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The importance of assessment in learning
The importance of assessment in teaching
Importance of assessment to teaching
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“What used to be a thoughtful, creative profession has become more like working in a factory”. That is an eye opening statement for me. Nothing will change my love and passion for wanting to work with children for as long as I live, however I wish that teaching could be “like it use to” as people say. It use to be the child 's fault if they had bad grades and now it is the teachers fault. All blowback hits the teacher. However, all standardized tests are essentially the same, but not all students are the same. So much weight is put into these tests it is completely unfair for the students and teachers. The article from salon.com mentions documentary called “Race to Nowhere: The Dark Side of America’s Achievement Culture”, that is something …show more content…
Authentic assessments are meaningful and relevant to the real-world, which is the key to successful leaning for students. The passage in the book says that using the arts as a scaffold is an effective method for authentic assessment. I am taking elementary music education this semester and I learned so much about what the arts can do for a classroom. The arts in general can relate to all the core content areas in some way. The arts can be such a great foundation for the core learning in a classroom that can be very dry and boring to students. The same goes for performance assessment. It is a much more successful and accurate assessment tool to determine if the students have really meet the …show more content…
The district bought new math books and the materials provided do not match up with what and how they learned previously. The way the questions are worded and how it asks them to completely assignments is completely unfamiliar to them. The grade level teacher got together as a group to discuss the issue with the principal because at the start of the year they were told they had to use all the textbook materials. However, upon meeting with their principal he understood the issue and compromised with them. The district is who is requiring they use the materials. He told them they only had to do the “exit ticket” at the end of each chapter with the students then they can use whatever else they feel effective for assessment. The teachers were extremely relieved with his understanding and
The district is now making all teachers use an assessment tool called iReady. It is a website that assesses students in math and reading. They are first tested on a kindergarten through fifth grade range to find out what they know. Then the program takes that score and determines the right level for the child and they are tested again on the level. Once all students have been assessed the program orders the students from highest to lowest and by average grade level skill they are on: early second grade, middle second grade, late second grade or any other grade. The teacher uses those scores to create her reading groups, math groups and the students she will give extra assistance to. They haven’t officially established how many times and when they will do this iReady assessment but for now they are doing it once a week for forty five minutes. The test also flags if they spent too long or too little time on a question. The ones that spent less than 15 seconds per problem are to go back and do the assessment again.
One time I heard a teacher at my old high school tell a new teacher that their job is to teach to the test and nothing else. I did not really know what she meant, but I knew something about what she said sounded very wrong. I thought why are they just teaching us how to pass the test instead of just teaching us what we need to know? Later I found out that whether or not I graduate depends on passing the test. The idea of standardized testing to say whether or not students graduate is a bad one. Not just bad for schools, principals, and teachers, but it can mean the end of a student’s future before it begins. That means not only does schools suffer, but everyone in our communities, states, and country suffers. It used to be that students had to take standardized tests every year. The results of these tests said what school districts would get more money or less money for the next school year. And it would also tell schools and teachers if some students needed to be put into higher level programs such as gifted and talented or advanced placement courses or if they were having problems and should be put in special education.
Standardized testing has taken over the education realm and led to a shift in the institutional goals and values of education. In the last 40 years, standardized exams have changed; they were once used to determine the learning level of students, but now they are being used to determine the teacher’s ability. Standardized tests do not measure education quality and are incorrectly used, leading to the wrongful evaluation of teachers and the limiting of education for students by schools.
