Insights on The Principles and Methods of Assessment in Education

Dear Sir Antonio,

Couple of months ago, you celebrated your first anniversary as a
registered professional teacher. As your best friend, I would like to say my
warmest congratulations to you for the productive first year of teaching in high
school.
As a nurse by profession, I have gotten words of encouragement from you
to take courses of Professional Education. Today, I am very glad to break this
great news to you that I took up the challenge. So here I am sharing with you
now some of the most remarkable insights I learned from one of the most
interesting courses I took The Principles and Methods of Assessment.
It is my dream that both of us as colleagues in the near future be the
exemplar teachers. To be one, we really need to be loyal and faithful to our
calling, making the best learning experience possible to our dearest students.
Very specifically, assessment indeed plays a very core role in this process.
On one hand, I would like to share with you five most important concepts a
teacher must know about assessment. For us to encapsulate the complex
process in a nutshell, we should remember that it is (1) a cyclical process, (2) a
feedback sytem, (3) sensitive (4) constructive, and (5) a professional
responsibility. If our assessment practice is grounded on this understanding, we
know we are doing it rightly.
On the other hand, assessment practice can be best accomplished by
being mindful of five most important rules. First, assessment should be geared

towards helping students take control of their own learning. Second, in order to
gather information-rich data, we generate from multiple sources around the
teaching-learning environment. Third, it should always be done and designed as
a constructive process. Fourth, it requires the total dedication of the teacher in
order to execute professional judgment and decision-making. And lastly, we
should utilize the results as a tool to holistic improvement.
Overall, I believe you and I can really make a difference as teachers in our
own ways if we are only keeping in mind and in action all these basic principles
of assessment. I know you are a good teacher and you still can settle for the
better and the best. Later on, I would do the same thing. That is a promise. I do
look forward to having a scholarly interaction with you soonest.

With best regards,

Cholo
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Endnote:
*Composing this letter was indeed a mind-stimulating final activity. In the
process, I utilized knowledge (recalling terms), comprehension (translating these
concepts into context), application (discerning which works best), analysis
(breaking down the concepts), evaluation (making judgments), and synthesis
(the whole activity itself).