Reflective Statement for PTS 8 Brittany Granquist

Artifact: STAR Math Training Session

PTS 8. Assessment: The competent teacher understands various formal and

informal assessment strategies and uses them to support the continuous
development of all students.

1. Write a paragraph explaining your knowledge and understanding of the

standard-put the

standard in your own words.

I think that this standard wants me to recognize that the development of all students depends

heavily on the teacher’s use of effective informal and formal assessment strategies and programs.

In order to ensure that all students are progressing, I will have to know how to use the results of

assessment, and also the processes for reflection and modification of instruction, when

appropriate. This standard wants me to recognize that assessment has many forms, but that in

order to evaluate its worth and value in the classroom, I will need to understand purposes,

characteristics, and limitations of specific assessment tools.

2. Explain how the artifact you chose demonstrates your understanding and
application of the

standard.

The artifact I chose that demonstrates my understanding and application of the standard is a

training session I attended with my cooperating teacher and the rest of the Oakwood Grade

School staff earlier this semester on a late start day. The session outlined the purposes,

characteristics, and scoring procedures for STAR Math. In addition to learning about this novel,

computer-based assessment tool, I learned how to use the individual student’s scores to inform
instruction and intervention. The assessments are given weekly in math and reading to students

during computer lab time. The tests are a total of 27 questions, and depending on how many

questions are answered correctly, students are given a Grade Equivalent score, Percentile

Ranking, and the Percentile Ranking Range. Learning about these different scores and examining

the graphed score summary allowed me to apply my understanding of “assessment-related

issues, such as validity, reliability, bias, and scoring.” I was also able to observe my cooperating

teacher “use the results of assessment to reflect on and modify teaching” during their planning

for RTI. In theory, this is an “appropriate technology to monitory and assess student progress.”

3. A If the artifact has been used in your practice, reflect on how your
teaching will change in

the future to further meet the standard.

B. If the artifact has not been used in your practice, i.e., a class
assignment, reflect upon how

your teaching will be impacted by the assignment.

The artifact has been used on a weekly basis in my practice, in that after learning about STAR

Math, my students have been tested on a weekly basis using the program. My teaching will

change in the future because I have been given an opportunity to work with various assessment

strategies and formats. In the future, I will have a better idea of different methods for monitoring

progress outside of the classroom and I will have experience in collaborating with “other

professionals involved in the assessment of individuals with disabilities” and all students alike.

From having experience reading the scores and utilizing them in instruction, I will further be able

to practice in RTI, which will be based off of several different formal and informal assessments.
4. Conclude with a paragraph discussing how you are more prepared to
Teach and Learn in a

Diverse Society as a result of satisfactorily meeting the standard.

Attending the STAR Math training seminar at Oakwood Grade School has better prepared me to

teach and learn in a diverse society in that learning about a school wide assessment tool, being

given the opportunity to observe my diverse learners and thinkers take it, and evaluating the

assessment tool for its worth over the course of the semester, have allowed me to consider how

different learners handle formal tests like this one. I also was able to evaluate the use of

assessment to intervene in instruction for diverse learners, developing a three-tiered system.