I will start by informing the public. Before I watched this documentary, I had no idea of the potential consequences that standardized tests could have on teachers or schools-- I just thought that standardized test scores prevented students from increasing in grade level or graduating from high school, etc. I was surprised to learn that if a teachers class preforms poorly on a standardized test, that her/his job could be in jeopardy. I remember taking the MSAs and HSHs, and specifically, I remember how stressed out my teachers were prior to the tests; little did I know that my test scores could greatly affect them and/or my school. I think “Standardized Lies, Money & Civil Rights: How Testing Is Ruining Public Education,” directed by Daniel Hornberger (2013) is an important film for everyone to watch, especially parents. I was shocked at how much money was being put into these tests, especially since they do not even give an accurate representation of each student’s true abilities. As a result of this documentary, my perspectives have shifted--I now do not see the necessity of standardized tests and I believe teachers should be able to creatively teach their class life skills and useful information, and avoid “teaching to the test” at all costs. I believe that teachers should not be expected to cram information into their students so that they will do well on the test, and instead, teachers should create their lesson plan based on their students’ skills and interests. I will inform parents in my community about the options they have to prevent their child/children from having to be subject to standardized tests. Overall, standardized testing seems to cause more harm than good, and therefore, should be avoided whenever
The National Education Association (NEA) conducted a survey, wherein teachers were asked various questions about the impact standardized testing has had in their classrooms. According to Tim Walker, “Forty-two percent of the surveyed teachers reported that the emphasis on improving standardized test scores had a ‘negative impact’ on their classroom, while only 15 percent said the impact was ‘positive,’” (para.5). According to this survey, fifty-two percent of teachers said that too much time on test prep, with it being estimated that the average teacher spends about thirty percent of class time focused on preparing for the test (Walker para.7). Despite the majority of teachers, the people who see the effects the most, reporting that standardized testing does significant harm to education, the results of the exams are still stressed far too much. It would appear that the stress on standardized testing has taken its toll on the educators, too, as forty-five percent of surveyed teachers reported that they had considered quitting due to the rising importance of standardized testing and their results (Walker para.
I feel our teachers are held to a high standard, but if students are not passing the teachers are falsely accused of doing something wrong. Their expectations and motivations are solely encouraged by teachers and little by parents. Not in all schools but in the schools I have had experience with. “The high-performing systems that serve as examples in this chapter vary in size, culture, population, and economic base, yet all have made substantial progress in educational
Ninety percent of secondary schools in the world today use standardized tests with only a 60% passing rate. Ankur Singh, a high school student, was ready for his Advanced Placement Classes (AP) but found that his excitement would soon turn into frustration and failing grades. Singh went into his class expecting to analyze character and themes of literature, but instead he found his entire year to be filled with 50 minute, questions based essays to prepare for the upcoming standardized tests. Rather than continuing his outstanding previous pattern of academic excellence, he began to do very poorly in his AP classes. Singh expressed his frustration by stating that all of his AP classes taught specifically around college preparation and standardized tests rather than focusing on genuine learning. He continued to state, “I’m not being challenged. My classes are easy. All I have to do is memorize the textbook and spew it out on the test. I’m not learning anything. I’m not growing.” (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2012/11/09/one-teens-standardized-testing-horror-story-and-where-it-will-lead/) Not only do parents and students disagree with standardized tests, educators are finally standing up against it. At Seattle Garfield high school, the teachers unanimously decided to not administer the reading and math standardized tests. Teachers sent letters to the parents giving the parents an option to opt out of their student taking the test. Teachers comment that these tests are “inappropriate measure of teacher’s effectiveness of teaching.” (http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/11/when-parents-yank-their-kids-out-of-standardized-tests/281417/) Hiss, a former dean of admissions from Bates College in Lewiston, ...
