ED 6990 Standard 11 Reflection

MA Program Standard 11

Teacher leaders will utilize formative and summative assessment in a standards-based environment.

Relevant Courses:

Educational Assessment (Cont. Ed Course)

Reflection:

Original Assessment Experience

Prior to this program, I used formative and summative assessment in my classroom regularly to inform my teaching, however, I did not do so in the most effective manner. I have always collected data from formative assessments to alter my instruction for the following lesson, but did not always provide prompt feedback to my third-grade students in relation to their assessments, or set improvement goals for specific students. Every day, I would pull a small group of students for targeted math intervention, and would provide them with timely feedback, but would not consistently do this after students turned in their formative exit tasks.

Prior to my continuing education assessment course, I also simply used the assessments given to us in our curriculum assuming that they would meet all of our assessment needs as a team. Now that I have an increased understanding of effective assessment, and how to create quick formative assessments to check for student understanding of a learning target, I am able to create my own to inform my teaching when the provided materials are insufficient, or when we elect to reassess our students as a team.

Learning

My assessment course elucidated that student's test performance gives us invaluable, concrete information; however, this is not the sole method of collecting data. Every action a student takes, every assignment a student completes, and every conversation a student has provides us with information on that student’s ability and performance. However, with thirty students and a limited amount of time, it is impossible to track every component of student learning at all times. It is important to pick and choose the collected data, through a lens of determining the most critical content and which assessments and observations are the most informative and valid. It is also imperative that we know our students personally and know through which avenue they will most accurately demonstrate their understanding.

I have also learned that with so much content to cover, it is so important that every piece of data collected is informative and valuable. There are many ways to authentically collect data through formative assessment that are quick and accurate. The first formative assessment that is quick and effective is a student observational checklist. The benefits of a checklist are that you can circulate the room during independent student work and observe each student’s progress toward mastering a standard within a period. You can quickly jot down notes about student understanding and provide each student with a + indicating that they are above grade level with the skill, a check mark if the student is proficient and right on target, and a – if student is completing the task inaccurately or requires additional support. This quickly informs the teacher of student progress toward meeting a target, requires little time, and does not result in analyzing thirty worksheets to determine student understanding. Another authentic test strategy is to observe student conversations and record understanding through a quick check, or checklist. It is also extremely effective to have a conversation or interview with each student during independent work time and to ask question which address the targets.

This course has shown me how to assess student understanding through a variety of assessment models (Nicol & Macfarlane, 2007) I assess student understanding through informally assessing student think, pair, shares, through field notes of student behavior, through exit slips consisting of graphic organizers, example problems, or short responses. It is important as a teacher to focus solely on collecting materials that indicate each student’s independent understanding. For example, if group work or guided practice takes place, the collected papers would not appropriately convey each student’s independent understanding of a topic. Only tasks completed independently, without teacher or peer input can accurately portray student understanding of a specific topic.  There are countless ways to assess students and their understanding of critical content. It is crucially importantly that we dedicate our time to focusing on authentic, accurate informative assessments. With so much work taking place in our classrooms, it is imperative that we dedicate our time to only focusing on collecting and analyzing the most informative work.

            This course has also taught me how to thoughtfully use feedback to improve student achievement. Brookhart, (2011) asserts that feedback must be provided promptly, while the new learning is fresh in our students’ minds.  This is especially important for students who struggle, as it reduces the cognitive load of new material we are expecting students to learn. I have also learned how important it is to differentiate feedback so that it is at each student’s academic level. For students who struggle, direct instructional, simple feedback is the most effective (Pool et. al. 2012). It is important to use direct modeling to correct student misconceptions clearly, and quickly.

Impact

Assessment leads to strengthened teaching, which results in improved student learning. It is so important to create effective and fair assessments as it strengthens educational outcomes for students. It is important that I use the data I collect to alter my instructional delivery and practice to fit the learning needs of my students.  This course has equipped me with the necessary skills and knowledge to construct effective and fair assessments, and to provide targeted feedback, and plan interventions using my collected assessment data. Marzano et. al. (2001) explains that it is imperative to use multiple student data elements to promote student learning. A large component of this work involves tracking student progress toward a critical skill or content over time. It is important to use assessment data to track student progress toward a learning goal to ensure that all students are making adequate progress, and to intervene and support students who are struggling.

            Providing students with feedback, and using data to create effective interventions for students who struggle are the most important components of assessment work. As a team, we now not only bring data to our PLC meetings, but we use our data to create scaffolds, supports, and interventions for students who struggle. This program has also equipped me with the skills necessary to create formative and summative assessments to ensure the progress and growth of all students, especially students who struggle.

Artifacts:

Unit Assessments: Fractions

Assessment Training Components

References

Brookhart, S. M. (2011). Tailoring feedback: Effective feedback should be adjusted depending on the needs of the learner. Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed For Quick Review, 76(9), 33-36.

Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D., & Pollock, J. E. (2001). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, Va: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. 

Pool, J., Carter, G., Johnson, E., Carter, D. (2012). The Use and Effectiveness of a
Targeted Math Intervention for Third Graders. Retrieved from http://journals.sagepub.com.ezproxy.spu.edu/doi/pdf/10.1177/10534512124628

Nicole, D., Macfarlane-Dick, D., (2007). Formative assessment and self-regulated learning: a model and seven principles of good feedback practice. Retrieved from https://srhe.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03075070600572090#.WtNmjMbMxPM.

William, D. (2016) The secret of effective feedback. Educational Leadership. 73.