Assessment+Fun

= ﻿ASSESSMENT FUN!!! - Please do the following 5 tasks and add at least one comment or question ﻿ to the discussion page. = = Thanks, = = Mark & Amy = = ﻿Jen has choosen pink for this assignment. = = Irene:green = =﻿﻿Carrie-red = =Vanessa: Purple = = Christa- Orange = = ﻿Audra ~ Navy = = Mark - whatever color you want to call this. = Cheri﻿- Black Stephanie -Blue === ﻿ "A teacher is the single biggest factor affecting student success." //So assessments should really be used to help you become a better teacher. Here is a teacher tube video called "The Greatest Teacher".// ===

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__ ﻿ __ I LOVED this TeacherTube video! So applicable to teaching. I tried to email it to our principal to share it with him, but I couldn't figure out how to do it. If anyone has any suggestions on how to do so, please share it with me. =====

suggested that there are three levels of grading:
= TASK #1 = = Read the following examples and decide which level it would be. = = Please put a I star in the table under the assessment level you think it is: = __Assessment Scenario__: A first grade class is asked to divide real cookies into fractions so that all students get an equal amount. Which level of assessment would that be? __Assessment Scenario__: A fourth grade teacher gives a pretest before a math unit begins. Which level of assessment would that be? Perhaps the above assessment would be superficial for the students, but reflective for the teacher. I agree! It would be beneficial for the teacher to know what their student's background knowledge is as illustrated in the TeacherTube video. Isn't this formative assessment. wouldn't it depend on the purpose the teacher has in mind? I think if the students never revisit the pretest, then it stays superficial. However if the class were to revisit the pretest, maybe take it again at the end of the unit so students could reflect on their progress. Then it becomes a level 3 (reflective) and students will be able to see specifically their learning. I think this would be a reflective assessment because the teacher is trying to evaluate what the students know before they have learned it and can then use the data to reflect on what the student still need to learn and what they will need to teach. __Assessment Scenario__: A middle school english teacher gives a cumulative chapter test with multiple choice, matching, and essays. Which level of assessment would that be?
 * 1) ===**Superficial -**===
 * =====Focuses on grades, points, averages, etc.=====
 * Assessment __**of**__ learning
 * 1) =="Authentic" -==
 * Meaningful or at least the teacher tries to make it meaningful. The idea is to provide a richer, deeper description of student achievement.
 * Assessment __**for**__ learning
 * 1) =Reflective -=
 * Asks why we are evaluating before asking how to evaluate.
 * Assessment **__as__** learning
 * Level 1 - Superficial || Level 2 - Authentic || Level 3 - Reflective ||
 * Level 1 - Superficial || Level 2 - Authentic || Level 3 - Reflective ||

I think this would be a superficial assessment if nothing more is done with the data to reteach the students. __Assessment Scenario __: A third grade language arts teacher asks for journal entries on each chapter of a fiction book during a book study. Which level of assessment would that be?
 * Level 1 - Superficial || Level 2 - Authentic || Level 3 - Reflective ||

__Assessment Scenario__: A high school biology teacher asks students to label the parts of the circulatory system. Which level of assessment would that be?
 * Level 1 - Superficial || Level 2 - Authentic || Level 3 - Reflective ||

It seems to me that the teacher is teaching to the test and students would not retain most of this information. __Assessment Scenario __: A high school history teacher asks students to create a skit to role play an historical event. Which level of assessment would that be?
 * Level 1 - Superficial || Level 2 - Authentic || Level 3 - Reflective ||

(I voted twice or this one, I am on the fence...) ﻿ ﻿What is it that has you on the fence? Maybe you can share your thought process and we can reflect on this together?
 * Level 1 - Superficial || Level 2 - Authentic || Level 3 - Reflective ||

__Assessment Scenario__: A high school geography teacher has students create a poster to advertise a trip to another country. Which level of assessment would that be?


