Assessment

1
Assessment
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What are assessments supposed to be used for

• Group children- reading groups, giving children
  challenging activities.
• Select instructional material strategies to
  meet goals.
• Understand the strategies children are using in
  order to build on them.
• Individual differences/ strategies.

3
Relevant terminologies

• High stakes standardized measures whose scores
  might determine major decisions about school
  districts (e.g. rating of schools, promotion of
  teachers, retention of students, curriculums to
  be followed, etc.
• A standardized test a n assessment measure
  commercially prepared and norm-referenced, that
  reports scores in terms of grade level scores and
  percentile ranks.
• Authentic assessment assessment based on
  activities that represent and reflect the actual
  learning and instruction in the classroom.

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Advantages of standardized testing

• Easier for mass administration reporting.
• Are norm-referenced (go with standards).
• Test childrens specific skills of literacy.
• Tell parents teachers where their children are
  compared to other children in the state/country.
• Assists in teacher accountability- very
  controversial!!!

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Disadvantages of standardized tests

• Are norm referenced.
• Often report an average score.
• Might not take cultural (ir)relevance into
  consideration- children are tested on same
  material.
• Lead to high stakes testing (teachers teach for
  the test).
• Test anxiety.
• Teachers creativity is thwarted.
• Often not developmentally appropriate

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Wrong use of tests

• Labeling children.
• Labeling teachers- could argue either way.
• Use of one test score to make decisions about
  children (grouping, special programs, etc).
• Using culturally biased tests.
• Developmentally inappropriate.
• Not testing goals of curriculum
• Are not ongoing.

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Authentic assessment

• Uses childrens actual day to day skills
  literacy products.
• Examples include portfolios, work samples,
  observations of children learning/performing in
  their natural setting.

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Different types of authentic assessment

• Anecdotal observations- clear goals, focus on one
  skill at a time (oral reading, speaking, etc).
• Performance samples,
• Audio- and video-tapes
• Child self assessment
• Running record (coding system) to ascertain level
  of reading for child. More focus on this (p. 34).

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Standards

• National standards by National Council of Teacher
  Educators (NCTE) International Reading
  Association (IRA) http//www.ncte.org/about/over/s
  tandards/110846.htm
• MN Language arts standards http//www.education.st
  ate.mn.us/MDE/Academic_Excellence/Academic_Standar
  ds/Language_Arts/index.html

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FYI

• Close to 30 percent of American students drop out
  of school, and about 80 percent of them do so
  because they cannot read the material in their
  high school courses. Many of those who manage to
  struggle to the finish line read little better.
  And it is also true that one of the most
  widespread complaints about freshman college
  students, to say nothing of those who do not go
  to college, is that they cannot write