Assessments
Student assessments play a crucial role in education for several reasons. All effective educators use assessments to understand students' knowledge, skills, strengths, and areas for improvement. This information enables educators to tailor their instruction, adjust teaching strategies, and provide targeted support to meet individual student needs. Different types of assessments are essential for a differentiated classroom to address the diverse needs and abilities of students. Students have different learning styles, such as visual, auditory, or kinesthetic. By utilizing diverse assessment methods, teachers can capture a range of learning preferences and provide opportunities for students to demonstrate their understanding in ways that align with their strengths.. Read below to learn more information regarding other forms of assessments used in our classrooms that evaluate skills, creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, and real-world application of knowledge.
Formative
Takes place during instruction.
They are on-going and can be used immediately to guide instruction.
Embedded within instruction.
Take various forms and are often informal in nature.
They can include techniques like classroom discussions, questioning, observations, quizzes, short assignments, exit tickets, concept maps, or peer/self-assessments.
Timely and specific feedback to students about their strengths and areas for improvement.
Students understand their progress, make adjustments, and set goals for further learning
It encourages reflection, self-assessment, and self-regulation.
Resource used:
https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/student-assessment-in-teaching-and-learning/
Summative
Used to evaluate and measure the learning outcomes and achievement of students at the end of a specific period, such as a unit, course, or academic year.
Usually administered at the end of a learning cycle, unit, semester, academic year.
Intended to measure how well students have met the learning objectives or standards set for that particular period.
Summative assessments frequently follow standardized formats, such as exams, tests, projects, or essays.
Summative assessments allow for the comparison of student performance across different individuals or groups.
It's important to note they are just one part of a comprehensive snapshot of a child.
Resource used:
https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/student-assessment-in-teaching-and-learning/
Growth Model
Growth model assessments measure student progress over time.
The focus is on individual growth.
These assessments are designed to track students' development and provide valuable information about their learning trajectory, strengths, areas for improvement, and the effectiveness of instructional strategies.
This approach recognizes that students start at different points and progress at varying rates, allowing for personalized and differentiated instruction.
This approach pulls from multiple data points, including formative assessments, and summative assessments.
Resource used: https://www.nciea.org/
Portfolio
Portfolios are a collection of student work samples, projects, reflections, and assessments that demonstrate their learning.
Portfolios can include a range of artifacts such as written assignments, artwork, multimedia projects, presentations, and reflections.
Portfolio assessment has five stages:
1. Collection of evidence of achievement of learning outcomes
2. Reflection on learning 3. Evaluation of evidence 4. Defense of evidence
5. Assessment decision
Offer teachers vital information for diagnosing students’ strengths and weaknesses.
Promotes critical thinking.
Combine subjective and objective, as well as qualitative and quantitative, assessment procedures.
Resource used:
https://jvme.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/jvme.32.3.279
RTI
RTI is a proactive and systematic approach to help all students succeed in their learning, (common misconception - RTI is strickly for struggling learners).
RTI is a multi-tiered system of support:
Tier 1: Universal Instruction: All students receive high-quality, evidence-based instruction in the general education classroom. Teachers use effective teaching strategies, differentiated instruction, and ongoing assessments to ensure that students are meeting grade-level expectations.
Tier 2: Targeted Instruction/InterventionStudents who need additional support beyond what is provided in the general education classroom receive targeted interventions or accelerations. As the need for intervention/acceleration arises, appropriately scaffolded activities become available to the student based on the data acquired.These interventions/accelerations are more focused and specific to address their individual needs. They may involve small-group instruction, additional practice, or specialized programs to target specific areas of difficulty or mastery.
Tier 3: Intensive Intervention/Content Enrichment. Students who are not responding to tier 1 and teir 2 scaffolds will move to more intense intervention in this tier. These interventions are individualized and may involve one-on-one instruction, specialized programs, or interventions provided by specialists or support staff. Progress is closely monitored to ensure that students are making significant gains. For students moving to content enrichment, here they will explore beyond the curriculum boundaries.
Resource used:
http://www.rtinetwork.org/