InTASC Standard 6: Assessment
The teacher understands and uses multiple methods of assessment to engage learners in their own growth, to monitor learner progress, and to guide the teacher's and learner's decision making.
When working with students, a teacher must be ready to conduct many forms of assessment to fully understand how their students are doing in their learning. Assessments, though they come in many forms, they fall under two main categories – formative and summative. Both of these types of assessment are important in gauging students’ progress in the different content areas. After assessments are completed, they can then be used to help plan instruction with the students’ needs in consideration.
In my own teaching experiences, I have been introduced to several types of assessment and have had a chance to try some of them out for myself. Some formative assessments are as simple as observing the students as they work to see how they do with applying the information they learned. Another type of assessment that I have done is through listening to the students, whether it is in using a word they learned in a sentence, retelling a story, or reviewing. The students verbal answers can tell me how well they understand and are following what is happening in the classroom. Then, some of the other assessments that have been required during my time teaching include formal tests (math, spelling, religion) and standardized tests (MAP, FAST).
Using multiple assessments can help a teacher better assess how their students are doing and what areas they may need more help with in that area. I was able to gain some experience in doing multiple assessments for one area in working with the Observation Survey. In giving these assessments, I was able to get a clearer understanding to where my student was at in her reading/language art skills – including alphabet recognition, writing, hearing and recording, concepts about print, reading level, etc. These different assessments and the results are provided in my artifacts. I really enjoyed these assessments due to how thorough they were in their results and how clear they were for me as a teacher. Since giving the Observation Survey myself, I have since seen how schools and standardized testing use pieces of the Observation Survey (FAST testing) to help level the students in their reading. The results are then used to help level the students for reading groups and to help decide what areas the students may need more help in.
My artifacts from the Observation Survey help show my growth and understanding in how assessments can be performed and used together to provide the most information about a learner. I also know how formative and summative assessments can be used in tandem to help plan and strategize for instruction to best meet the learner’s needs.
In my own teaching experiences, I have been introduced to several types of assessment and have had a chance to try some of them out for myself. Some formative assessments are as simple as observing the students as they work to see how they do with applying the information they learned. Another type of assessment that I have done is through listening to the students, whether it is in using a word they learned in a sentence, retelling a story, or reviewing. The students verbal answers can tell me how well they understand and are following what is happening in the classroom. Then, some of the other assessments that have been required during my time teaching include formal tests (math, spelling, religion) and standardized tests (MAP, FAST).
Using multiple assessments can help a teacher better assess how their students are doing and what areas they may need more help with in that area. I was able to gain some experience in doing multiple assessments for one area in working with the Observation Survey. In giving these assessments, I was able to get a clearer understanding to where my student was at in her reading/language art skills – including alphabet recognition, writing, hearing and recording, concepts about print, reading level, etc. These different assessments and the results are provided in my artifacts. I really enjoyed these assessments due to how thorough they were in their results and how clear they were for me as a teacher. Since giving the Observation Survey myself, I have since seen how schools and standardized testing use pieces of the Observation Survey (FAST testing) to help level the students in their reading. The results are then used to help level the students for reading groups and to help decide what areas the students may need more help in.
My artifacts from the Observation Survey help show my growth and understanding in how assessments can be performed and used together to provide the most information about a learner. I also know how formative and summative assessments can be used in tandem to help plan and strategize for instruction to best meet the learner’s needs.
Artifacts: