Assessment Philosophy Kayla Mutch Dr. Grant Williams Measurement and Evaluation February 13 !

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As an educator $ believe that assessment is a valuable tool to support learnin% in a classroom. When used e&&ectively evaluatin% students can be po'er&ul( it can provide in&ormation to teachers concernin% their students) learnin% in addition to allo'in% teachers to re&lect upon their o'n instructional methods. $t is important to me to provide students 'ith opportunities to demonstrate their understandin% and *no'led%e success&ully. +urrent research on assessment strate%ies and educational peda%o%y has %reatly in&luenced my assessment philosophy. $n %eneral it is e,tremely important to me to *eep my students motivated to learn. Every student is uni-ue and this needs to be at the &ore&ront o& every teacher)s mind so that students can succeed on an individual basis on their o'n terms. $ 'ant students to e,perience &air assessment 'ith plenty o& encoura%in% &eedbac* and many choices. .y embracin% a variety o& components such as dia%nostic &ormative and summative assessment strate%ies $ believe &uture students can %reatly bene&it &rom my assessment practices. First and &oremost dia%nostic assessments includin% pre/assessments should be used initially at the be%innin% o& a ne' school year or unit. 0his allo's the teacher to see 'here students are com&ortable in terms o& their current *no'led%e or abilities as 'ell as their areas o& 'ea*ness. .y havin% this in&ormation teachin% practices can be tailored to the needs o& the students so they are able to be success&ul. Dia%nostic assessment also aids in the creation o& &le,ible and balanced %roups so students can have a cooperative e,perience. $n order to help students succeed discussin% learnin% ob1ectives at the be%innin% o& lessons or units allo's students to see 'here they are %oin% and 'hat is e,pected o& them. 0his can reduce an,iety and help prepare students &or their learnin%. $n addition to learnin% ob1ectives success criteria can be cooperatively established as a class. 0his allo's students to have clear input on 'hat to include in their 'or* to be success&ul. .y incorporatin% students in the process they are able to compare their 'or* to the success criteria. 2nce $ have an idea o& 'here students are in terms o& their previous learnin% &ormative assessment 'ill be the ne,t main tool implemented. $ stron%ly consider &ormative assessments to be the %uidin% &orce o& instructional methods and believe in only %ivin% encoura%in% &eedbac* on these evaluations. Administerin% &ormative assessments on a consistent basis allo's &or the teacher to be a'are o& student pro%ress. Methods include e,it slips 1ournal entries thin*/pair/share 1i%sa' as 'ell as a simple thumbs up thumbs side'ays techni-ue. .y ta*in% the time to include these &ormative assessment methods $ can help students discover areas o& stren%th and 'ea*ness so they can improve. Furthermore it allo's the teacher to %ain insi%ht on personal teachin% practices and ho' those methods are 'or*in% in their particular classroom. Gus*ey 3!"114 presents the notion o& process and product criteria in terms o& %radin%. $ believe that the product is not a complete picture o& student learnin% and there should be consideration o& how the student arrived to their ideas. 5tudents should be %iven consistent &eedbac* on their learnin% processes( ho'ever report card %rades should be based on their product. 6esponsibility e&&ort and 'or* habits should be included as comments and not assi%ned to a %rade. 5tudents have lives outside o& our classroom 'alls and there are reasons &or every behaviour. As teachers 'e must al'ays remember this and emphasi7e the si%ni&icance o& connectin% 'ith students. 5tudents should al'ays be o&&ered the choice o& redos or

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reta*es. $nspired by Wormeli 3!"114 $ believe this is the best 'ay to prepare them &or adult li&e and the real 'orld. We should al'ays %ive students hope and opportunities to sho' their learnin% in a &air manner. As teachers our %oal is that all students learn. $n con1unction 'ith education author Al&ie Kohn $ 'ill not administer %rades as an approach to re'ards or punishment. As Kohn 3!"114 su%%ests %rades tend to diminish students) interest create a pre&erence &or the easiest tas* available and reduce the -uality o& their thin*in%. $ do not 'ant to discoura%e students by puttin% more &ocus on how well they are doin% as it 'ill cause them to be less en%a%ed in 'hat they are doin%. $ do not 'ant my students to interpret a lo' %rade as &ailure but instead provide them 'ith &eedbac* that is encoura%in% and constructive. $ believe that home'or* should not have a re'ard or %rade attached and should be purpose&ul in its assi%nment. As 8atterott 3!"114 states9 :$t)s not about home'or*)s value &or the %rade but home'or*)s value &or learnin%; 3<34. 5tudents should strive to be 'ell/rounded human bein%s and time outside o& school is 'hen they are able to &it the mold they envision &or themselves. When students are prepared &or the &inal step $ 'ill evaluate on a summative scale. 5ummative assessment should be &le,ible so that students are %iven the opportunity to sho' 'hat they *no'. A method $ have come across and plan on utili7in% is a 0ic/ 0ac/0oe board. 5tudents are %iven various options all appealin% to di&&erent learnin% styles and levels. 0hrou%h this students can select three options in a ro' to complete = a line that you 'ould use to 'in 0ic/0ac/0oe. All options need to be realistic options &or the students and the %rade. Givin% students choices 'ill intrinsically motivate them and they are more li*ely to succeed in demonstratin% their *no'led%e. $n re%ards to .loom)s 0a,onomy $ 'ant to teach 'ithin their 7one o& pro,imal development throu%h tas*s that vary in comple,ity. .y crossin% various learnin% styles 'ith .loom)s 0a,onomy students can complete assi%nments desi%ned to &it their interests and comple,ity. +aterin% to my students) needs can reduce the an,iety students o&ten &eel about assessment and %rades. .y e&&ectively utili7in% various &orms o& assessment throu%h dia%nostic &ormative and summative students can be challen%ed and encoura%ed to be creative and demonstrate their *no'led%e. My philosophy o& assessment rests on the pillars o& &airness but &air does not mean equal. 5tudents are all individuals 'hom brin% their o'n uni-ueness to a classroom and this should be embraced. .y buildin% a connection 'ith students they can trust that $ am &air and providin% them 'ith opportunities &or success. $ 'ant students to e,perience assessment positively and be intrinsically motivated. As an educator assessments are a po'er&ul tool. 0his philosophy is 'ill continue to %ro' and &lourish &rom re&lection on my teachin% practices.

Mutch 6e&erences Gus*ey 0. 6. 3!"114. Five obstacles to %radin% re&orm. Educational Leadership <>334 1?/!1. Kohn A. 3!"114. 0he case a%ainst %rades. Educational Leadership <>334 3@/33. 8atterott +. 3!"114. Ma*in% home'or* central to learnin%. Educational Leadership <>334 <"/<#. Wormeli 6. 3!"114. 6edos and reta*es done ri%ht. Effective Grading Practices <>334 !!/!<.