Assessment
Who Does it Benefit?
“Assessment is not about you as a teacher; it is about your students” (Lopez, 2013, p.97).
Defending our Assessment Practices
- Why are you participating in the assessments that you use with students?
- Can you share in explicit detail the value that you find in each assessment?
- Do you participate in assessments that you find no value in for students?
- Are you using an assessment you have no idea how to deliver, but are afraid to ask for help with? (p.98)
These questions can help a teacher understand the importance of assessment. Teachers need to under why assessment is important and what role they play in assessment. They need to be able to share assessment results with the students for immediate feedback, and also with parents. By using assessments properly teachers can show exactly what and where students are struggling or succeeding and use that data to help their students. Every student has a unique learning style and through assessment, teachers are able to see what teaching styles are working and which are not. It also allows for the teacher to make changes to the curriculum in order to help each student master the content.Teachers need to be aware of how to properly use assessment tools so that they are assessing the students properly. If they are not using the assessment in the right way then it will not benefit the students or the teacher in any way.