Jordan Yost

TE 407
Prof. Greenwalt
Adapting Instruction to Individual Learners: Assessment
Purpose of Assessment
When it comes to the term assessment, there are multiple ideas and definitions in regards
to the field of education. Some may say that assessment and grading are the same thing, that the
only point of assessing a students work is to give him or her a grade. Others, such as myself,
believe that there is a much broader goal of assessment. Instead of having assessment and
grading go hand in hand, assessment instead means constructively criticizing a students work in
order to foster growth in their understanding of the material or topic. Earl & Giles (2011) agree
with this in that they believe assessment is the ongoing task of finding out about students
beliefs, strategies, strengths and weaknesses in relation to their learning. This helps not only
themselves grow in relation to their understanding, but also helps the teacher grow in terms of
understanding his or her students and how they best learn. From there, Brown (2004) argues that
in the process of assessment itself, feedback must be at the heart of the processto help
students understand where they have gone wrongbut also when they have done well, to help
them understand what is good about their work and how they can build on it and develop it even
further. Therefore, assessment is not only a singular act each time an assignment is turned in or
a tests is taken, but an overall process that continues to build throughout the year for both student
and teacher. Because of this, it can be said that assessment has a number of purposes. In the
article Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind, the authors laid these purposes
out very well. They argue that there are truly three purposes for assessment; assessment for
learning, assessment as learning, and assessment of learning. In assessment for learning, the
focus is on teachers being able to determine the next step in furthering the learning of their
students. In assessment as learning, each student critically reflects on his or her learning. Finally,
assessment of learning focuses on informing others of students proficiency in relation to
curriculum leaning outcomes. All three of these purposes build upon each other for both the
student and teacher to grow in their overall understanding of the topic and of themselves.
Evaluate Bens Objective Assessment
Throughout Bens Chapter 8 quiz, I noticed that it is very skewed toward knowledge
based questions and answers. However, Ben does a very good job of choosing questions that are
essential to learning the US Constitution. For example, the entire vocabulary section of the quiz
is based on the different powers of the Constitution and who they are given to as well as the
rights of citizens. Not even just as a student, but as a citizen of the US, it is important to know
not only what rights you have, but also the powers the different branches of the government
holds. However, the only skill involved in this section of the quiz was memorization so this
portion of the quiz is essentially knowledge only. Furthermore, the section on matching is also
the same in terms of assessing only knowledge. This section is based upon the separation of
powers and which branch can enforce the laws, interpret the laws, or make the laws. Once again,
as a student learning about the Constitution and as a citizen of the US, this information is
essential to know. However, under the short answer and true or false, the skills of a historian
begin to appear. In the short answer section, students must use identification of certain factors of
the Constitution to be able to answer the question. Furthermore, it is a short answer, even
though Ben never clearly states how long he wants his answers to be, so students should learn

Jordan Yost
TE 407
Prof. Greenwalt
how to put their answers into coherent sentences. Also along the lines of skills that a historian
possesses is the skill of critical thinking. During the true or false section, students are challenged
to think critically about the correct answer. For example, Q3 states, under a tyranny, popular
sovereignty is allowed. For this, students must be able to understand what a tyranny is, what
popular sovereignty is, what is allowed under popular sovereignty and what is not, etc.
Therefore, students must be able to draw from a number of different sources in order to answer
this seemingly simple answer. This skill can also be used by the citizens of a democracy. When
given a question about the government, or any question at all, critical thinking is very important
in order to look at the question from all angles and give the best answer possible. However,
while looking through this quiz, I tried to look for other domains that I could find. We talked
heavily about the domain of character in class but I could not find any questions that would
relate to something like character, or anything else for that matter.
Furthermore, as we learned from class, the most important aspects of any question on an
assessment are; is the question essential in the concept of history, is it a valid question, and is it a
reliable question? Throughout Bens quiz, many of the questions perfectly correlate with these
criteria. However, there are a few questions that could lead to some ambiguity in the answers.
The first one is Q4, during T/F. Our Constitution is an example of a limited government that is
strictly defined and influenced by the people. This question is very wordy and snowballs off of
the previous information within it. I believe this could have the possibility of greatly confusing
students, for if only one section of a question like this is wrong, then the entire question is
wrong, which I dont think is beneficial for student learning. Another question that could cause
some ambiguity and confusion is Q19. Powers that are leftovers for states to deal with;
powers that belong to the states. I am perfectly fine with the second half of this question, but
referring to the powers of states as leftovers for the states to deal with could potentially cause
some confusion about the importance of these powers. Im not sure if students would have a
hard time answering this question, but by saying states powers are leftovers could cause a
negative view of these powers as somehow being not as important or influential in the daily lives
of citizens.
In terms of the distribution of scores, it is difficult to say how well the students learned
the material simply because of Bens of his no fail policy, with the lowest grade possible being
a 36. This has the potential to greatly skew the mean in an upwards direction. However, the
range of scores can tell us quite a bit. The range tells us that there are students who greatly
understand the material while there are those who are falling further and further behind.
Although some of the variation in mean could be attributed to time of day (the lowest grade was
reported in 2nd hour), or a possible outlier, it can be said that this was an average distribution and
the majority of the class understood the material. However, for those who didnt I would want to
meet with them and understand why they did poorly and if there was any alternate method of
taking tests that could help them do better, such as verbally. In terms of the entire class, I would
want to go over the exam, question by question, in order to see where they went wrong or where
they could have improved their already correct answers. My biggest thing is that I realize there
are alternate ways to explain the same thing so I want to try to explain in it ways that my students
can understand. However, I do believe in the 90% A, 80% B, 70% C score distribution system
because it gives students a concrete system where they understand what they need to do in order
to get a certain grade. If I made the exam too difficult or made a question ambiguous, I would
curve the exam in order to meet this scale.

