Assessment Philosophy 1

Assessment Philosophy

Rose Simmons

EN 301
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Assessment is an ongoing never-ending process to get a full picture of students and the

class. Every decision made in a classroom affects the outcome of the assessment given in class.

Assessments look different in every context.

Definition of Assessment

Assessment is an evaluation method of determining what the learner has gained regarding

knowledge, skills, and attitudes to inform the teacher and learner of what has been accomplished

and what still needs to be accomplished. This can be done before, during, and after information

is taught or presented. Student assessments can be used for teachers to see how well they taught

a lesson. If most of the students understood one concept, then that does not need to be retaught.

If most of the students did not grasp a concept, then it needs to be retaught. This allows teachers

to figure out how they did in teaching the lesson and helping the students learn. Assessments

allow students to see what they have gained and where they could use help or improvements.

Purpose of Assessment

The purpose of assessment is to see where the students are at in the learning of

knowledge, skills, and attitudes. This is done through formalized assessments as well as

observations of the class. Observations allow for immediate changes to the lesson based on the

body language of the students and their responses. Formalized assessments such as classwork, Commented [TB1]: Be careful. Many biases could creep
into this kind of assessment.
projects, test, etc. give the teach a gage of what was learned and what needs clarification.

Assessments can also be used to determine where students are at. This is done for either

a classroom placement or for a diagnosis. Assessing students for a classroom placement is for

groups or level reading. This is for the teacher to decide where students need to be in the

curriculum or program. Leveled reading is important to determine the independent reading level
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of our students. Assessing for a diagnosis is to determine whether a student has a learning

disability. These assessments are more formal and are for specific purposes.

How Assessment Results are to be Used

Assessment results are used for a multitude of purposes. The biggest one is for

instruction. Assessment results inform the teacher of where students are in the instruction and

should be used to determine the future lessons taught. If students are consistently getting a

concept incorrect, then the teacher needs to reflect on how they are teaching the concept. When

it comes to reteaching, the lesson should be based on the assessment results.

Assessment results can be used as a way of diagnosing a learning disability. The results

of all assessments given can be used to show a pattern of strengths and weaknesses which can

help to determine whether a student has a disability or not. Results of all assessments are useful

to see if students are struggling in a subject area.

Another purpose to use assessment results are for groups within the classroom. Teachers

can use assessment results to make flexible small groups for reading and math to work with

students who have similar needs to be addressed in those small groups. The groups are flexible

because students are gaining knowledge all the time and they should be able to work with peers

who have a similar mindset on content when it comes to students growing.

To Whom Assessment Results are Reported and How

The federally mandated standardized tests should be reported to parents, principals, state

and federal administration. When the results are shown to other people than the parents, the

teachers and principals at the school where the child attends school, the child’s name should be

removed from the results. These results should be reported through a letter home to the parents.
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Schools and districts should be able to view the results via paper or the computer depending on

how the school feels.

Assessments in the form of observations should not be reported to anyone other than the

teacher unless it is through a conference or diagnosing processes. Observations should be

written down with a date and time of the occurrence based on the criteria the teacher has already

established to look for in their students’ work and discussions. This allows for knowing what Commented [TB2]: They should also be done using a
clear rubric or criteria checklist for what the teacher is
looking for.
students are understanding and if it seems to be worse at sometimes of the day rather than other.

Classroom assessments such as unit assessments should be used for lesson planning and

should be sent home for parents to see how the student’s progressing. There should be a record

of how the class is doing with the unit concepts to report to the team or principal. This record

should also be used as a way of reteaching concepts while moving forward.

Beliefs Regarding the Format and How to Determine

The format should depend on what the purpose of the assessment is going to be used. If

it is a math concept, it may be best to use the same format with the same questions because it is

testing whether the children understand the math concept taught. If it is a reading project, then

the students should be given a variety of options to display what they are reading. If it is writing,

students should be given topic options apart from summative assessments to their writing unit.

Science and social studies would be dependent on what the outcome of the lesson or unit.

Sometimes, facts need to be known. Other times, concepts should be explored the way students

think they would excel best.

Asking students is another way to get their ideas incorporated into the class. It allows

them to feel as if they have choices in the class. Students are able to have a voice in how they
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feel they should be assessed. Because there is no perfect assessment, students should have the

option of being assessed the way they would like when the opportunity arises.

Other Ideas

When giving assessments, validity should be considered at all times. Validity is the

consistency of an assessment. It is a way of ensuring that students are getting assessed equally

and fairly. It is highly important in standardized assessing such as state tests and diagnostic

assessments.

Conclusion

Assessments are important for teaching purposes. They should be given as a way of

gauging student learning and the teachers ability to convey information. Assessments are a part

of education, but they should not be daunting to students. Formal assessments, such as

standardized testing or summative assessments, can be daunting if students are not prepared

enough for them. If an informal assessment, such as a worksheet or class discussion, is given Commented [TB3]: How is this different from a “formal”
assessment?
correctly, students should not even feel like they are getting assessed.