Joe Ames

1 April 2018
Reflection on InTASC 6: Assessment to Prove and Improve Student Learning
Assessments are more than just grades in the book. Assessments are the data by which

students and teachers monitor learning and the largest indicator as to how a teacher needs to

change instruction with a whole class or individual student. The sixth InTASC standard

highlights the importance of a teacher taking full advantage of well designed, aligned, and

diverse assessments. This data will provide accurate evidence to prove student acquisition of

content, provide detailed information to the teacher on what they themselves can do better, and

allow students to reflect on their own learning. Assessments can be both summative and

formative. The former will provide data to prove student learning while the latter are informal

checks for understanding, or small assessments that indicate to a teacher how they should

proceed. Both of these types of assessments should take a variety of forms: students will quickly

tire of multiple choice tests and quizzes, and they deserve an opportunity to display their

knowledge in a variety of ways. By assessing student knowledge in diverse ways, a teacher

allows them to display their strengths and identify their weaknesses. Imagine an English unit on

the elements of narrative. Likely, the summative assessment for the unit will take the form of a

student-written narrative that has to contain all three elements. What will ensure student success

on this assessment, however, are the many formative assessments that a teacher employs along

the way. For example, while covering plot and Freytag’s pyramid, students will need to have

already covered setting to fully understand what exposition is. A teacher would need to refer to a

previous lesson and check that students understand setting before moving on. If students are not

making the connections, a teacher would need to back up and go over setting again. Assessment

is integral to the learning process. Strong, aligned, and diverse assessments not only provide
evidence of student learning, but they also give necessary information to the teacher about what

is working and what isn’t. Further, they allow students to begin to work metacognitively as they

reflect on their own learning, think about their strengths and weaknesses, and identify what kinds

of strategies work for them. Without effective assessments, a teacher will not be able to prove

that their students have acquired content knowledge or know how to adjust instruction.