EDUC 410
Summer 2014
Dr. Jason Parker, NBCT
Email: jlparker@gardner-webb.edu
Phone: 704-406-3890
Facebook: facebook.com/gwusoe
Twitter: @drparkerjl
Why are we here?
- Learning about assessments
- Learning how assessments should inform your teaching
- Assessment for learning vs. assessment of learning
- Importance of integration
- Increased knowledge of NCPTS
- increased knowledge of lesson/unit planning
Essential Questions
1. Why is assessment of student learning vital to my success as a future teacher?
2. What are effective practices teachers can use to check for student understanding?
3. How do I establish an effective classroom climate to allow for an active and accurate assessment system?
4. How do I interpret and apply data to my future lessons?
5. How do I effectively differentiate instruction for my future students?
6. How do I effectively integrate technology into my instruction?
7. How do I provide meaningful feedback to my future students?
8. How do I teach with the end in mind?
9. How do I develop assessments using various facets of student work?
a. How do I use questions to check for understanding?
b. How do I use writing to check for understanding?
c. How do I use projects and performance assessments to check for understanding?
d. How do I use tests to check for understanding?
10.How do I effectively integrate content from multiple subject areas?
Review of Syllabus
NC Professional Teaching Standards
NCPTS
- 6 standards that you will be held accountable to
- rating system now in place all over state
Standard One
- In your classroom
- In your school
- In the profession
Standard Two
- All means all
Standard Three
- teaching what you are supposed to be
- teaching the correct way
Standard 4
- facilitator vs. traditional teaching
- technology for positive student impact
- meeting the needs of every student
Standard 5
- Did my instruction meet the needs of my students?
- How could I make my instruction more effective?
- How am I growing as a teacher?
Standard 6
- Average of student growth of 3 years
- will be rated as :
- does not meet expected growth
- meets expected growth
- exceeds expected growth
Information on Smore was taken from:
Why do Teachers Conduct Assessment?
- Establishing a Classroom that Supports Learning
- Planning and Conducting Instruction
- Placing Students (cooperative groups, project work, etc)
- Providing Feedback (formative assessment) What does feedback mean to you?
- Diagnosing Student Problems and Disabilities (misconceptions and learning difficulties)
- Summarizing and Grading Academic Progress (grading for summative assessment)
Assessment, Testing, Measurement, and Evaluation
- classroom assessments cover much more than the typical tests or quizzes!
- assessment = is a "process of collecting, synthesizing, and interpreting information in order to MAKE A DECISION
- test - formal procedure to gather info about students' achievement
- measurement - process of assigning a grade to a performance (grading a test)
- evaluation - making decisions made from measurement
Validity vs. Reliability:
- V = Are my test questions really telling me what I want to know? Am I collecting appropriate evidence?
- R = Can I give the same test to different groups and get the same results? Have I collected enough evidence?
No assessment is 100% valid, no assessment is 100% reliable.
Standardized or Nonstandardized (p.14)
bevrick.wikispaces.com/file/view/Ch_1_Power_Point_new.ppt
1.___a teacher constructs her own test for a science unit
2.___ACT
3.___scoring procedures and interpretations are the same for all students
4.___constructed for use in a single classroom with a single group of students
5.___the teacher observes his chemistry students during their lab experiments
6.___constructed for use in many different classrooms
7.___constructed in such a way that the administration is always under identical conditions
8.___important when information from the assessment is to be used for the same purpose across many different classrooms and locations
9.___weekly spelling test
10.__Cooperative group project
Ethics
- be fair
- accommodate for students with special needs
- motivate students
- make students familiar with different types of assessment
- make impartial decisions
Additions to Chapter One?
Chapter Two - Early Assessments
The beginning of the school year...
- What can teachers do to have a smooth beginning of the school year?
- What are three important things for a teacher to do at the start of the school year?
Classroom culture is defined in the first days...
Be the participant and the observer.
Information Gathering
Don't expect one class to be like other classes - they are all different!
The beginning of the year should be a fresh start for the teacher and the students.
***Don't listen to what other teachers have said about students - form your own opinions...Don't pre-judge your students***
Early Assessments
- academic skills
- social abilities (behaviors)
- attitudes
- families
mostly on an informal basis
pay attention to what students say, what students do, and what students write
treat first impressions as hypotheses to be confirmed by additional observations / information
observe long enough to see typical behavior - look for patterns in behavior - this will help you to be fair
Students with Exceptionalities
make sure you collaborate early with the EC teacher (even during student teaching)
IEP's meetings are not a waste of your time...take them seriously!
Comparison of Classrooms
Classroom A
30 students
Students’ abilities clustered at three disparate levels
Range of socioeconomic backgrounds
Parent pressures for multicultural learning
Balanced gender mix
Separate art and music programs in another class
Spacious, quiet room
Nearly all students together for several years
Individual student desks
Classroom aide available
Classroom B
16 students
Fairly homogeneous student abilities
A few students who crave attention and a few who seem extremely shy
Uniformly middle class
Parent pressure for high grades
Predominantly boys
No separate art or music
Small room with noise from class next door
Most students meeting each other for the first time
Tables and chairs
No classroom aide
"Daily Dozen" for teachers - pg. 50 - EXCELLENT info!
- Be consistent
- Don't make idle threats
- Look for reasons behind misbehavior
- Be sure they know the rules
- Check your own feelings about students
- Watch your tongue
- Don't make study a punishment
- Let them know you like them
- Don't try to do the impossible
- Control your temper
- Don't be afraid to apologize
- What you see as delinquent behavior may be normal behavior in a child's background
Remember this...
- Sonny Magana
Additions to Chapter Two?
Chapter Three - Lesson Planning Assessment Objectives
Remember...
Why teach?
- to educate students: to help students change in important and desirable ways (p. 57)
Teacher should teach the curriculum - the skills, performances, knowledge, and attitudes students are expected to learn in school (p. 57).
Planning Instruction (p. 60)
- determining student outcomes
- finding and selected the appropriate materials (say no to worksheets...)
- organizing lessons that are driven my formative assessment
Always remember to consider the following when you are developing lessons: (p. 65)
- student characteristics: level of knowledge, learning styles, special learning needs, future/language differences, disabilities
- teacher characteristics: content knowledge, your methods of teaching, (know your teaching style...the narrow your teaching repertoire = the fewer learning opportunities for students), assessments
- instructional resources: supplies, equipments, time, etc
Teaching What You've Planned
- the level of student understanding
- the level of student interest
- the pace of your instruction
- what should be re-taught
Reflection is vital to successful lesson plan delivery! Continually ask yourself...did the students learn what I wanted them to learn???