Standard 3:
Assessment
Teachers understand and use varied assessments to inform instruction, evaluate and ensure student learning.
3.1 Teachers are knowledgeable about assessment types, their purposes and the data they generate.
I actually just finished a graduate level course on assessment in the educational setting. The class focused on the importance of formative and summative assessment along with the different ways to assess for learning and assess learning. This artifact is an unofficial view of my transcript which shows I earned an A in the course.
3.2 Teachers select, develop and use a variety of diagnostic, formative and summative assessments.
I was the 10th grade team leader for developing a common assessment for students in the 10th grade. There were five different teachers instructing tenth graders, so we needed to establish a baseline assessment to ensure we were all covering the same material. I spearheaded this movement within our English Department and 10th grade team. Here is an example of the midterm we developed as a type of summative assessment. I also use pretests, quizzes, tests, projects, questioning, and other types of assessment on a day to day basis.
3.3 Teachers analyze data to monitor student progress and learning and to plan, differentiate and modify instruction.
I use Edmodo on a daily basis to make my classroom paperless. One of the things I love about Edmodo is the quiz feature. I assign multiple choice, short answer, fill in the blank, and essay tests though Edmodo. Most of my Edmodo quizzes are formative in nature and allow me to see how my students are picking up the material and what I need to do differently. Edmond also breaks the data down by question, so I know exactly what I need to cover with my students to ensure their maximum learning. The screen shot here shows some student results after an independent reading assignment. I was just checking for basic comprehension to ensure that all students understood and completed the reading. I like to differentiate the way I assess for comprehension with activities, discussions, and even sometimes a quiz.
3.4 Teachers collaborate and communicate student progress with students, parents and colleagues.
On a daily basis, I use Edmodo and Edline with my classes. Edmodo and Edline both allow me to connect with my students and their parents about their grades and assignments. Parents create accounts which link to the student accounts. Parents can always go online and see how their child is doing in class. I email with parents a lot to keep them informed on progress as well. I have a g0-to list of parents that I email weekly about their child.
As far as communication of student progress with colleagues, I am the team leader for the 10th grade team. I was in charge of combining all the data from our common assessments to keep track of the growth of our students. The document below is the data for all of the 10th grade students in the school. From this data, we were able to discuss how our development of the next semester’s curriculum should be balanced.
Sophomore TEAM Data- Common Assessment Fall 2014
3.5 Teachers involve learners in self-assessment and goal setting to address gaps between performance and potential.
I like to start the semester with some goal setting for my students. I encourage them to reflect upon their past English experiences and identify their strengths and weaknesses. I ask students to set a goal grade for the semester, and then students explain what they will do to reach their goals. This is all done in a letter format. Here is an example of a student written letter.