Jordan Yost
TE 407
Prof. Greenwalt
Extend Bens Project Assessment
For this project, you will be writing and delivering a speech to the 2nd Continental
Congress either in support of the Constitution or in opposition to it. There are many aspects you
can choose to use but be sure to cite at least 3 different aspects of the Constitution (structures,
amendments, separation of powers, etc.) as the foundation for your speech and make sure it is at
least a page and a half long and at minimum 3 minutes long. The purpose of this project is not
only for you to review what you have already learned about the Constitution in order to make a
coherent argument, but also to learn about what goes into writing and delivering a good speech.
Sometime in your life, you will have to convey your thoughts to other people in an educational
manner and a speech is the best method of accomplishing this. The other purpose of this
assignment is for me to know where I as a teacher need to grow and develop in terms of
conveying this information to you as students.
Speeches have often been used to convey some thought or idea to other people, usually in
a formal setting. They are pre-written documents outlining what you are going to say when you
address a group of people. A speech is not an essay in that speeches require you to simplify your
overall argument to a few key points and you must deliver a speech with accurate tone and
punctuation (emphasis, change of pace, transition) or else you will lose your audience members.
Remember, you are the one who gives life to the words of your speech so make sure that it is
easy to follow, the tone is engaged, and the punctuation is emphasized. This will ensure that the
people listening to your speech will be interested in what you say and will actively listen to your
idea or argument.
Criteria

Expert (5)

Meets Standards (3-4)

Novice (1-2)

Main Points/Use of
Evidence

1) Use of 3 different aspects

of Constitution
2) Use of proper evidence to
support claim is included
and thoroughly discussed

Fewer than 3 aspects of

Constitution
And/or
Evidence to support
claim is not included

Position/Thesis

1) Position, main points are

clearly stated in
introduction
2) Thesis is clear and
supported throughout

Use of fewer than 3 aspects

of Constitution
And/or
Evidence to support claim is
inappropriate or not
elaborated upon
Position/main points are
somewhat clear
And/or
Thesis is slightly unclear
and not fully supported
throughout

Accuracy

All information is accurate

and cited

Some information in
inaccurate and cited

Conclusion

1) Reviews position/main
points
2) Brings closure to the

Reviews some of main

points
And/or

Majority of information
is inaccurate and is not
cited
None of main points are
reviewed
And/or

Position/main points are

uncertain/not given
during introduction
And/or
Thesis is very unclear
and not referenced at all
throughout

speech
Tone

Tone is specific and

appropriate to audience

Punctuation/Clarity

Speaks clearly and provided

proper emphasis and
transitions
1) Body language is
confident
2) Gestures aid in speech

Body Language

Jordan Yost
TE 407
Prof. Greenwalt
Doesnt fully close speech
Leaves audience
confused
Tone lacks clarity and needs No specific purpose,
adapting to audience
inappropriate for
audience
Mispronounces a few words Cannot understand
and has some difficulty with words that are spoken, is
emphasis/transitions
monotone throughout
Body language is
Body language is
somewhat unenthusiastic
completely uninterested
And/or
And/or
Gestures somewhat detract
Gestures not used/not
from message
appropriate for speech

