My Thoughts on Assessment

Assessment is a crucial part of the learning process, for it shows us how our students are progressing & it allows for us to plan appropriate instruction. Routman noted that the "usual" definition of assessment deals with collecting data, but that the "original" definition meant sitting beside someone, as in observing them. I found that interesting. Why isn't our "usual" definition closer in meaning to what it originally meant? It should be.... I truly agree with the text that without evaluating assessment & applying it to future instruction, assessment is pointless. What's the point of giving a test or creating a portfolio if you're not going to do anything with it? I can see where with the everyday hassles of teaching, it would be easy to fall into this trap, but we teachers need to make it a personal goal to use our assessments to benefit our students & our instruction as much as possible. I also agree with the text that informal "on-the-spot" authentic assessment is the best; observations, anecdotal records, conferences, 1-on-1 writing, basically, anything that's done in the classroom. Seeing our students "in action" is the best way to assess their strengths & weaknesses. A few tests can't give an accurate evaluation of a student's knowledge- all testing needs to be supplemental with other assessments.

I just finished my 1st year of teaching. I taught 8th grade Language Arts, but it was a supplemental class to their regular L.A. class. My class was a remedial class that was basically GEPA prep work. (unfortunately- but you can't be picky taking your 1st job, right?!) anyway, it aggravated me that I was so locked into teaching "GEPA prep" strategies, but it further annoyed me that at the end of the year, I wasn't even allowed to see the scores. How am I supposed to know if what I did was beneficial to the students if I can't use the scores as a tool in my further instruction?

I noted from the text how students should self-assess themselves. This helps them take accountability & responsibility of their learning, & it helps them reflect & understand what their strengths & weaknesses are.

Portfolios are also a great assessment tool. In addition to setting up literature circles, creating portfolios with my students is another thing I want to incorporate in years to come. Rubrics are an assessment tool that I am very familiar with. I really like using them, especially to assess writing. It helps make it more concrete for myself & the students.

Finally, I agree that standards tell us what to teach, not how to teach, which is a good thing. They should serve only as a guide for curriculum. However, the issue is that are the standards actually impacting student achievement? I think they force too much emphasis on isolated skill work, which isn't beneficial.