Assessment Philosophy

Ryan Larsen

As an educator, it is my goal that every one of my students have the chance

to learn in a positive environment, and feel that they all have every opportunity to

succeed in my classroom. Each student coming into my class will be different, will

have different needs, will have different strengths, and it is my goal that the way I

use assessment will reflect this. I often find that the word assessment has the

tendency to carry some negative connotations, both for students and teachers.

Unfortunately, for too long, our society has placed a high value in summative

assessment and standardized tests which try to motivate students by means of

grades. However, this system is flawed and has been met with high levels of

anxiety, stress, confusion, and unnecessary competition between students. I believe

that it is time that this is changed and that education becomes more focused on the

learning, exploration and the growth of students and less about grades.

Although assessments and grades can be valuable, they should not be the

main focus of the students or teachers. It has been found that when too much

emphasis is placed on grades it can limit a students ability to learn and think

critically (Kohn, 2011). I want my students to find interest in what they are learning

and let that interest be their motivator. I dont want my students to ever feel as if

they are limited by grades. Furthermore, according to Alfi Kohn in the Case Against

Grades, grades tend to diminish students interest in what they are learning. As

well as reduces the quality of students thinking (Kohn, 2011).

I believe that every student is different and learns in unique ways, any

assessment given in my classroom, like any of my lessons, will be focused on the

of the unit, but rather should be well planned and thought out. It is important that

assessment is planned with the end goal in mind as well to meet the needs of each

student. Assessment when done right is planned well ahead of time and takes time.

I believe that pre-assessment, or diagnostic assessment, is an important tool

to use in the classroom. This assessment strategy is useful because it provides the

teacher with information on a students prior knowledge of a topic before it is

taught. By using this, teachers are able to adjust lessons so that they can best meet

the needs of the students. Its important to know where students are so that the

teacher knows where they need to go. A few examples of this type of assessment

could be a journal, show what you know, or an activity sheet. There were a couple

times during my teaching experience when I was able to use diagnostic assessment

in the classroom. An example of this was a pre-assessment show what you know

that I gave my students prior to starting a unit on patterns in our grade two math

class. By using diagnostic assessment in this way, I was able to guide my lessons to

reach the needs of my students that I would not have known about if I had not

tested them before the unit.

In my class, Formative assessment will occur on an ongoing basis during the

instruction phase. It is crucial as an educator that I am always working with

students and that I know how they are doing academically with a topic. I plan to use

formative assessment as the primary form of assessment in my classrooms as I

believe it is the most effective form of assessment for receiving feedback on

student learning. The goal of this type of assessment is not to give students a

grade, but rather to give me, as the teacher, insight into my students abilities. I

believe that the goal of formative assessment is to monitor students learning to

students to guide their learning. Formative assessment is all about feedback so that

the teacher is able to see areas of the curriculum that might need to be retaught.

This feedback also allows changes to be made to assessment and teaching

strategies used by the teacher. Along with providing feedback for me as the

teacher, this assessment provides feedback for students that allow them to set their

own goals for learning. Formative assessment is about guiding where instruction

needs to go next. It should be used frequently, and while or after students learn a

new idea, concept, or process. By the time students reach a final summative

assessment, they should have already been assessed formatively on all of the

intended outcomes.

The next form of assessment that I will use in my classroom is the summative

assessment. This type typically occurs after the instruction, or a unit, has been

completed. Although I dont always agree with the way that we assess through

summative assessment, at times it is still necessary to the educational process. I

strongly believe that there should be multiple ways that a student can demonstrate

their learning as students are unique and learn in different ways. Choice is

incredibly valuable because not all students will be able to succeed and

demonstrate their knowledge to its fullest extent in the same way. Some examples

of ways that I will use summative assessment in my classroom are: group projects,

multi modal assignments, and unit tests. I think that written assessments can be

useful for evaluation, but it is important to know the proper way to create these

types of assessments.

It is well known that standardized testing is used to measure an established

standard for all students across a grade band. However, a students performance on
standardized testing will never affect their grade within my classroom, or my

opinion of their academic ability. Standardized tests do a good job at giving the

districts the data they are looking for, but the formats of these types of tests dont

represent the way classroom learning takes place. Because of this, I will always

teach to student needs and curriculum outcomes and will not teach towards a

particular standardized test.

It is important that students play a part in contributing to the assessment

process wherever possible. I think that it is important to be flexible and to

collaboratively work with both students and other teachers when developing

assessments. Students should always be aware of the criteria or goals that they are

expected to achieve well in advance of assessing. Creating checklists and good

rubrics are two ways that I would do this as they allow students to know exactly

what is expected of them. Its also important that the teacher not only tell

expectations, but also model expectations to show what success looks like. It is

crucial that, as the teacher, I am constantly coming alongside my students and

conferencing with them so that I can see how they are doing and receive feedback

on their understanding. Even though we try to prevent it, there will be days when

students are unable to perform at their best. When this happens, I feel that students

should be given the chance to make up or redo assignments and tests. This may not

always be possible, but seeing that my goals are to give my students every chance

to find success, I think its important to allow them to show that they know their stuff

and not have a bad day reflected in their grades.

In conclusion my goal with assessment is to give my students every chance

possible to succeed. I want my students to not be afraid to try new things, celebrate

their success and learn from their mistakes without being too focused on their
grades. I dont want the anxiety of grades to inhibit my students desire to learn and

explore. I plan to use diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments to help

guide my students in their learning goals and to better my instruction practices. I

hope to create an environment that fosters life long learners.

References:

Kohn, A. (2011). The case against grades. Educational Leadership, 69(3), 28-33.

Davies, A. (2011). Making classroom assessment work. Bloomington, IN: Solution

Tree Press.

Davies, Anne& Herbst, Sandra. (2013). Co- Constructing Success Criteria. Education

Canada, 53 (3), pp. 16-19.