New Mexico Teacher Competency

Competency 5: Assessment
I think the most meaningful assessment I have received was from one of my professor
who told me I had a gift to spread the love of literature. His assessment was not based on my
knowledge of Latin and English, my areas of study, but on my passion for the written word. His
assessment was not based on a single paper but on all of my essays, participation in class
conversations and our discussions. He valued more than my content knowledge. It is this one
comment that leads me a career in education. As a result I realize the power of feedback. And
the feedback needs to be about more than just the students knowledge of facts. It is attributes
such as character, critical thinking skills and love that will take the student the farthest in
whatever they wish to pursue. Therefore I am on a quest to find the most effective means for
assessing these attributes, while still assessing facts and knowledge.
The most exciting assessment strategy I have seen and hope to use is positive cards. I
have seen two teachers use these is similar ways. Both teachers had a chart with library pockets
for each student. Throughout the day, whenever a student said or did something amazing, the
teacher would write it down on an index card and put it in the students pocket. At parent teacher
conferences these examples of brilliance were the main focus. What was really interesting
about this system was watching the students respond to the acknowledgment of their thinking. It
encouraged them to think more and to notice other students thinking.
Last year I watched my master teacher, Mr. Young, use portfolios as hard evidence to
show to parents and administration. In the portfolio he would put the students pictures, writing
samples, and math worksheets. This allowed him to show progressions, creativity, critical
thinking skills, as well as areas of need. I found it intriguing that Mr. Young wore a stone face
throughout all of his parent-teacher conferences. When I asked him about it, he told me that the
hard-evidence should show for themselves. Other facial expressions distract from the
assessment.
In the spring of 2014, I used science notebooks as an assessment tool. Through that, I
learned that the best portfolios capture multiple mediums. In addition to writing, they can draw
pictures, graphs, and wide variety creative expressions. Also, the more a student practices
writing, the more effective they can communicate in an academic environment. But I have found
that the biggest benefit from these science journals, all forms of portfolio, is that they allow
students to get excited about their own thinking.
Throughout my experiences in student teaching I saw the use of rubrics. Part of the power
of the rubric was the clarity it provided when I had to write them. The process of writing the
rubric helped me identify what the expectations were. The better I understood those, the more
appropriate my responses were to students.
Assessment must go beyond the surface level of facts and include opportunities to show
the true student. But assessments must also be used to guide instruction so the learning
experiences can be appropriate.
During my student teaching I discovered the importance of analyzing assessment data. I
used an on line grade book and the recording component of Stepping Stones. Both of these

programs allowed me to identify patterns of student learning. By recording assessment results for
individual standards, I could quickly look and see which standards most of the students had
mastered and which ones they hadnt. This helped guide my lessons. In math I gave the pretest
from Stepping Stones and the results to determine which lessons students needed more time with
and which lessons could be combined. The post-test provided a look at what students had
mastered. Without the pretest, I would not have known what students learned from the unit from
what they already knew before beginning the unit.
Artifact
The artifact included in this section is a copy of one of the recording sheets for the
Stepping Stones, the math program. It showed most of the students had some understanding of
the first group of standards. (Yellow) Therefore the lessons needed to be taught but most students
would not need much practice to achieve mastery since they had some basic understanding.
The standards with several red blocks indicated these students needed more instruction in
these areas. Some standards had students in all three levels of understanding. Therefor grouping
was indicated. During my student teaching the first task I was given was to work with a small
group of students demonstrating a level of beginning steps in fractions. I provided small group
instruction with manipulatives.
Artifacts
I am also including as artifacts graphic organizers and exit slips. As I took on more
responsibility I realize I needed to find ways to assess students learning in quick, efficient ways.
What I discovered with the graphic organizers were they made it easy to see if a student
understood the concept while also helping direct the students thinking. For instance one graphic
organizer helped students identify characteristics of specific characters in the novels they were
reading. This step helped the students when they were asked to compare and contrast different
characters. So by seeing the different steps in the students thinking, I was able to identify when
the students needed more instruction.