4 EDUC 5913 S Measurement and Evaluation Assessment Philosophy Ren e !

!e"lan# $e%ruary &'( &'1) Assessment Philosophy Assessment is a necessary part of the classroom. Whether or not students like assessment, it is one of the most difficult jobs as an educator. When assessment strategies are designed properly, students can greatly benefit from it. There are three basic forms of assessment: diagnostic, formative, and summative. All three play an important role in the classroom. Retakes, redos, no late submission deductions and a no- eros policy also play an important role in assessment. Through the use of these assessment methods, my goal as a teacher is to provide students !ith the best opportunity to succeed and effectively demonstrate their kno!ledge and learning. " !ant my students to embrace the opportunity to demonstrate understanding, not fear assessment. " believe that diagnostic assessment #pre-assessment$ should be used before beginning a unit to check for students% prior kno!ledge and their understanding of a specific subject matter. The teacher must begin !here students are academically & there is no use re-teaching a topic that the class already kno!s just as a teacher cannot move on to another topic before students have grasped the previous one. 'y performing diagnostic assessment at the beginning of the year and before each unit, " !ill be able to gauge students% current academic standing by sho!ing !hat students already kno! and !hat areas may need more focus and instruction. This type of assessment !ill help me determine !hich students may need more guidance and !ho !ill re(uire enrichment lessons. )ormative assessment should occur throughout the learning process. "t can be used to monitor students% progress and to guide my instructional practices. "n the article *Redos and Retakes +one Right, by Rick Wormeli, he compared students practicing the materials as learning to become an -lympic runner. When talking about the runner !ho finished in fourth place Wormeli said, *Remember, he.s not in the learning-to-run stage of development/ he.s in the proficient-runner stage, #Wormeli 01$. The idea of stages such as learning-to-run versus proficient-runner !ould also apply to formative assessment because students should not be graded !hen they are still learning the material/ they should be allo!ed to practice as much as they need until they attain that *proficient runner, stage. A student is ready to be assessed once they have attained the proficient stage on the content but until this level has been met, they should be able to keep practicing. 2roviding students !ith feedback is an important aspect of formative assessment. "t !ill allo! students to improve on skills they have yet to master. "t !ill also help them !ork to!ards achieving the learning goals before using summative assessment #at the end of a unit or semester$ to fairly evaluate if students have reached the e3pected

0 learning outcomes. The purpose of feedback from classroom assessments is to give students a clear picture of their progress on learning goals and ho! they might improve #5ar ano 1$. The type of feedback " plan to use !ill encourage students to improve their !ork and motivate them intrinsically. " believe that teachers should only use summative assessments once the formative assessments have proven that all students have learned the re(uired material to attain the learning goals. "t !ill provide students !ith the chance to demonstrate !hat they have learned in a fair manner. Tests !ill not be the only method of summative assessment " plan to use. 2rojects, assignments and presentations !ill also be used as other !ays of assessing !hat students have learned. These types of assessments !ill provide students !ith the opportunity to !ork collaboratively and provide them !ith the chance to demonstrate their learning. At the beginning of the year or the beginning of each unit, " believe it is important to establish a set of learning objectives !ith the students. This !ill help focus my instructional practices on the essential learning re(uirements and allo! students to see e3actly !hat they are e3pected to learn. 'y developing the success criteria !ith my students, it !ill ensure that they agree upon !hat it takes to succeed in the course. When designing my assessment " !ill use multiple testing methods and higher order thinking (uestions to ensure all levels of 'loom%s Ta3onomy are addressed. Another aspect of assessment that " believe is important to address is retakes and redos. " see the value of redos and retakes because the goal of education is for every student to meet the curriculum outcomes that are being measured, not ho! long it takes students to achieve them. As a teacher, " !ill allo! students to redo and retake assignments as not all students learn at the same rate or in the same !ay. "n the article *6o! " 'roke 5y -!n Rule and 7earned to 8ive Retests, by 5yron +ueck, he e3plains that it is beneficial to students to allo! them to retake sections of a test !here they e3perienced difficulty #9:$. +ueck also e3plains ho! retakes can benefit their involvement, achievement, and motivation #9:$. The idea of retesting students in a section by section manner !ould benefit any grade level. As he mentions, " think it is important to retest students only on the aspects of the material they could not successfully demonstrate they kne!. )inally, the last important assessment issues " !ill address are late submission deductions and eros. " do not believe in giving out eros or deducting marks for late assignments because grades should reflect !hat a student has learned, not their ability to complete !ork on time. " do believe, ho!ever, that students need to be held accountable to complete their !ork. "n place of taking off marks for late submissions or incomplete !ork, the student !ill receive an incomplete and " !ill re(uire them to stay in at lunch time or after school until the !ork has been completed. 8iving a student !ho does not complete the !ork a ero !ill in no !ay benefit them #)isher, )rey, and 2umpian ;<$. "t is better for that student to complete the !ork late than not at all. Teachers !ill not be able to motivate all students in the same !ay. )or some, the threat of getting a ero !ould be motivation enough, !hile others !ill not think t!ice about

1 taking the ero. 'y not giving out eros and re(uiring students to complete all the !ork #no matter ho! long it takes them$, it !ill ensure that they are learning more than they !ould be by accepting the ero and not doing the !ork at all. Although there are many areas of assessment, " believe the fe! " have touched upon serve as the basis for developing successful assessment practices in the classroom. +iagnostic, formative and summative assessment all play an essential role in assessing a student%s kno!ledge and learning. Retakes, redos, no late deductions and a no- ero policy also play an important role in the assessment process because they give students the best chance to demonstrate their understanding of the material and to sho! their level of proficiency. As " gain more in-class e3perience " have no doubt my assessment philosophy !ill gro! and change to meet the needs of a particular class " have the opportunity to teach.

References +ueck, 5yron. #0=44$. 6o! " 'roke 5y -!n Rule and 7earned to 8ive Retests. Educational Leadership, pp. 90-9:. )isher, +ouglas, >ancy )rey, ? "an 2umpian. *>o 2enalties for 2ractice,. @ducational 7eadership: @ffective 8rading 2ractices AB, no. 1 #>ovember 0=44$: ;A-:4. http:CC!!!.ascd.orgCpublicationsCeducational-leadershipCnov44CvolABCnum=1C>o2enalties-for-2ractice.asp3 #accessed )ebruary A, 0=4;$. 5ar ano, Robert D. #0==A$. Elassroom Assessment ? 8rading that Work. Ale3andria, FA: AGE+. Wormeli, Rick. #0=44$. Redos and retakes done right. Effective Grading Practice, Fol AB #1$, pp. 00-0A.