Assessment Philosophy
“To me, assessment does not mean, “a test”. I believe assessment is a means of collecting data on students and basing your instructional decisions off of their individual needs. All of this you have figured out through assessment and data analysis.”
Assessment comes in two forms, formative and summative. From the Measurement course I have been able to develop my own philosophy of assessment as I have stated above. It is important to keep in mind the diversity of students in your classroom because differentiation in assessment and instruction are necessary to meet the students’ needs.
First and most importantly, I do not believe that assessment should be known as a “test”. I think as teachers we need to be very open and honest about what assessment means and share with our students the various forms you can be assessed in. Once you have cleared up that misconception I think that students will be set at ease and more comfortable with assessment to where they do not feel so much pressure on them. This links to the idea of building open and honest relationships with students, which is a major teaching belief I have. Without relationships with your students you will be ineffective. So, the idea of being honest about assessment and sharing with students about how I will be assessing them will aide my belief in being honest and forming relationships with my students.
Additionally, I believe assessment should be a way you collect data on your students to base your instructional decisions. You will never see me assessing students simply for a grade. You assess students in hopes of targeting their needs to help them succeed and master different skills. If all you do is give summative assessments to get a “grade” it is meaningless and does not help your students grow. This also aligns with my teaching philosophy; I think that you should be working together with your students for their success. With that being said, the data you receive should be used to guide your instruction. For example, if you have data on your students reading skills and you find that they struggle with making inferences you should use that data to guide your future lessons, not say “oh well” and move on to the next thing on your list. Know your students and work together for their success.
Furthermore, you need to be able to analyze the data you have retrieved from your assessment pieces. You need to be able to analyze that data to be able to share with administration, parents, and students and actually know what the data means. In my teaching philosophy I strongly urge the collaboration between parents, administration, and students. By being able to analyze data and use it toward the success of your students you will always be able to have justification, documentation, and proof of the child’s strengths and needs. This will help all parties work together for that child’s success.
Sometimes things are much easier said than done, so as much as I will strive to follow my philosophy within my own classroom I know there is always room for improvements. My goal for professional growth in assessment would be practicing knowing how to take the data and make lessons based around that data. The diversity in the classroom is always evident so sometimes you can come up with something to meet most students’ needs but I need help incorporating ALL students’ needs based off of the assessment data. Assessment is often misunderstood and I would really like to make it understood in the classroom. If everyone had a better understanding on assessment and used it to guide instruction and share data with parents and administration I think students would get less anxiety over the word assessment and be more successful in their education.
Assessment comes in two forms, formative and summative. From the Measurement course I have been able to develop my own philosophy of assessment as I have stated above. It is important to keep in mind the diversity of students in your classroom because differentiation in assessment and instruction are necessary to meet the students’ needs.
First and most importantly, I do not believe that assessment should be known as a “test”. I think as teachers we need to be very open and honest about what assessment means and share with our students the various forms you can be assessed in. Once you have cleared up that misconception I think that students will be set at ease and more comfortable with assessment to where they do not feel so much pressure on them. This links to the idea of building open and honest relationships with students, which is a major teaching belief I have. Without relationships with your students you will be ineffective. So, the idea of being honest about assessment and sharing with students about how I will be assessing them will aide my belief in being honest and forming relationships with my students.
Additionally, I believe assessment should be a way you collect data on your students to base your instructional decisions. You will never see me assessing students simply for a grade. You assess students in hopes of targeting their needs to help them succeed and master different skills. If all you do is give summative assessments to get a “grade” it is meaningless and does not help your students grow. This also aligns with my teaching philosophy; I think that you should be working together with your students for their success. With that being said, the data you receive should be used to guide your instruction. For example, if you have data on your students reading skills and you find that they struggle with making inferences you should use that data to guide your future lessons, not say “oh well” and move on to the next thing on your list. Know your students and work together for their success.
Furthermore, you need to be able to analyze the data you have retrieved from your assessment pieces. You need to be able to analyze that data to be able to share with administration, parents, and students and actually know what the data means. In my teaching philosophy I strongly urge the collaboration between parents, administration, and students. By being able to analyze data and use it toward the success of your students you will always be able to have justification, documentation, and proof of the child’s strengths and needs. This will help all parties work together for that child’s success.
Sometimes things are much easier said than done, so as much as I will strive to follow my philosophy within my own classroom I know there is always room for improvements. My goal for professional growth in assessment would be practicing knowing how to take the data and make lessons based around that data. The diversity in the classroom is always evident so sometimes you can come up with something to meet most students’ needs but I need help incorporating ALL students’ needs based off of the assessment data. Assessment is often misunderstood and I would really like to make it understood in the classroom. If everyone had a better understanding on assessment and used it to guide instruction and share data with parents and administration I think students would get less anxiety over the word assessment and be more successful in their education.