The educators in this country are worth more than the scores their students receive on a standardized test. Most Americans would agree that their entire job should not be based on one day’s work. Using standardized tests to evaluate educators is doing that exactly. Students are testing on one particular day and there is no room for interpretation. Not only is this disparaging to teachers, it is also a great disservice to students. The World is high tech and fast paced and the United States economy will greatly dependent on future innovation. Innovation will require thinking on many different levels and the ability to think outside the box. As it stands today, children are only being taught exactly what is in the box. When a child is unable to sit still during the school day they are quickly labeled as troubled or having ADHD. Imagine what the World would be like had Mozart been told to quiet down, Monet been told to stop doodling, or Einstein been told that there was only one right answer to a question. Imagine what they would have become had it been suggested they just take a pill and learn to focus on the lesson at hand. It is time the American education system stop crushing its children’s dreams and talents and start embracing them. Children are more than a test score and their minds are
Teachers are being forced to teach to the test to prepare their students for the standardized tests. The tests and the school boards, are equally to blame for stripping curriculum opportunities, including art, music, physical education and more, and imposing a brutal testing regime that has forced educators to focus their time and energy on preparing for tests in a narrow range of subjects: namely, English/language arts and math. Students are supposed to be allowed to explore what subject they enjoy learning about so they might be able to pursue a career that caters to their interests. However, by narrowing the subjects taught in schools, they are restricted in choosing the core subjects only even if they are interested in said subjects. With the world becoming dependent on people with creative minds to develop solutions to problems, the testing system is not preparing students for the
“Now we have a chance to fix the law by refocusing on the proper federal role: equal opportunity. To do that we must change the way we think about accountability… has hinged entirely upon standardized test scores,” (Garciá & Otho, 2015, p.3-4). This excerpt from the Washington Post article ‘No Child Left Behind’ has failed offers up the exact problems that education today faces due to this act and others like it. By not communicating with educators, lawmakers set a high demand that is impossible to reach, due to a number of factors, namely the motivation of the child. To base the measure of a child’s success solely upon such a wanton score is futile and completely misses the most important part of learning. Rather than encouraging a child’s interest and bringing it into pre-existing curriculum the teacher is forced to run practice after practice in preparation for standardized test, in the hope that the state does not cut funding for the school. Bring into the mix a federal government whose demands are ever escalating to save face on the world stage, and its surprising that
Admin claim that teachers are “ underpaid or do not receive enough incentives” and it is understandable because teachers are “branded as mere instructors” and not “agents of change.” In other words today’s public school systems do not value their teachers. Teachers are often not given enough resources to properly conduct a class, are not properly respected by students and parents, and are often told to teach to overcrowded classes. With all this teachers are unable to leave a lasting impact on their students. To add to this, Lynch states, “it is time to modify teacher education to reflect the demands of the modern K - 12 classrooms.” Which makes a good point, most teachers struggle to understand the ever changing technology that is commonly present in a classroom. Also there is more of a diversity in today's classrooms than ever before. Many teachers struggle to connect with immigrant parents whose child is attending an English speaking school, and to these children, public school is a complete culture shock. On top of this, the way that lessons are taught are outdated. Students are taught for years that it is okay to be different, but when it comes to learning differently they are shunned. Students who learn by visual aids are praised, because they can patiently sit through a teacher's presentation and take their notes while sitting quietly. While those who learn by hand on activities are push
One of the biggest, if not the biggest, challenges you face going through school is the standardized tests you must take at the end of the year, every year, starting in third grade. You must pass these tests in order to move on to the next grade, or you keep taking them until you pass. A big question many people ask is how are these tests beneficial to real life education? The students, the teachers, the principal and the school districts are all judged based on the average scores on these tests. So, if you put that into perspective, our schools are being judged based on test results when the tests themselves are not ideal education.
“Scores on a standardized test usually do not provide a direct and complete measure of educational achievement. Tests can measure only a portion of the goals of education.” These tests only prove benchmarks and give the government, state, and school systems numbers to see how the school I performing and if the educational needs are being met by the teachers. These tests do not prove the true meaning and goal of education. These tests do not show our performance on class work and them for sure do not show the time teachers spend to make sure that our education goals and works are met. They only show a small portion of all of that which can deceive students into thinking that they are not smart or that they are not good enough.“A teacher can’t really teach all of these things from a textbook. She can model them or talk with students about people who exemplify them. But she has to have enough time left over to do so after getting the kids ready for the standardized test of achievement.” Schools put so much emphasis on standardized test and they make sure that the teachers know that as well so they will spend class time preparing their student for the test so the students will show progress from the previous
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
Revealing a student’s education record or even just one test without permission is a definite no. A student’s educational record is supposed to remain private between the student, parents and teacher. A teacher cannot release information without consent and if they do release the information without consent, the teacher could be fired. The Family Educational Right to Privacy Act restricts a teacher’s ability to share a student’s educational record without permission. It is unethical and potentially harmful to the student for a teacher to share a student’s grade with the class. Releasing educational records without permission is not the only unethical thing a teacher can do and I will go into further depth on this later in my writing.