Student Work Sample (Student Z)

For my analysis on student work, I chose to focus on Student Z. In term of strengths this
student exhibits, there are quite a few. First of all, they are very creative and artistic when it came
to the drawing for their project. They decided to draw a tree with the different branches of
government, while showing how the branches are even through the separation of powers based
off the number of leaves birds on each branch. Although it was very simplistic and did not go
beyond what they had learned in lecture or the textbook, it was a very creative idea. In terms of
the quiz, this student performed well on the matching separation of powers and the short
answer section, albeit they only answered with a single word or phrase and not a complete
sentence. Therefore, they were able to complete both knowledge and skill based questions
without much difficulty.
However, along with these strengths, there were also weaknesses exhibited through the
quiz and project. On the quiz, the student has significant difficulty with who possesses the
different powers in government, such as concurrent powers, reserved powers, enumerated
powers and implied powers. Ben had even provided hints for each, which I thought was a very
good idea and something I would consider doing. This leads me to believe that either the student
didnt review these topics very well or that they have difficulty answering questions that take
critical thinking to correctly answer. For these questions, a student must know the differences
between the levels of government as well as what they are/are not allowed to do so it does take
quite a bit of knowledge to be able to answer them correctly. In terms of the project, the student
had difficulty in expanding the three branches of government beyond what they had already
learned in class. Although it does show that all branches are equal in power, the student was not
able to elaborate on what these branches did or what powers they held through the use of this
drawing.
Overall, between the quiz and project, I believe that the project best allows me to see the
students strengths. The test is simply memorization and regurgitation of facts. On the other
hand, the project allowed this student to express their creative side within the classroom.
Although they did not go into great detail surrounding the three branches of government, their
project showed me that they thought about this in a different way, through a creative lens, and
that this allowed them to understand the material better. On the quiz, they answered the

Jordan Yost
TE 407
Prof. Greenwalt
questions about the separation of powers correctly, and I believe this project was part of the
reason for that. If a student can express their thoughts and learn information in a different way
than normal, through a drawing for example, I see no problem in allowing them to do this. This
not only allows them an alternate to learn, but allows me an alternate way to teach.
On this other side of this, I believe that the quiz better allows me to see the weaknesses of
the students. The quiz allows me as a teacher to see if they best understand the knowledge based
or skills based questions. In the case of this student, they were able to answer some knowledge
based questions, but overall struggled on the questions that were not very obvious, such as the
different powers of government, as well as some of the true/false questions such as paying taxes
and obeying law are examples of the responsibilities of citizenship. To answer questions such
as these, critical thinking is involved and this is what this student seems to struggle with the
most. Although the project allows me to see visually how much they understand, it is usually
limited to a single aspect. With the quiz, I can see very broadly, what the student is digesting and
understanding as well as what they are continuing to grapple with in an unsuccessful way.
To extend their learning based off of their graded quiz, I would require my students to go
back through their quizzes and write a paragraph on each question they got wrong. The
paragraph would include the correct answer as well as why that is a better answer than the one
they chose. By making this mandatory, I believe this will not only give students more motivation
to do better on the quiz, in that they will have to answer less questions on this assignment, but by
understanding why there was a better answer than the one they originally chose, this will foster
their learning.
Project Feedback: To begin, this was a very creative drawing that showcased the different
branches of government. However, there are a few things you could improve upon. The first
would be making this drawing more complex to include information that extends beyond what
we learned in the classroom. You showcased what the different branches of government were
and that they were all equal in power but you didnt necessarily show much information that we
did not already know. The second thing would be a better explanatory paragraph. Although you
did describe what your drawing was showing, I would want a more in depth paragraph of what
the different branches of government are and also what their different powers are.
Based upon this student, I would make sure to include a number of different things that
would help them understand the material better. First of all, I would try to include more
photographs, videos, visual aids, etc. because it seems like they have a very creative mind which
could translate to remembering this visually compared to words on a screen or out of a book.
Secondly, I would try to be very explicit when it comes to material that contains critical thinking.
Although Ben included a number of examples when covering the powers that different levels of
government had, I would try to come up with a visual aid that represented this as well.
Furthermore, I would try to include assessments that leaned away from the prototypical exams
and written assignments and more towards assessments where students can show their creativity
in an educational way.