Emily Ritchey

Philosophy of Assessment

2 December 2018

Philosophy of Assessment

Assessment is a vital piece to the puzzle that is elementary and special education.

Without assessment, student growth and progress could not be monitored. I believe that

assessment should be thorough yet authentic. I want for my students to want to receive the

feedback on their assessments because it is a positive experience not a negative one.

Assessments should be used to embrace the measurement of new learning that is developing.

While it is important to assess students to see what still needs to be accomplished, I believe the

focus should be on the students displaying what skills they have mastered.

In order for students to thoroughly learn and for teachers to thoroughly teach,

assessments must be practical and purposeful. The role of assessments for students and teachers

should align. Assessments should be authentic and used to monitor student progress and grasp

their understanding. Not only do assessments allow teachers to know how well their students are

absorbing the activities, lessons, and curricula; they also allow teachers to see what content needs

to be readdressed and when to increase or decrease difficulty levels.

There are many assessment types that are currently utilized by teachers. The most

effective are those that are research and evidence-based. Some examples are direct observation,

open ended questioning, response cards, quizzes, summarizing orally, etc. These assessment

types can be used in every classroom type and dynamic. Accommodations and modifications

may have to be made but nonetheless, assessments of all types can be used in different ways to

examine student growth. One assessment method that I will practice in my classroom is
portfolios. Portfolios are one of many ways to show student progress. Student centered portfolios

will be practiced by the students having the freedom to design and select the artifacts that are

placed into their portfolios. The items they select will be a mixture of assignments, projects,

pictures, quizzes and tests, and other artifacts that they are proud of. Ideally, these portfolios will

be started at the beginning of each academic school year and will summatively depict each

student’s progress and growth over the course of that year. Not only will these portfolios be a

keep sake for the students, they can also be used to show teacher effectiveness.

Students will be taught how to problem solve and creatively think outside of the box

when formulating answers during times of assessment. For example, critical thinking,

synthesizing, and self-reflection will be points of strength in my students. Memorizing answers

for a test will not be the focus but instead, a memorization of a multitude of skills that can be

utilized in real life will be. With the recent pressures on teachers from standardized teaching, it is

hard not to teach to the test. However, while I believe that teaching to the test may result in

higher test scores; it has the potential to lower overall academic achievement. Students need to

know that the standardized testing that the state requires them to go through has importance but

is not the determining factor whether they are a good student or not. If a student doesn’t receive a

score on the PSSAs or Keystone exams that is determined to be average or above average, it does

not mean that they are a subpar student. My students will leave my classroom with a plethora of

real life skill sets that will aide them in becoming productive members of society. I will achieve

this goal by assessing my students with authentic tasks that mimic situations they may come into

contact with in their future academic, personal, or professional careers.

Overall, assessment is one of teachers most valuable practices. Authentic assessments

provide students with learning opportunities that allow them to excel in their progression of
academic and life skills. These learning opportunities will force them to engage in critical

reflection so that self-reflection and self-monitoring will occur frequently and naturally.