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Rosie Castillo
Vanguard University
Module 507: PRQ#4
February 18, 2016

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PRQ Paper #4 (Philosophy of Assessment) In what ways can I enlarge and enhance student
learning through assorted assessment measures?
The word assessment can be defined as collecting, analyzing and interpreting information
in student performance to increase and interpret information in students learning and
performance. Assessment is a critical part of teaching and it is a great tool for a teacher to
support the needs of their students. In fact TPE 3:Interpreting and Use of Assessment, states the
following about assessment: Candidates understand and use a variety of informal and formal, as
well as formative and summative assessments, at varying levels of cognition demand to
determine students progress and plan instruction. Assessments are most effective when there is
a clear understanding why an assessment is given; a clear target needs to be basis of any
assessment. There are three main points to be considered as a future educator, if I want to use
assessments effectively to enhance student learning. Assessments should be used as a means to
know my students strengths, abilities and needs. This will empower me as a teacher to enhance
my students learning experiences. In addition, assessments will help me plan an effective
curriculum for my students. Finally, assessments will facilitate students in understanding of their
own strengths and needs, and this will help with goal setting for their education. This will help
students to be active participants and they can learn to partake in the responsibility of their
education.
Before considering any kind of assessment it is imperative that I have a clear
understanding of what I want to achieve. It is important to consider that the text Methods for
Effective Teaching tells us that assessment can be a synonym for measurement, it is a means to
measure something. I need to know what I am going to measure and for what reason. For
example, if I want to know a students ability to read then I need to assess them on their reading

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level. There is a variety of assessments the text mentions that can be implemented though out the
school year. These are, are pre-assessments, formative and summative assessments. For the
purpose of using assessments to know my students abilities, strengths and needs I will discuss
pre-assessments. The Burden & Byrd text talks about pre-assessments and how they can be
effective for teachers. The text states that pre-assessments are used to gain insight on students
prior knowledge, attitudes, interests, and weaknesses regarding a particular subject. This is an
effective tool because it can be utilized to highlight my student areas of need, before we go into a
specific lesson indicating how I can support them best. In fact TPE 8: Learning about students
supports this notion, and it mentions the importance of the use of assessments to maximize
learning opportunities of all students. This also supports the notion of Theorist Vygotsky when he
talks about zone of proximal development, in his article Mind in Society. Vygotsky makes this
wonderful point in his article: Only recently, however has attention been directed to the fact we
cannot limit ourselves merely to determining developmental levels if we wish to discover the
actual relations of the developmental process of learning capabilities. (Vygotsky, pg. 208)
Which means that all students have a basic content knowledge they have to work with, it my job
as an effective teaching to take what the students know and help them have deeper meaning of
the content knowledge. This can possible thought effective planning and scaffolding according to
my students needs, which can only be possible if I know them well. This will enhance my
students learning because I will be able to push them to their full potential, but in reasonable
manner where they will have room to learn and grow.
Assessments are useful because they can help plan a curriculum or a change a lesson plan
so that it is tailored to fit my students learning needs. A formative assessment is used to monitor
progress during instruction to provide feedback for students and parents. This kind of assessment

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is useful because it can guide me as a future educator to make necessary changes and as the
Burden & Bird text states, it can be a bridge between todays lesson and tomorrow. In essence
what this means is that formative assessment provides immediate feedback which can give the
teacher information of the value of their lesson and in turn tailor the lesson to meet the needs of
all learners. The Assessment Vocabulary says the following about formative assessment: The
purpose of formative assessments is to provide feedback to students as they progress towards a
goal. (pg. 2) In planning it is important that the teacher plan for the assessments in their lesson.
A teacher can assess student learning in many different forms, and this can be done in a formal
and informal way. An example of this is in my master teachers classroom. They were getting
ready to write about an informational piece they had read on turtles. The students were to read
the information and write the main ideas in a graphic organizer. The teacher gave them the four
categories, which were habitat, food, life span, and migration. The teacher had previously
modeled, time and time again how to extract information from the text and place it on the
graphic organizer. The teacher reviewed the graphic organizer the class worked on, she realized
that about 85% of the class was accurate in the information they wrote in the graphic organizer.
This indicated that 15% of the students needed extra support with the graphic organizer and
extracting information. This is a great and useful tool for me as a future educator to plan for my
students and scaffold planning to fit their learning needs.
Assessments will help determine grades and will help students reach goals. When
assessments are well thought out and planned they can effective in gearing student learning and
goal setting. Chapter 12 in the text Methods for Effective Teaching talks about the importance of
using grades to gear student learning. That is if a student did not receive a good grade, it can be
used as an opportunity to help gear the student towards success. It is important that as a future

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educator I let the students know that we are collaborating in building their success as learners.
That it is important and necessary they take part in their education. As a matter of fact in her
article Assessment Needs to be Inclusive of the Learner, by Guillaume, she states that teachers
need to foster the growth in students as self-assessors. Furthermore, she defends the point that it
is important students take responsibility for their learning and are empowered so their voice and
choice is taken in to consideration for assessments. This idea definitely deviates from traditional
assessments and supports alternative as well as authentic assessments to meet the needs of
learners. The idea is that students are given a different kind of assessment and they have the
choice of writing and essay, painting a picture, perform research, or engage in real life tasks to
demonstrate their understanding of content knowledge. This is a great demonstration of TPE 8,
which talks about making content accessible for all students.
To conclude, it is important to consider the reason that I will assess my students and have
a clear and defined goal in mind. With this said it is important that I consider my students needs
and abilities, by knowing them well. A pre-assessment can help me determine a good foundation
for my students as I plan my lesson. Next, it is important that I continue to assess them as the
lesson progresses to have an idea of their knowledge of the subject matter being taught. This can
be done through a formative assessment, whether it would be formal or informal. Finally, I can
value my student and have them collaborate in their learning by giving them a voice. This is a
skill they can use throughout their life and they can learn that they can make purpose driven
goals to improve their lives.

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References
Burden, P.R., & Byrd, D.M. (2015). Methods for effective teaching: Meeting the needs of all
students (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
CMR Articles- Edu 507 Assessment Vocabulary retrieved from:
www.http://learn.vanguard.edu/pluginfile.php/450973/mod_resource/content/2/EDUG
%20507.pdf on 02/15/2016
Guillaume, A.M., (2008). K-12 Classroom teaching: A Primer for new professional (3rd ed.).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
TPEs (Teaching Performance Expectations) retrieved from: http://www.ctc.ca.gov/educatorprep/TPA-files/TPEs-Full-Version.pdf on: 02/10/2016
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Interaction between learning and development. In Mind in Society: The
development of higher psychological processes (pp.79-91). Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.