improve instruction and student learning, teachers need to change their approach to assessments by making sure that they create sound assessments. To ensure that their assessments are sound they need include five basic indicators that can be used as steps to follow when creating assessments. The first of these indicators and the first step a teacher must take when creating a sound assessme...
I use assessments to assist me to identify and to develop their learning process. Assessment is not about the final grade, but the learning experience. I would rather have my students know how to look up information and apply knowledge than to memorize it and forget it ten minutes after the test. Learning is a life-long adventure and I want my students to know how to adjust and cope during their adventure. I want my students to have the skills for researching and finding the answer. It is not always that answer which demonstrates learning; it is in the process in which you find the answer that demonstrates learning.