The competent teacher understands and uses appropriate formative and summative assessments for determining student needs, monitoring student progress, measuring student growth, and evaluating student outcomes. The teacher makes decisions driven by data about curricular and instructional effectiveness and adjusts practices to meet the needs of each student.
For my Educational Psychology class, we were required to create a test consisting of eight multiple choice questions and two essay questions from a specific chapter ofWoolfolk’s Educational Psychology textbook. When creating my test I utilized Bloom's taxonomy, ensuring my questions were at the application level or higher. Because I created my questions with this in mind, I was certain that the results I received would be an indicator of my student's understanding and comprehension of the material studied.
After assessing the test results I was able to analyze my class's understanding of the material as well as review certain students and know where their problem areas are. Performance Indicator 7K states "appropriately uses a variety of formal and informal assessments to evaluate the understanding, progress, and performance of an individual student and the class as a whole" Performance Indicator 7K). Through collecting data from this test, I am able to monitor both the results of my class and individual students. After collecting these results I am then able to structure my teaching around them, knowing if I need to reteach a certain area or if my students understand the material well enough to continue on. Performance indicator 7J states that the effective teacher" uses assessment results to determine student performance levels, identify learning targets, select appropriate research-based instructional strategies, and implement instruction to enhance learning outcomes (Performance Indicator 7J). If individual students need extra support as indicated by this test then I am able to discuss and determine what steps are necessary in order to ensure the best education possible for this student. I am also able to determine individual and group goals as well as reflect on my teaching with the data and observe which methods worked well, helping students learn and which need to be changed in order to create a better learning environment.
Performance Indicator 7O states the effective teacher "uses appropriate technologies to conduct assessments, monitor performance, and assess student progress" (Performance Indicator 7O). Because this test was created on Google forms, it incorporates technology into the classroom making it fun and exciting for students. It is also more accessible for students who have difficulty writing, holding a pencil or formulating their thoughts through the written word. This test incorporates both multiple choice questions and short answer questions varying the types of questions for a more engaging test experience. Since this test is online, I am then able to automatically keep a spreadsheet of the student's answers and grades, filing them into my individual portfolios for each student. That way, the grades are backed up in several places so that there is no chance of losing them. Because of the easy access to the computer, it makes emailing grades, writing report cards and keeping track of student data easy and efficient. Performance Indicator 7M states that the effective teacher "maintains useful and accurate records of student work and performance" (Performance Indicator 7M). As a teacher, it is essential that your grades are accurate, up to date, organized and able to be used to evaluate students progress. By having students take tests through Google forms, all of these standards are met.
By creating this test, I learned how to create materials and assessments that would allow students to show their understanding and learning. I learned how to create meaningful test questions that gave students the freedom to express their thoughts and varied learning styles, instead of boxing them into one type of question. I also learned how to develop questions that displayed the levels of Bloom's taxonomy in order to get an accurate and in-depth reading of the student's growth and learning.
For my Middle Gades Literacy course, we were required to observe a student completing an assessment and create a follow-up lesson plan based on what we observed. For this assignment, I observed a Kindergarten student taking a literacy assessment and I delivered a one-one-one lesson based on his performance.
For this assessment, the student was being assessed on his ability to retell a story, identifying key characters, settings, and events which occur in the story. This assessment did so by having the teacher read a story to the student and with prompting and support, have the student retell what they know about the story. The student needs to be able to listen to the story and indicate they know the key characters, settings, and events of the story. By observing this, I demonstrated that I understand "that assessment is a means of evaluating how students learn and what they know and are able to do in order to meet the Illinois Learning Standards" (Performance Indicator 7B).
After observing the student take the assessment, I determined, based on his scores, that he needed additional support and explicit teaching in this skill area. Since his score was an outlier among his class, I made the decision to deliver a lesson to him one-on-one in order to teach the concept to him directly. By making decisions on instruction based on the assessment data I showed that I understand "how to make data-driven decisions using assessment results to adjust practices to meet the needs of each student" (Performance Indicator 7G). I used the data collected to determine what skill deficits the student had and what strategies could be used in order to support the student in their learning. By adjusting his educational plan and delivering the follow-up lesson based on his assessment data I also showed that I use "assessment results to determine student performance levels, identifying learning targets, select appropriate research-based instructional strategies and implement instruction to enhance learning outcomes (Performance Indicator 7J).
By assessing the data, I was able to determine patterns and pinpoint students who made need more help or review in certain areas as well as students who need to be more challenged. By completing this project, I learned how to assess data fairy and keep record of it, so that it becomes meaningful and used data in order to drive instruction.