PRQ #4

EDUG 307
Destiny Ramos
2/23/2016

In what ways can I enlarge and enhance student learning through assorted assessment measures?

As an elementary and junior high student, I strived for the highest scores in the class
hoping I would be the student to set the high end of the grading curve. If I hadnt studied and
practiced for hours the night before a test, I risked getting bumped down to a B or C because my
score would be compared to the student who may have studied more than me. Traditional testing,
such as the timed scantron test, didnt allow a student to reflect on his or her work nor did it
encourage the student to identify strength and weakness. Traditional testing simply stated who
was smarter- the person with the highest percentage, and who was not a good student the
person whose grade fell short of passing. In my classroom I will honor TPE 2: Monitor Student
Learning, by use a comprehensive approach to enlarge and enhance student learning with the
following assessment measures: formative assessment, student choice and product assessment.
The ongoing nature of formative assessment provides excellent opportunity for day-today feed back in regards to student learning targets. Summative assessments and standardized
testing are too infrequent to rely on for lesson scaffolding decisions and intervention decisions.
Formative assessment is an ongoing process that provides many snapshots of student
performance and understanding throughout a lesson, unit or year. Formative testing comes in a
variety of forms such as the ones in Chapter 11 of Burden & Bryds Methods for Effective
Teaching. They can be observations, discussions, response logs, learning journals, visual
representation, whiteboard work, kinesthetic presentation or practice performances. The evidence
from formative assessment doesnt answer who is and is not reaching standards, instead it asks
how each student is doing on her or his scaffolded journey to help the teacher refine instruction.
For example, during a 2nd grade math lesson on word problems using money, I have several
opportunities for formative assessment. I can ask students to complete practice problems and
display the answers on their whiteboards for me to see. I can note who is consistently getting

them correct and who is having misunderstandings. Go gain insight beyond the pass/fail
observations I can ask students to demonstrate their work for the class and ask students to find
their mistakes if they did not come to the same conclusion. I can also provide manipulatives as a
performance assessment. This is especially great for English learners and may reveal if they or
other students are struggling due to not knowing the coin values, not being able to write the
answer correctly or they cant decode the written question.
All these formative assessments are quick and allow me to make decisions for small group work
and instructional strategies.
All students should have equal access to successful learning and growth; therefore
students with disabilities and English language learners need opportunity to showcase their
knowledge in the most appropriate way for them. It is important not to water down the
curriculum and test, rather modify them to best teach the student. Student choice is important in
assessment due to the shift toward learning rather than rating students. Guillaume has many
suggestions to how to make test accommodations. The accommodation include test setting
(where the student sits, the classroom the student in, noise level, time of day), or test
administration (time given, number of questions to answer, verbal or written response, verbally
read aloud, etc.). A classroom example of this is in my 1st grade placement. Irvine is culturally
diverse and EL students include Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Hindi, Turkish Sindh and more.
Fortunately they also have a lot of parent involvement and they are able to help create equivalent
exams in students first languages. These are administered when the assessment is used to
supplement other assessments. My master teacher uses this to see whether the struggle is
conceptual or due to lack of English skills. For students with special needs or disabilities, my
master teacher allows the student to take exams throughout the day instead of one sitting. He also

uses different colored text or different font sizes to accommodate special needs. Some students
who are on IEP plans are given extra support during exams such as having questions read aloud
to them.
Product assessment is another assessment tool that honors multiple intelligences, student
choice and teaches students to reflect on their work. The ultimate goal in assessment is selfassessment (Guillaume, 2011, pg. 190), Andrea M. Guillaume believes we should be working to
wean students away from their dependence upon authority so they are able to provide
evaluation themselves. Furthermore, for that reason teachers should take a cooperative role in
evaluation and reflection during and after a lesson or project. As suggested in the CMR, pg. 2330, logs, journals and portfolios are keep record of the progression of learning. A product that is
graded can be a portfolio or project. A project is a compendium of complex assignments, each
directed toward a common goal (CMR, pg.31) The criteria and grading rubric should be given
to students up front and it is suggested by many scholarly articles to give the students an
outstanding product and a below expectation product. I have seen this happen in my 4th grade
assignment. My master teacher presented the Reading through the genre display board project ,
and he went over the expectation and rubric. Students were given the choice of topic, this will
help drive their motivation to read the different types of resources. For each genre and display
board requirement there is an assignment. Each day the student works on the assignment. After
all the assignments have been introduced and worked on the students have a week of
independent work. During this time the students review their drafts, quality of their evidence and
so on. My master teacher holds briefly conferences with the students as they work independently,
asking probing questions. Although his questions are intentional and he knows where he wants
each students learning to go, he doesnt direct his students. Instead he asks students to reflect

and make an informed decision for evidence. If a student is behind in assignments he encourages
them to reflect on their time management and the reading level of their book or article to see
where the problem lies and helps them problem solve. If a student is higher performing and
finishes all his or her work, he asks where they think they should go from there. Sometimes they
are just not happy with their product and others they choose to add more to their assignments to
make the project more meaningful. When the student is completely satisfied he or she is able to
reflect on what they liked, what they learned, what they think needs improvement and how they
would change the rubric. It is wonderful watching the students take the lead in teacher-student
collaborations.
Through a combination of formative assessment, performance assessment and criterionreferenced evaluation I will address student reflection, student growth and ultimately student
achievement. When assessment is used as a reflection tools, which show strengths and areas of
opportunity, instead of a norm-referenced ranking students can become motivated to grow
academically and personally.

Bibliography
Burden, P.R., & Byrd, D.M. (2013). Methods for effective teaching: Meeting
the needs of
all students (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc
CMR
Commission on Teacher Credentialing. (2013). California teaching
performance
expectations. Retrieved from http://www.ctc.ca.gov/educator-prep/TPAfiles/TPEs-Full-Version.pdf
Guillaume, A. M. (2007). K-12 Classroom Teaching: A Primer for New
Professionals. Pg.
Stiggins, R. (2007) Assessment through the student's eyes. Educating the
Whole Child.
64(8). Pg 22-26
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Interaction between learning and development. In
Mind
in society: The development of higher psychological processes (pp. 7991). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.