 * Level 1 - Superficial || Level 2 - Authentic || Level 3 - Reflective ||

Education Foundations,Chapter 17 " A Mania for Rubrics" by Thomas Newkirk Thomas Newkirk suggests that rubrics are the devil. Newkirk suggests that rubrics actually stifle student learning by taking out the individuality and creativity from our students learning. When rubrics are used students are not able to explore the medium they are using to learn and instead are following dry guidelines making a project more "black & white with little emotion." On the contrary, Christine Sleeter discusses positives to using rubrics in Un-Standardizing Curriculum (ch. 7) Sleeter refers to rubrics being used in Classroom based assessments and tools that can impower students by giving them the opportunity to show what they know, rather than showing what they do not know as is the outcome of a standard test. In this case the score a student earns (with a scale between 1-4) is less important than what the rubric teaches. Two examples are provided on p. 75 and 78 of the Un-Standardizing Curriculum text. = TASK #2 = = Questions for response and discussion. =
 * Un-Standardizing Curriculum, Chapter 7**

. ﻿I believe a good rubric is very important and does not limit exploration and free thinking. Rubrics should define the criteria and how well you met the criteria.
====~Many times students need to see a rubric to know what direction to go in. If there wasn't a rubric, many times my special ed. students in particular would be lost overall. It's a great guideline and checkoff list as to what should be included. ==== ====﻿I believe that rubrics are a very tool used both by student and teacher. Rubrics are used by the student as a guidline for what the expected outcome should be. The student then has free reign to explore and use creativity within those guidelines. A lot of students need those expectations stated up front to know how to properly go forth or follow through with an assignment. Rubrics also help to eliminate any biased grading on the teacher's end. ====

I agree, rubrics set the GUIDELINES for an assignment. A good rubric should not be so structured to limit creativity but to encourage it. I know from a teaching point, I need a rubric to grade papers and project so I can check off the requires components of the assignment.

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">﻿ <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">﻿I think that rubrics if used effectively, can be helpful for the teacher and the student. A good rubric should help teachers and students guide their learning.

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">I have seen and used many rubrics, some good, some not so good. I think a rubric is a good tool for the students to use as a guideline but I also think they can be very subjective. We can have 5 teachers using the same rubric to grade the same paper and come up with 5 different scores. Unless all of the teachers using that rubric are on the same page when scoring it can be a very difficult tool to use to collect data.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">I think that rubrics do not limit creativity if they are written correctly. They instead give guidelines and let students know how they will be graded and what caliber of work is expected. I rubric should leave room for creativity, and in fact, encourage creativity if created effectively.

2. What is your experience with Rubrics? ==== . ﻿I have over 50 rubrics for specific projects, but now at k-4 I have a general rubric for all projects. Yes, I grade art (1,2,3,4) according to rubrics. I have included two samples Animals in Oils is a fourth grade simplified rubric and Dynamic Dragons was used when I taught Middle School. All students in Middle School received the rubric prior to doing the project. ==== ==== I like the peet/student/teacher evaluation in yours, Jen. I don’t use rubrics in ESL, but have seen many. I liked the rubric in Sleeter, page 78. It gives examples in each level of the matrix, demonstrating the progressively more complex language control that should be shown for each score, as well as the content details that should be included, yet it is still up to the students do whatever they want with the topic. I think that any learning depends as much on what the student puts into it as on what the teacher or rubric requires. I draw my conclusion from a survey of an expert (my 15-year-old) who just finished a series of posters on Spanish/Latin music, with no rubric whatsoever. He said that he learned a lot from it because he had to design and research the whole project. He said that he has learned a lot from projects for which rubrics were given, also…when he put more effort into it, he learned more, and wound up with a higher grade. It was a result, not a goal. ==== ====<span style="color: #051b6b; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 110%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">~Since 99% of my special ed. students are involved in the regular ed. curriculum, the regular ed. teachers are the ones creating the rubrics. This is a great tool not only for my students, but also for myself, and also for all of my paraeducators who also work with these students on a regular basis. We are able to see what is expected of them from their classroom teachers, but on the other hand, we are able to make modifications from those rubrics, so that our students are able to succeed. ==== ====<span style="color: #ff5700; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 110%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">﻿Because I teach kindergarten, we do not use rubrics much, as we do not do a lot of long-term project-based activities. However, our report card is based on a four-point grading scale with a correlating rubric that goes home along with it. The report cards and rubrics were created by the teachers within each grade level, to ensure that grading was unbiased, not subjective, and consistent across grade levels. ====

<span style="font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">All of my assignment have a rubric for assessment. We are required to have the same assessment for all courses taught by different teachers so it is important that the rubric are the same, so we are grading the same learning outcomes. A few years ago we even developed a F/CE writing rubric that corresponds to the English departments rubric for writing. <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">﻿In kindergarten and in our district, we use an IPP (Individual Profile of Progress) that aligns with our Everyday Math curriculum. We use this rubric to assess at the end of each quarter. We really don't have rubrics for Literacy. Our report card is evolving into more of a continuum model withe Beginning, Developing and Secure benchmarks. The Grading and Reporting committee in our district is working on more of a contiuum for our report card.

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">I have worked with my team to create many different rubrics for writing prompts, as well as science and social studies projects. We work hard to make sure we either score together or have a very clear understanding of what we expect from each student at each level or project. We can then use that data to guide our teaching.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">I am still in the process of creating, recreating, and learning from my previous rubrics. I use a lot of rubrics from other teachers in my department and modify them to fit my criteria. I think that my rubrics give the students guidance and a target to shoot for. **If you have no target, it would be awfully hard to score!** <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">

Teaching the Best Practice Way, Chapter 7
"Reflective Assessment" by Harvey Daniels and Marilyn Bizar Reflective assessment or assessment AS learning seems to be something that teachers are or should be striving for. Chapter 7 lists six basic structures of constructive, formative, reflection-oriented assesment that may be used at any grade level, in any subject, with any student. The definition and some examples of each of these is referenced on pages 229-233. = TASK #3 = = Read two of the following example assessments (from Daniels and Bizar) and then "reflect" on any connections you may have to your classroom or questions you may have. __//Put it under the example that you read.//__ I strongly suggest one of your choices be the "Graduation by Portfolio" because I found it very interesting. = ==== . ﻿I love portfolios, but lack the time and storage for them. I always loved it when my kids would present their portfolios at conference time; I still have all of them. I spend a lot of time doing more reflective work with fourth graders and they have journals that they use in my class. They contain all of their rough drafts for their art projects and journal prompts with reflections and sketches. I wish I had more time with the students. Each year I only have about 30 hours with them, and often less due to holidays and programs. ==== ====<span style="color: #081a59; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">~I really think this portfolio idea is neat, however you're right Jen, storage is always an issue. Do you think something like this could be stored electronically? Having students share all of their work through a portfolio to their parents at conference time would be amazing. It documents their work across the year and the efforts are put back on the students for them take ownership and responsibility. Sharing that with their parents would be a great way to make the students more proud of their work as well. ==== ====﻿ ﻿I also like the idea of using portfolios as an assessment of learning, while also involving the students in the process. We use a similar system at my school- each classroom has a bankers box which contains a file folder for each student. In each student's file folder, we put in writing samples, running records, Early Star scores, formal assessments, projects, etc, throughout the year. The folders then travel on to their new teacher each year. This begins in 4k and continues on through 6th grade. Therefore by the end of 6th grade, each student has a compilation of their growth in learning. We also use similar ideas, to those mentioned in the reading, through student-led conferences. To prepare for these conferences, students fill out surveys, reflecting on their current learning in all content areas, and also making goals for improvement. The students then also compile a folder containing pieces that I have chosen, along with some of their choice, which they will share all about with their families at conference time. ====
 * Portfolios
 * Conferences
 * Anecdotal records
 * Checklists
 * Performance assessment rubrics
 * Classroom tests
 * ==== "﻿Reflective Assessment in First Grade" by Debbie Gurvitz (pages 235-242) **1st Grade ====

<span style="color: #ff5700; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">﻿ -
. Self assessment is critical to art making. Critiques are often more important than the product and at the elementary level they are quick and simple; What do you like about this piece and what cold you have done better? I often have to tell kids to start over if they don't like the way it's going, but many don't want to. Often they are afraid it will be worse, they will run out of time or they just don't want to put forth the extra effort. It seems kids today have to be pushed to think for themselves. I am tough when it comes to giving out help freely. If a student wants my help drawing something then I need to see them try at least three times. I have noticed that sometimes right before the tears start flowing they will get it on their own; it's amazing how quickly those watery eyes dry up. I end up being the bad guy sometimes when I don't give out the answer, but I know I am not doing them any favors when they are allowed not to think.
 * "Reflection and Metacognition: Thinking About Our Thinking" by Luanne Kowalke (pages 242-252) **4th grade

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">I agree too many kids are so used to the easy way out, not actually thinking for themselves. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">As a teacher, I am thinking of ways of forcing my students to actually think… form an opinion, think about how this would/will affect their future.I am making my child development to read a passage and them require them to reflect on their reading in a 10-minute write.In Foods, I am having the students read a nutrition related article and analyze the validity of the information and reflect how it could impact their life.

- .  -  .What an excellent way to do a book report! I think that younger students might be able to do some of this as well; maybe just a favorite scene from the book, as part of their written report. Many “active actors” would love a chance to interpret a book in this way.
 * "Understanding Mathematical Concepts Through Performance Assessments" by Pamela Hyde (pgs. 252-259) **Middle school
 * "Skit With Narration" by Nancy Steineke (pgs. 259-263) **Middle or high school

I liked the skit with narration idea. As a high school teacher I've tried skits, some have been really successful while others I have felt why did I just spend the time on that. I really like the part where the actors are not allowed to speak and other group members sit off to the side and narrate everything. I think that is a great way to get everyone involved since there are always the kids that don't want to act. - <span style="font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">I really like this portfolio idea, it not only make the students responsible for their evaluation by having the students reflect on their learning but it also makes the student realize the importance of the past 4 years and how these high school experiences have shaped their lives and possible their future. Reflection is a key part in any learning. I have started using this more in my child development classes. I will find a controversial article on parenting/child development, have the students read and than write a reflection and discuss it with the class. <span style="font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">As technology is changing so rapidly we need to teach students how to learn, to think for themselves and how to process the the vast amount of information that is available. To quote my principal,"Content is no longer king." <span style="color: #081a59; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">~I too think this portfolio is a pretty neat idea for a graduation requirement. Yes, it does sound like a lot of work, however for many students who are going off to college or entering the workforce, I think this portfolio would help prepare them for their future in many ways. It allows the students to reflect across their past experiences, document their effors to be an active citizen, and show their competency throughout many different curricular areas. I would think colleges and employers would see this portfolio as a great aset of the future student or employee.
 * "Graduation by Portfolio" by George Wood, Kizzi Elmore-Clark, and the faculty of Federal Hocking High School (pgs. 263-268)

<span style="color: #ff5700; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">﻿I Like the idea of these graduation portfolios, in that it requires students to reflect on their learning, and voice their feeling of readiness as they enter into the world beyond high school. Although I like this idea, I also feel that this project is probably a huge undertaking. While reading all of the requirements, I started to feel anxiety as to the work that they are asking for. Is it too much to ask of high schoolers? I don't know! However, it makes me think back to the movie, Race to Nowhere, that we saw. The movie described the pressures already put upon students- homework, exams, projects, ACT/SATs, working jobs, etc. I see this as being one more stresser placed on their plates. b Also some will receive good support from their families on this project, others will not. Some overly eager parents will probably do it for the student, because they want their students to look great. And then what happens if a student does not do well on this? They don't graduate? Even if they have done fine on everything throughout their high school career? I'm not sure- pros and cons, I guess! <span style="color: #ff5700; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;"> <span style="color: #ff5700; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> - "A Standards Fraud" by William Ayers Willam Ayers claims there is flaw in the logic of our educational standards and benchmarks because schools are intrinsically "unequal" based on socio-economic factors. The "crisis in schools" is not natural or uniform, yet all public schools in a state are expected to meet the same standards. However, he does not feel that standards should be watered down. On the contrary, he believes in high expectations. He concludes: If all students are expected to meet the same standards, then educational resources need to be distributed fairly. When going a step further and looking beyond standards to standardized testing, chapter seven of //Teaching the Best Practice Way// sees flaws in the logic as well. It states that teachers receive a schizophrenic message: teach in creative, innovative, constructive ways, but your students will be tested very differently.
 * Educational Foundations, Chapter 19****

= TASK #4 = = Questions for response and discussion. =

1. Is it fair to expect the same standards of all students regardless of their socio-economic situation?
==== . ﻿Yes, I do believe the expectations should be the same regardless of socio-economic status, however, each child still needs differentiation according to ability. I work at a school where we have an odd dynamic. We have the rich on the lake and the poor in the apartments and few middle class students. I have the same expectations of all, but know that the students of low income families and students with low ability, in reality, will need to put out the most effort to make it in life. I think if you lower expectations for a reason of race, socio-economic status, sex, etc... you are discriminating and showing that student that you don't believe in them. ==== ====<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">I agree!!! If the purpose of education is to create equal opportunities for all we need to have the same standards. Lowering standards lowers expectations which will result in less learning. We need to give all children an equal opportunity to succeed. Aren't all college bound students required to take the same standardized test to get into college? ==== ====<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">I think high standards should be set for all of our students. If we don't push them and expect nothing but their best and hardestwoerk,how will they will they succeed. We do need to have the same standards for all of our students. ==== ====<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;"><span style="color: #ff5700; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">﻿ ﻿ <span style="color: #ff5700; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">﻿I also agree that same standards should be set for all, and then instrudtion should be differentiated to meet each individual learner's needs. Socio-economic status can impact a student's learning, however students then need to learn the tools and strategies to overcome this and work to the best of their ability. Beyond their schooling experience, these kids will encounter standards that they will need to fulfill or achieve, regardlass of where they came from- we need to help in preparing them for this. Schools need to be providing consistent standards and equal opportunities, so that every student has the chance to succeed. ==== ====<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I agree. I think that children come in to a classroom with a variety of background knowledge. It is the job of the teacher to connect the learning to their prior learning or life experiences. That being said, children should be expected to meet or exceed high expectations. Children are very capable and with support from home, regardless of their socio-economic background, they can succeed. ==== ====<span style="color: #081a59; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">~Being a special education teacher, I completely agree. All students need some type of differentiated instruction throughout their years, however they should have the same standards placed on them regardless of their socio-economic status. ====

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Yes, this is fair, in fact, I think it would be unfair to NOT set the same standards of students due to their socio-economic situation. I think standards help a student achieve and setting lower standards for a student because they have lower socioeconomic status would put that student at a disadvantage, giving them a reason to achieve less and an expectation to achieve less. This is not fair and is not in the best interest of the child, but rather I feel an "easy way out" to not teaching as much.

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2. How can we meet the same standards for all students and still provide the differentiation necessary to meet all students needs? Don't these contradict each other?
==== . ﻿Not in my field. For example, today I wanted the students to come up with three ideas for paintings that contain one to three circles. I have a three students who are not good at drawing or coming up with ideas. So I accepted two ideas with drawings containing less detail. Also, later in the project students will need to weave a circle using yarn. This will also be difficult for those students, so I may only require them to weave one circle instead of two or three. The standard has not changed since they are all creating a painting with woven circles, but I have differentiated for those students so they will be able to be successful. ==== ==== I think that teachers must differentiate in teaching, as well as differentiate to assess. ESL children might need to show their understanding of a unit by drawing a Venn diagram of pioneer hardships, for example, but if the unit was taught in a “talking head” style, they won’t have picked up enough to be able to show what they learned. It’s hard to find other-than-auditory ways to convey material, but all kids benefit from including these ways. Then the ESL students can be held to the same standards. ====

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">I think you can differentiate the instruction but expect the same results. The only time this would not apply is a student with an IEP. All students will need to know how to read a recipe and I expect the same product from all students.

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">﻿I think differentiation is one of the biggest challenges facing teachers. As teachers, we should have the same standards for all of our learners unless they have an IEP. I think all children can learn. They may just need to get their in different avenues. Teachers should use the multiple intelligences knowing that not every child learns in the same way.

<span style="color: #ff5700; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I also feel that differentiation is harder to implement in the classroom, as it involves more work and time on the teacher's end. However, I feel that is so important that we do differentiate, as all students can learn, but in different ways and through differing forms of instruction. I feel that standards for students need to be the same, in that the intended outcome be achieved. However, how the student reaches that standard may look different, based on individual needs. <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="color: #081a59; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">~Not all students learn the same way. Students have their own strengths and weaknesses. There are students with IEPs that should be held to the same regard as the students without an IEP, they just may have a different way of taking in information, processing it, and then pulling it out to produce a finished product. It all depends on the particular student.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">I believe that some students need additional help with lessons, differentiating instruction, and learn with different learning styles. It is the job of a good teacher to meet the needs of each student to give them the best opportunity to achieve the goals that are set for them. This does not mean that their goals are set differently due to their socio-economic status.

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Chirstine Sleeter provides the pro and con to standardized state testing, of course a little heavier on the con. Many teachers talk negatively about forms of assessment they are forced to use either by their state, school district or principals. Many of the frustrations mentioned are the feelings that standardized tests are driven more by financial goals of testing company’s and support to politicians that encourage those tests. The stated purpose for many of these standardized tests is to measure the achievement gap so we can act on it. However with graduation tests and culturally biased standardized tests Sleeter identifies high drop out rates among cultural and ethnic minorities and recently urban growth being affected by these test scores as well. If the achievement gap is not closing with current standardized tests then why are we required focus on these rather than use creative alternative assessments? This though has lead me to the following questions.
 * Un-Standardizing Curriculum, Chapter 7 **

**<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Task #5 ** **<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Alternative Assessments Discussion ** <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">1. What type of Assessments are you required to do? What are your feelings regarding those assessments? Are they helpful or hurtful to teaching?

<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">. I have to grade each student two times a year via a report card. The k-3 population receive a number grade for each of the three categories and 4th graders receive a number grade for each of the four categories. I do not like the categories we grade since they are lofty and non-specific. I also do not like the 1,2,3,4 system, (minimal, basic, proficient, advanced) It seems that the range for proficient is huge and parents see it as a parallel to D, C, B, A. I am truly the owner of a double edged sword, the good news is nobody reads the art report card, and the bad news is nobody reads the art report card!! So it's not helpful when I need it to be and not harmful because no one reads it.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">We are required to have an assessment at the end of each unit. Formative assessments are not required but highly advised. Especially in our Foods classes we have developed a performance assessment for every unit because we are also required to make our learning relevant, which is not hard in my subject area. In my Child Development classes I also use a performance assessment when the student’s “run” a preschool. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">I really like the performance assessments because it requires the student’s to think critically and show me they can apply what they have learned in the classroom to a real-life situation. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"> <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">﻿I have to do Literacy Assements within the first six weeks of school on letter identification and concepts about print. We have to do this in January and then again in May. We do running records as they are needed. We have Math IPP's that we do every quarter. We collect and assess their writing once a quarter also. I think that the Literacy Assessments done in the first six weeks fo school could be held off until maybe 8 weeks into the school year. It is so important to build your classroom community and when you need to assess, and essentially let your children "go free" it is difficult.

<span style="color: #081a59; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">~As a special ed. teacher, I often have to assess students regarding their academic achievement to see if they would qualify for special ed. services. These assessments are required to do my job, because I have to collect the data to see where the student is at. I am never particularily fond of the assessments, because it only pulls my students away from their classroom learning, however they have to be done.

<span style="color: #ff5700; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">﻿At my school, at the kindergarten level, we are required to grade students twice a year using report cards. In order to gain the information needed to report on report cards, there are numerous assessments that we do with the students (ex: letter and number identification, phonemic awareness, writing using print, counting, graphing, sorting, patterning, etc.) We are then also required to give Formal Assessmants including the DIBELS (determines early literacy skills) three times throughout the year (Fall, Winter, Spring), the students also regularly take the STAR Early Literacy tests on the computer, and then we also do running records. I believe that these assessments are useful to my teaching, as they provide me insight into student learning/ progress, allow me to adjust my teaching as needed, and provide me with information for student grouping. Although these assessments do take time to perform, several are done in whole group, or spaced periodically, so that used teaching time and classroom pull-out time does not amount to drastic amounts. The tests are aldo given in a relaxed setting as to not stress or place pressure/ anxiety on the students.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">We assess homework, quizzes, and tests. We also assess students with the WKCE tests, which I believe are only helpful if they are used properly. It is importantly that we review, analyze, learn from the results of these assessments and take action to better the education of our students based on these results. We also grade our students on "attitude and effort" which I think is a very meaningful grade because there is a lot more to a grade, in my mind, then the final score on the test. Also, I myself am assessed by the principal of my school. Being a new teacher, I have been required to teach two lessons a year that he sits in on and gives me feedback. I can learn a lot from this assessment, not only from his feedback, but from the additional self-assessment and reflection that I do in creating these lessons. <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">-- <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">2. What alternative assessments have you implemented (or would like to implement) into your classroom? If you have trouble with ideas use the link below to see a list of assessment ideas. <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">[|Assessment Link]

I would love to do art portfolio assessments with a pass / fail system. The problem is that I see over 500 students a week and would have no storage for the works. If I did it electronically I run into a time issue; photography and organization of the work. The alternative assessments I use are working critiques, final critiques, peer grading, third grading fourth and the reverse, self-assessment, visual teacher assessment, questioning and written tests for 2-4th.

Currently I use artifacts, drawings, graphs, charts, diagrams, graphic organizers, journals, learning centers, peer editing critiques, student portfolios, story illustrations, cooperative-learning group activities, and student-led conferences, as assessment tools within my classroom. I really like this time of year when we do student-led conferences. Even at the kindergarten level, the students are able to do some self-assessment of their learning (strengths and weaknesses) and are able to present this information to their families, along with sharing/ explaining the different activities we've been doing in our classroom. It gives the children the opportunity to have a leadership role and to take more responsibility for their own learning.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">As I mentioned above I have implemented performance assessments but I would like to try a portfolio assessment in personal finance. I have the students complete a budget based on their expected income after their post secondary education. This includes everything from renting an apartment to buying insurance, buying a car, furnishing an apartment, food costs and entertainment…all typical expenses they would have for a month.

<span style="color: #808000; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">I feel at the high school level there is always so much pressure put on tests alternative unit assessments don't happen enough. Even in the case of a larger alternative assessment I still feel pressured to have a test of some sort so the students can practice studying for the end of the semester test. One activity I did the last couple years was I had students write a narrative story of the experience of a slave. It worked great, some were great stories, others had great pictures included. The only problem was the time commitment in grading them. Some students really enjoyed this rather than a test, but being the slow reader that I am it is diffucult to justify the time commitment without overworking myself. I am currently trying a new alternative assessment (students are creating news reports on battles from WWII and will be presenting them to the class this week). I'll be sure to let you know how they go.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have my students create a book about polygons, where they are required to complete an abundance of tasks related to polygons from a semantic feature analysis, to venn diagrams and concept maps, but my favorite part of this book is the work combine, where they have to creatively use a certain amount of vocabulary words in sentences, paragraphs, a short story, riddles... These books are decorated, have ribbons and bows, (come with a rubric ! ) and let me see a different side to my students and different strengths that I don't always get to see as a math teacher. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">

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