Ah-Ha Moments Post-Reflection
Informal/Formal Assessment
Ethics
Norm-Referenced Assessments
Assessment Toolbox Resources
Learning and Teaching Style Assessments
National Association for the Education of Young Children
Matching Readers with Texts
Assessment Framework
Faucets and Considerations of Assessment
- purpose (informs instruction/identifies students eligible for services/answers ?s @ students)
- different types/approaches (formal/informal, summative/formative, etc)
- SEM
- skills and knowledge related to students with special needs
PURPOSE OF ASSESSMENT
- inform instruction
- identify students eligible for services
- gather/interpret information to answer questions about students':
-abilities/interests/strengths/"opportunity areas"
-skill mastery
-content knowledge
-behavioral functioning
-unsolved problems (Greene, 2008)
This information allows us to:
- determine prior knowledge
- make changes to instruction/assessment as needed
- improve our teaching practice
- determine elibility
DIFFERENT TYPES OF ASSESSMENT
Examples of INFORMAL assessment
Examples of FORMAL assessments
One of my greatest take-aways from this course were the points driven home both by the online modules as well as the "Assessment for Learning Video."
- show examples of work of different qualities
- exit tickets
- The Big 5 (analytical, conceptual, information management, communication, meta-cognition)
Engineering effective classroom discussions, tasks, and activities that ELICIT EVIDENCE of LEARNING:
- multi-participant questions
- student answer simultaneously on mini-white boards
- "no hands up" - use this to activate all students by saying hands can only go up to ask questions/not to answer
- flipped classroom
Provide feedback that MOTIVATES and moves learners FORWARD:
- 'two stars and a wish' approach to constructive feedback
- specific examples
Activate students as a learning RESOURCE for one another:
- checklists can be used to help guide and support the feedback that students give to each other
Activate students as OWNERS of their own learning:
- "C3B4ME" - Encourage students to always check three resources before asking for help
The best feedback is not feedback given to students, but that which is given to the teacher through collecting and reading the work of the class, then PLANNING and ADJUSTING the next lesson to MEET STUDENT NEEDS!
STANDARD ERROR OF MEASUREMENT (SEM)
The SEM is often not reported. Scores are not considered TRUE SCORES unless the SEM is considered. When the SEM is small, we can be more confident of a score; when the SEM is large, there is less confidence in the score. Thus, it follows that the more reliable a test is, the smaller the SEM and the more confidence we can have. The less reliable a test, the larger the SEM and the more uncertainty we have in a score (Cohen & Spenciner, 2014).
ASSESSMENT SKILLS RELATED TO STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
Important considerations:
- students with disabilities should have access to the general education curriculum
- knowledge of alternate assessments and when appropriate to administer
- InTASC standards address what special education teachers need to know and be able to do when teaching students with disabilities (Cohen & Spencer, 2014)
References
Cohen & Spenciner (2014). Assessment of Children and Youth with Special Needs (5th Edition). Pearson. Kindle Edition.
Greene, Ross W. (2008). Lost at School: Why Our Kids with Behavioral Challenges are Falling Through the Cracks and How We Can Help Them. Scribner. Kindle Edition.