Task 1: Diagnostic Assessment Interview

 For this task, you will need to arrange to interview your MST at a time
convenient to her. The focus of this task is to understand:
- what diagnostic assessment has taken place this school year in your class,
- who developed the diagnostic assessment (teachers, school management,
ADEC/MOE, etc.),
- how the diagnostic assessment was carried out,
- what the purpose of that diagnostic assessment was/is, and
- what decisions the teacher made as a result of the diagnostic assessment.

 You need to prepare a minimum of 10 questions prior to the interview. You may
add additional questions during the interview based on your teachers responses,
i.e. to clarify answers or garner further information.

 You will need to record your teacher’s responses – use the strategy that works
best for you. If you are using a voice recording device, you MUST inform your
MST.

 The interview must be typed and included in your Portfolio.

 You may develop your own questions specific to your context, however the
following may give you some ideas.

Example Interview Questions

1. What diagnostic assessment has taken place this semester?
2. When did this occur?
3. What types of assessments were conducted? (written, oral, practical, etc.)
4. Who developed these assessments?
5. Who conducted the assessments? (classroom teacher, Arabic teacher, classroom
assistant, etc.)
6. Were the assessments completed by students individually?
7. What information did you hope to get from the assessments?
8. What decisions did you make based on the assessments?
9. How did you group your students? (same/different academic levels, friendship groups,
similar interests, etc.)
10. Do the groups change for different learning subjects/topics?
Reflect on the interview and the information gained about diagnostic
assessment from your MST. Consider how/why you would implement
diagnostic assessment in a UAE primary classroom in the future. Explain
how this practice will affect student learning in a primary class.

In the future I would prefer to apply diagnostic assessments because it will benefit
me as a teacher to clarify students prior knowledge and find out their struggles,
therefore, it will facilitate and determine the goal I attempt to reach and the aspects
that need work for the new unit, therefore I can design helpful and effective
activities, were my teaching will be more purposeful because it aims to fill students
gaps. In the other hand diagnostic assessments avoid uninteresting and hard topics
according to the students.
I would use diagnostic assessments when it needed, before new unit and new
lessons that students might struggle with.
Diagnostic activities that it impactful to use is questioning as guessing and putting
hypothesis or sharing any knowledge or group work, by letting each group to write
what they already know by providing inquiry questions (why, how…).
This practice would be efficient because it is prove children prior knowledge in a
written piece which is a good reference to review then build on it and began from it
the new lesson according to the students weaknesses and strengths points, so it will
help teacher to achieve students to the specific needed outcome and avoid students
from hard tasks that are unable to reach or easy tasks that feels them bored toward
learning, were providing students with a balance challenge will motivate students to
learn and learn to find a solution.