Session 7: Assessment for Diverse Students
Richard-Amato and Snow Chapters 15 and 16
Reflection:
Since NCLB was enacted, assessments and testing have been at the forefront of education. Throughout my classes in the school of education, we have had extensive discussions over the positives and negatives of these standardized assessments. Obviously, assessment is an essential part of teaching. Not only can teachers draw conclusions about the strengths and weaknesses of our students, and how well they have grasped a certain concept, but it also helps us make decisions on how to adapt our teaching strategies to better meet the needs of our students. I was actually surprised that the chapter did not place much emphasis on this aspect of teaching, especially when it discussed the effectiveness of formative assessments. I think that a critical component of formative assessments is how teachers use the information gained from testing to address their student’s needs. I would like to see authentic assessments being implemented more frequently in schools, and incorporate it into my own classroom. I do agree that these types of assessments are not only more applicable in the real world, but they relate more to the context of the teaching and learning that occurs in the classroom. Unfortunately, with so much emphasis on standardized testing at the moment, teachers do not have the opportunity to utilize this more effective form of assessment.
A statement that particularly stood out to me in the reading was “of all the voices in the assessment debate, the one least often heard is that of the students” (313). Assessments and their results should be focused on the students, unfortunately, assessments are more commonly viewed as a way to assess teachers, analyze instructional strategies, and reform education. Politicians view assessment results as a means to further their political agenda, community members want to see that their tax dollars are well spent, and school administers are trying to prove their program effectiveness. I think that assessments should be used as a tool to evaluate student learning and improve instruction accordingly.
In terms of standardized testing, there are obviously many problems. Applying the “one-size-fits-all approach” is never effective because students can’t all learn the same way and at the same pace, so it should not be expected that they can all be tested the same way. It has also resulted in schools “teaching to the test”. However, I do see how standards –based performance assessments can be used as a reform strategy.
Peer Response to: Rachel,
I really appreciated the comments you made in your discussion over standardized testing. It is an unbelievably frustrating situation that Washington has thrown both teachers and students into! I do think that in order to reform education, there needs to be a system in place that assesses teachers and their instructional strategies. However, this just is not the right way to go about it, and the effects of it have obviously been disastrous. I also agree that the standards are a major part of this issue. The tests are only assessing the “isolated skills” that the standards demand. Something that has frustrated me is that we read and learn so much about the problems with standardized testing, however we don’t often discuss ways to teach effectively while still adhering to the standards and preparing students for the assessments. Like you said, there is no easy solution, and standards and standardized testing are not going anywhere anytime soon. I would like to discuss more strategies for incorporating authentic assessment into the classroom while still preparing students for standardized tests.
My Response:
I still feel the same way about assessments as I did when I first posted my reflection to the chapter. I think that assessments are essential to teaching effectively. Assessments should be conducted multiple times a day to ensure that students are grasping the material. However, they do not need to be formal and graded tests. Teachers can complete formative assessments of their students in an informal manner, where students may not even know that they are being assessed. In addition, assessments do not always need to be multiple choice tests, students can complete portfolios that convey equally well what they have learned over the course of the year. I think the biggest problem with assessments in the classroom today are how teachers create and conduct them. I am currently taking a course on assessing ELLs and it is vital that teachers create valid and reliable assessments. I think that even on standardized assessments, questions can be unfair or biased, especially for ESL students.