IA Teaching Standard 5
USES A VARIETY OF METHODS TO MONITOR STUDENT LEARNING.
The teacher:
a. Aligns classroom assessment with instruction.
b. Communicates assessment criteria and standards to all students and parents.
c. Understands and uses the results of multiple assessments to guide planning and instruction.
d. Guides students in goal setting and assessing their own learning.
e. Provides substantive, timely, and constructive feedback to students and parents.
f. Works with other staff and building and district leadership in analysis of student progress.
A. Aligns classroom assessment with instruction.
C. Understands and uses the results of multiple assessments to guide planning and instruction.
Below is an example of the form I created and use each year for designing and aligning my curriculum between content, Common Core State Standards, assessments, and annual schedules. Understanding both the standards I am addressing, as well as student results from multiple in-class and standardized assessments throughout the year, drive overall planning and designing of instruction. I continually reflect on and analyze, both personally and with my English department, the results of all student assessments, working to determine what areas of content and instruction my students needs.
B. Communicates assessment criteria and standards to all students and parents.
To the right is a copy of a "Talking Points" email I sent out toward the end of first semester, advising parents of projects their children soon had coming due. In the email, I reiterate the criteria that I had previously given to students and posted on my class website. I feel it is extremely important to keep families in the loop for purposes of accountability and encouragement. I make all assessment criteria accessible online, in addition to explaining it when the assignment or project is given.
D. Guides students in goal setting and assessing their own learning.
Below is my English 3 webfolio template that I use with my 11th graders. This webfolio is an electronic portfolio that allows students the opportunity to take ownership of their learning and construction of knowledge in a way that more completely shows their personal growth in knowledge, skills, talents, and experiences, while they master current 21st century technologies in a way that prepares them to enter the workforce as knowledgeable, productive, and responsible citizens with positive digital footprints. The biggest key element of this webfolio process is reflection where students assess their strengths and daily learning and then reflect on the goals they have in their lives. The elements (pages) that I have included in their webfolios are the major transferrable job skills of reading, written communication, oral communication, technological communication, critical thinking, and teamwork. In addition to the webfolio and transferrable job skills reflections, I include a reflection at the end of each major unit for kids to reflect on what they learned, why they learned it, how what they learned can help them in their lives, and how they can improve on the skills.
E. Provides substantive, timely, and constructive feedback to students and parents.
To the right is a copy of a "Talking Points" email I sent out at the beginning of the year. Although this email doesn't provide feedback to an assessment, per se, I feel it represents my habit of providing feedback to students and parents about what is going on in our classroom, since not all that is learned in class can be assessed through a test. Therefore I try to provide substantive, timely, and constructive feedback about various learning occurring in our classroom, and I try to communicate that to all educational stakeholders - students, parents, and administrators - all of which get a copy of my "Talking Points."
F. Works with other staff and building and district leadership in analysis of student progress.
I am a firm believer that both educators and parents, in addition to the students themselves, should actively analyze and hold the students accountable for their learning and educational progress. One of the best and most efficient ways of doing this - and all being on the same page about it - is by way of utilizing the gradebook on the student and parent portals. To this end, I created a jing to help students and parents understand how to use our student and parent portals so they could always monitor and analyze the students' progress. Our middle school teachers used this jing in their homerooms at the beginning of the year.