Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Increasing engagement in the classroom
Increasing engagement in the classroom
The effectiveness of standardized testing
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Increasing engagement in the classroom
In the 21st century, successful professional learning communities establish clear goals that guide all aspects of the school community. These goals must focus on student achievement; therefore, collecting and analyzing data from assessments in schools is one crucial requirement that all teachers must execute to increase students’ academic achievement. “Data is data that you are sort of gathering everyday based on what kids are actually doing and saying in your classroom and the products they are creating” (Laureate Education, 2008s). As educators, we must understand that in order for students to improve in their learnings, we need to be aware of their strengths and weaknesses. For this reason, teachers need to implement different type of assessments …show more content…
Educators implement formative and summative assessments to assess retention and comprehension (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many, 2010). Teachers must also provide positive feedback to all students after data is analyzed and establish different programs to help students that are struggling in the classroom. There is no doubt that one crucial element of a professional learning community is using data and results to track the progress of the students through different type of assessments (Bafumo, 2006). In this essay, I will be emphasizing the analysis of my school focusing on results, personal experiences, district goals, ways to measure goals, and my role as a leader in the school.
Utilizing “The Professional Learning Communities Continuum” I was able to assess the current reality of my school’s implementation focusing on results. It took me to realize that we are still far away from becoming a successful professional learning community.
…show more content…
The school’s goal is to achieve an exemplary academic program and to accomplish these goals, we must plan to adhere to the Campus Improvement Plan, and state Texas Essential knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Our district goal is that all students must show significant gains in their test scores of a minimum of 10 percent points as well as AP scores in all subject areas must improve with a minimum of 70 percent of the students passing the exam. Another district goal is that technology must be utilized and be evident in classroom instruction as well as provide an environment that is positive and safe. Examining my school and district goals to better guide teachers’ daily work is to work collaboratively with other colleagues and discuss different ways on how to achieve the district and school goals in the classroom. For instance, if we want our district to show gains of improvement, we must establish communications with all school staff in faculty meetings and provide different options for attaining these goals. In order for these goals to be achieved, all teachers need to make a commitment of working long hours and be willing to change their instructional methods to meet the need of the students. According to Bafumo (2006), it is a challenge to accommodate any change in the classroom, but a lack of change could be affecting your students’ achievement. As educators, we must understand that there are
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.
I have always had a keen interest in observing children as they play and learn and using the observations to support the child’s growth. This is partly based on my past professional experiences and observations of my own children. I believe that my other strength in assessment is in analyzing data and using the data to make decisions. While I feel, this area is a strength, my exposure to the vast array of assessment tools used to support student learning has been
An effective school leader possesses skills to create, implement, evaluate, improve and share a staff development plan. I met with Ben Rhodes, Sandy Creek Middle School’s principal, to interview him on the specific elements of his yearly staff development plan. We began with the design process focusing on the district and school goals. District goals include improving literacy across the content areas in reading and writing, Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum (GVC). Guaranteed and Viable Technology (GVT), and Closing the Achievement Gap (Equity in Excellence). Using a variety of assessments to focus on specific needs, Ben Rhodes and Mary Sonya, our Pupil Achievement Specialist, examined CSAP, Explore, MAP, and RAD data. They use the Colorado Growth Model to help guide them to determine if students have made adequate yearly progress. Together, they created the plan that included the district goals mentioned above as well as continuing to include new technology skills, information on special education changes with Response to Intervention (RTI), maintaining current staff implementation of literacy goals and a new goal of raising achievement in math.
