Assessment

Classroom assessment can consist of formative which guides ongoing learning, summative at the ending of a unit to gage overall knowledge of a subject and diagnostic. Goals are learning broad, generalized topics to learn and objectives are more narrow, detailed and specific ideas related to reaching that goal. Backwards design is one way to accomplish the objective within the assessment.

Using a teacher created behavior assessment may be beneficial when other resources have been ineffective, the student’s needs rapidly change, or the specific concerns to be addressed require specialization. For example, a student has been unsuccessful in completing various writing tasks when presented as peer or independent work.

When teachers observe their student’s task-oriented behaviors and specific work habits, they are able to be in tune with information that can directly benefit the student. Teachers can use this sort of informal observational data to change their own instructional delivery and approach to better meet the needs of each individual student. 

 In art making, using collaborative group assessments can help activate some students from indecision and help support their ability to create because it is a group think situation. This interdependence allows some inherent anxiety and indecisiveness to be absorbed through the greater good of the needs of the group and creates smaller task responsibility for each student. This reduction in task responsibility, along with the support of peer interactions and interdependence, can help create a more balanced assessment situation.

Authentic assessments are hands on and real world cross curricular engagement that leads to increased comfort with the theoretical aspect of the standardized test. I believe in transparency and including students at all levels of instruction in parent teacher conferences. For older students in middle and high school, they are beginning to take on new responsibilities, set their own goals, understand the consequences of their behaviors, and have valuable input into their own educational path including post-secondary transitions. For elementary school aged students, it is equally important to include students in the parent teacher student conference for many if not all of the above reasons.

When students understand that the goal attainment directly is tied to their own dreams, motivation can increase, making the assessment process more personal and authentic, engaging students in the assessment process. When students are not involved in the process in a hands-on and explicit way, there is no tie into their own dreams and is not effective for all students. 

Below is an example of s student self assessment in writing: