Assessing Student Learning (Entry 6)

“Every teacher should have a clear idea of where the class is going, how it will get there, and how to know whether it has arrived” (Slavin, 2020, p. 349). This should be a universal goal of all teachers across the world. I know it is one of mine. I feel I can achieve this goal by creating objectives, based on the standards, that highlight what students should know and be able to do. I, as the teacher, must develop effective lessons that will help students accomplish the set objectives. Significantly, I then formulate assessments, formative and summative, to evaluate and to determine if students have learned what is set forth in the objectives. This will give me an idea of the quality of my lessons and how they may need to be improved for future lessons. 

Concerning the context of my classroom, performance assessments are tests that I tended to utilize on a regular basis in my previous Kindergarten classroom. Slavin (2020) defines performance assessments as “tests that involve actual demonstrations of knowledge or skills in real life…” (p. 377). My Kindergarten students were not as proficient in their writing quite yet. So by having them actually perform some kind of task, they were able to more accurately demonstrate their understanding of the material of a variety of subjects. 

For example, when learning about the names and value of coins, I set up a mini grocery store where they are given a baggy of fake coins: pennies, dimes, quarters, and nickels. They go ‘shopping’ in my grocery store and check out their groceries with me at the cash register. I start out by saying their apple, for instance, costs 2 pennies and 1 quarter. We practice like this for a while until they all have a good understanding of the coin names. Then I start telling them their groceries cost a certain amount/value. For instance, I may say that their chocolate milk is going to cost 75 cents. They then practice with their coin value. Throughout this entire unit, I have a chart with me that I take notes on of which students know which coin names and which coin values.

I can use what I have learned to become a better teacher by being more intentional with the ways in which I assess my students. This upcoming school year I will be teaching third grade. So, they will differ significantly from my Kindergarten students in more ways than one. They will be taking much more assessments to demonstrate their comprehension of the content. Just as I did in Kindergarten, I will plan my lessons around crucial objectives. I will then mindfully align the types of assessments with these specific objectives. 

For my third graders, I will be more intentional about using various forms of assessment to gain a true depiction of their comprehension. I will use a variety of formative, summative, performance, and authentic assessments. My assessments will include diverse response types such as multiple choice, fill in the blanks, and constructed response. Through all of this, I will be more intentional about the types of assessments I give to my students as well as how I use the data gathered from them to assess student learning.

After reading this week’s chapter, I am left with no additional questions as Slavin provided substantial and relevant amounts of information regarding assessing student learning.

References

Slavin, R. E. (2020). Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice (13th ed.).  Pearson Education.