Teachers use a range of formative assessment tools and teaching approaches to gather evidence for the purposes of: monitoring and measuring student learning; providing students with feedback; and providing feedback to inform teaching and modifying instructional strategies to enhance students’ knowledge and performance in mathematics (ACARA, 2015; DEECD, 2009; McMillan, 2011; Taylor-Cox, & Oberdorf, 2013). 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,
Assessments are an important part of teaching. Assessments are a good way for teachers to monitor students’ learning and understanding. Knowing students’ level of understanding can help teachers improve students’ learning and guide their instructions. In the future, I plan to continue assessing students in multiple ways such as, asking questions, illustrations and writing to adjust my instruction. I also plan to encourage students to assess their own work so they are involved in their own learning as well as look for ways to “employ technology to support assessment
Traditionally, teacher development typically occurs through trial and error in the isolated confinements of each teacher’s classroom with some periodic whole-group professional development (Goddard & Goddard, 2007). Within the past few decades, many schools and districts, including ours, have considered and experimented with Professional Learning Communities (PLC) as an alternative framework in guiding a more efficient development program for their teachers. PLCs are focused on enhancing student learning through developing teacher practices. The concept of PLC relies on using structured collaborative sessions amongst teachers within the school to build internal capacity. Through PLCs, teachers critically reflect on current practices, brainstorm solutions, and obtain help and advice from others in a supportive growth-oriented environment over an extended period of time (Vescio, Ross, & Adams, 2008; Nelson, 2009; Scher & O'Reilly, 2009; Bolam, McMahon, Stoll, Thomas, & Wallace, 2005). The theory of change guiding PLCs holds that by providing teachers with targeted support from within the school community, as oppose to hiring additional outside experts, professional developments can become for efficient. Implementation of effective PLCs requires intentional effort, school-wide and possibly district-wide restructuring of teacher schedules, and additional resources. For schools considering implementing PLCs, it is important to understand the logic of action and the benefits of PLCs as it relates to teacher improvement and increased student achievement.
We all know how assessment data can be useful for teachers to improve and validate instruction. For James Popham, not all assessment data can be used this way. In his article “The Seductive Allure of Data,” he warns that there are wrong kinds of data to be using and gives examples of what instructionally useful tests and data are. He also gives and defines five attributes that he says make a test instructionally useful. The given attributes were significance, teachability, describability, reportability, and nonintrusiveness.
Black, Paul. (2003). The Nature and Value of Formative Assessment for Learning. Improving Schools. 6 (3) 7-22
All teachers feel that collaboration is key for improving student achievement. They all agreed on the importance of data analysis but none of them felt that the curriculum department benchmarks were aligned appropriately enough to be useful in the classroom. Because of the time required to give the assessments, they see the benchmarks as a hindrance to performance. All three teachers agree that resources are limited, however, they were able to overcome this through technology.
Cohen et al. (2010) wrote that assessment can be a major contributor to raising standards in schools in terms of teaching, learning and student achievement. In addition, if assessment is properly handled with consistency, reliability, validity and rigour, it can have a possitive effect on learning and can improve students' own understanding of how can they learn more effectively and improve.
We ignore the plain fact that students learn at different rates and in different ways” (3). Furthermore, teachers are the main source of knowledge in the classroom. When teaching, teachers determine almost everything that happens within their classroom. Including what information they have students learn, and how they pass on that information. However, over the years, it has been neglected that every student learns differently. Additionally, it needs to be remembered that it is the students who are learning. A school system is needed that can retain all students’ curiosity, individuality, and creativity. For instance, whether it is the amount of homework given, the type of test, the pace of teaching, or the style of notes required, students should not be confined to only one way of
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
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.
In the classroom teachers need to be flexible to put in to practice many different
As I reflect on my past assessment process, I realized how much my assessments have changed over the years. In my early years, I used tests for informational recall as my assessments. I felt these were appropriate guidelines in which I needed to follow in order to substantiate a student’s grade. Every assignment or tests was given a point value and then based on the amount of points, a grade was given. Every student’s assessment was exactly the same, and the assessments did not contain any subjectivity. I felt confident in giving the grade based on a valid point system. However reflecting back, I see that I did not include any performance-based assessments or individual learning styles in my early assessment. I also did not take into consideration the individual needs of my students. My assessment approach was awful. I am embarrassed that I use to assess students in this manner.