7. Assessment

This Google Forms assessment is designed for students to take as a test over Chapter 10 of the textbook, Educational Psychology by Anita Woolfolk. I created this assessment as if it were to be given to a class after learning about Chapter 10. It contains eight multiple choice questions at the applying level of Bloom’s Taxonomy and two short answer questions at the analyzing and evaluating levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. I then created an analysis of the data once ten “students” took the assessment. This data would help me examine the results so that I could decide next steps as the teacher.

Through creating this assessment, I was able to learn how to create a google forms assessment like this and connect each question to a specific level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. I analyzed the results of the test in order to determine a plan of next steps I would take as a teacher. This goes along with knowledge indicator 7D) which states, “The competent teacher understands current terminology and procedures necessary for the appropriate analysis and interpretation of assessment data;” I interpreted the data in both narrative and graphic form by using a chart. After I completed the chart, I explained and discussed the chart, citing evidence. Once I understood the data, I made decisions on how to move forward with students. I identified two focus students in which I could adjust practices to best help them. This goes along with knowledge indicator 7G) which states, “The competent teacher understands how to make data-driven decisions using assessment results to adjust practices to meet the needs of each student;” Next, I also assessed how effective the test was, considering if the success or failure of students could have been due to instruction or due to tricky questions on the assessment. This correlates with knowledge indicator 7I) which states “The competent teacher knows assessment and progress monitoring techniques to assess the effectiveness of instruction for each student.” I took into consideration students’ abilities on the subject in order to monitor their progress and judge the effectiveness of instruction for specific students. Lastly, by using Google forms to construct the assessment, this goes along with performance indicator 7O) which states, “The competent teacher effectively uses appropriate technologies to conduct assessments, monitor performance, and assess student progress;” Through the use of Google forms, I was able to conduct the assessment, monitor student performance through the “responses” tab, and then analyze the data to assess student progress. Overall, I believe this project emphasized my competence in the area of assessment.

Creating this assessment and analysis of the assessment helped me grow as a professional. By having to create an assessment for my class, I had to take into consideration students’ abilities and competencies. I had to make sure that the questions were geared toward higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy so that I was truly assessing understanding rather than knowledge. This project helped me grow as a professional because it enabled me to think like one. Learning how to create an assessment like this was important because it helped me recognize the steps of making an effective assessment and how to analyze the results and data afterward. In my future classroom, I will be equipped with the understanding of how to create an assessment like this and how to analyze the data after the assessment has been taken.

I created this test during my 2nd grade student teaching placement in the fall of 2022. The test was over their colonial unit in history. At the end of the unit, we prepared for the test by doing whiteboard review practice. I asked students the exact questions on the test without them knowing that those would be the test questions. Students had their whiteboards numbered one through ten and wrote the answers to the questions on their whiteboards. I would quickly check, and the students could circle that number if they got it right. For the first four questions, I had a word bank up on the whiteboard of possible answers. For the next six questions, students had to write the answers from memory. Students could show me their score on their whiteboard at the end.

Performance indicator 7L of the Illinois Professional Teaching Standards states that the competent teacher “involves students in self-assessment activities to help them become aware of their strengths and needs and encourages them to establish goals for learning.” For this assessment, I was able to give the students time to practice and review for the test. Through doing the whiteboard practice the day before, students were able to self-assess and notice where they had strong understanding and where they may have needed to come to a realization about an answer. This activity helped them do this so that they felt better prepared for the test which was exactly as we had practiced it.

Through making this artifact and involving the students in the review activity, I learned that it is important for students to be able to monitor their learning. For young students, it is important to be as clear as possible. They need to learn that teachers do not make assessments in order to trick them. I learned that it is important to be very clear in what I want them to learn and why we are learning it. The assessment should be straightforward, especially for younger elementary students, and should assess exactly what they have been learning from the unit.