The Role of Assessment in Teaching

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The Role of Assessment in Teaching

• ED 670
• Glinda Cresta
• August 1, 2005

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Presentation Overview
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Classroom Assessment

• Classroom assessment is the collection,
  evaluation and use of information to help
  teachers make better decisions.
• There are four essential components of classroom
  assessment.
• Purpose
• Measurement
• Use
• Evaluation
• Conduct classroom assessment before, during and
  after instruction

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Classroom Assessment

• Classroom assessment that is before or during
  instruction is formative
• Formative Assessment is used to provide ongoing
  feedback to the teacher and student and to
  provide corrective actions as instruction occurs
  to enhance student learning
• Types of Formative Assessment
• Informal observations
• Questions and responses to teacher questions
• Student responses to questions
• Homework
• Worksheets
• Teacher Feedback

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Classroom Assessment

• Classroom assessment that occurs after
  instruction is summative assessment
• Summative Assessment is used to document student
  performance after instruction is complete.
• Types of Summative Assessment
• Term Papers
• Chapter Achievement Tests
• Final Exams
• Research projects

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Recent Trends in Classroom Assessment

• Assessment integrated with instruction
• Student self-evaluation
• Questionnaire, journal, discussion
• Alternative assessments
• Authentic provides real-world context

• Authenticity
• provides real-world context
• performance-based assessment (teacher
  observation)
• Participation
• effort
• Public standards and criteria
• Provide overall direction

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• Integrating assessment with instruction can be
  used to
• monitor
• support
• diagnose
• and develop learning.
• It promotes ideas and answers to some inquiry
  such as
• whether learning is taking place
• what is not being learned
• and what to do about it.
• Often students self-evaluation encourages
• responsibility of the students to reflect on
  their work
• clarification
• commenting on the process they went through to
  complete assignments
• explaining how their most effective work varies
  from their least effective
• goal setting for their future work.

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Alternative assessment is an on-going process
that involves the student and teacher in making
judgments about the student's progress in
knowledge using non-conventional strategies.
Some examples of alternative assessments

• Brochure
• Interview
• Speech (or report)
• Debate

• Portfolio
• Concept map
• Rubric
• Song

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Research on Learning, Motivation and Instruction

• Late 20th Century learning theorist Dewey,
  Piaget, Bruner, Vygotsky who emphasized a more
  constructivist approach to learning)
• Aspects of Learning Theory
• Knowledge is constructed
• Learning is a process of creating meaning from
  new information and prior knowledge
• Learning is not a linear progression of discrete
  skills.
• There is a variety of learning styles,
  intelligences, and attention spans.
• People perform better when they know the goal,
  see models, know how their performance compares
  to standards
• Learning has social components

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Research on Learning, Motivation and Instruction

• Implications for Instruction
• Teachers should
• Encourage discussion of new ideas
• Relate new information to personal experiences
• Encourage multiple modes of expressions
• Emphasize critical thinking skills
• Engage students in problem solving
• Provide choices in tasks
• Provide opportunities for rethink and revise
• Discuss goals and let students assist in some of
  them
• Give real-world opportunities to apply or adapt
  new knowledge
• Provide opportunities for students to learn from
  each other through group work

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Research on Learning, Motivation and Instruction

• Motivation and Learning
• Motivation, effort, and self-esteem are
  integrally linked to learning and performance
• Students need to see the connection between
  effort and results
• Journal Question (Choose one of three)
• Think about what is motivating you to learn or to
  continue your education and write your response
  down on your journal sheet? Why is your
  motivation important to you?
• As a teacher or administrator, what do you do to
  motivate your students to learn? Why is it
  important to motivate students?
• Given what you have learned about learning theory
  and its implications for instruction, what do you
  do to integrate aspects of learning theory into
  the way you instruct students? What would you do
  differently with regards to instruction given
  what you have learned about learning theory?

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Assessment Standards Professional standards
have been developed to provide a framework for
what teachers need to know about classroom
assessment.

• National Council on Measurement in Education
• American Federation of Teachers
• National Education Association

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Standards for Teacher Competence in Educational
Assessment of Students

• Teachers should be skilled in
• Choosing assessment methods appropriate for
  instructional decisions
• Developing assessment methods appropriate for
  instructional decisions
• Interpreting the results for both externally
  produced and teacher-produced assessment methods
• Using assessment results when making decisions
  about individual students, planning teaching,
  developing curriculum, and making recommendations
  for school improvement
• Grading procedures that use pupil assessments
• Communicating assessment results to students,
  parents, other lay audiences, and other educators
• Recognizing unethical, illegal, and otherwise
  inappropriate assessment methods and use of
  assessment information

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National and State Standards

• Content and performance standards have been
  developed in several areas.
• Excellent sources for your learning targets.
• Use them to guide your teaching methods to easily
  incorporate assessment before, during, and after
  instruction.
• Michigan Education Association
• Michigan curriculum framework
• Grade Level Content Expectations (math and
  language arts)
• Individual content standards and professional
  organizations
• NCTM MCTM
• NSTA MSTA

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Integrating Instruction and Assessment

• Realities of Teaching
• NCLB and high stakes testing
• Job cuts and school closing due to failing grades
• Students are coming to school with more personal
  and emotional issues which may result in behavior
  problems
• Teachers are expected to do more in the classroom
  with less resources
• Increased demand for assessment and quality
  instruction

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Integrating Instruction and Assessment

• Relationship between Instruction and Assessment
• Learning Targets are a statement about what
  students should know, understand and be able to
  do at the end of a unit of instruction. They also
  should include the criteria for judging the level
  of performance demonstrated.

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Integrating Instruction and Assessment

• Written Test Questions
• 1. What is the difference between formative and
  summative assessment?
• 2. On-going assessment, such as homework is what
  type of assessment?
• 3. What is the first step in integrating
  instruction and assessment after establishing
  general learning goals?
• 4. What is the last step in integrating
  instruction and assessment?
• 5. What are learning targets?

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Assessment and Grading Decision Making

• is influenced by a series of tensions. Two main
  categories are dominant.
• Internal beliefs and values
• External factors
• Many teachers combine both categories while using
  a variety of assessment techniques to award a
  hodgepodge grade of attitude, effort,
  achievement, and many other factors.

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Internal beliefs and values

• Philosophy of teaching/learning
• Pulling for students success
• Accommodating individual differences
• Enhancing student engagement and motivation
• Promoting student understanding
• When striving to accomplish the above things, it
  is important for teachers to appreciate the
  tension between their internal beliefs and
  external influences, and to develop assessment
  and grading approaches that are consistent with
  an educated broader philosophy of teaching and
  learning.

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External factors

• School and district assessment and grading
  policies
• Grade modification for tardiness, truancy, etc.
• Mandatory assessments such as final exams
• Teacher and administrator accountability
• School accreditation
• Large-scale, mandated, high-stakes tests
• Teachers may ask the students to do things that
  normally would not be done.
• Graduation
• GPA-college entrance
• Job opportunities
• Parental demands
• It can be difficult to explain all the knowledge
  that you use to decide their students grade.

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With an appreciation of all the roles of
assessment in teaching, teachers and
administrators will hopefully make informed,
justified assessment decisions.
Ask Yourself To what extent are your
assessment and grading practices consistent with
principles of good instruction, and to what
extent will the student learning be enhanced?
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References

• Anderson, R.S. Speck, B.W. (1998). Changing the
  way we grade student performance Classroom
  assessment and the new learning paradigm. San
  Francisco, CA Jossey-Bass.
• Marzano, R.J., Pickering, D., McTighe, J. (1993).
  Assessing student outcomes. Alexandria, VA
  Association for Supervision and Curriculum
  Development.
• McMillan, J.H. (2001). Classroom assessment
  Principles and practices for effective
  instruction. Boston, MA Allyn and Bacon.
• http//www.michigan.gov/mde
• http//pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v7n8
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