Assignment:
Culminating Assignment
Write a 4 Page Essay addressing the following questions:
The Georgia Performance Standards and Common Core Standards focus on what students should know, understand, and be able to do. Think about assessment in your classroom. How does it guide instruction? How do you involve students in the process? What is your concept of mastery? How do you expect students to show mastery? How do you communicate that students have achieved mastery? What do you do for students not achieving mastery?
Purpose of Data Analysis Module:
· Reflectively analyze personal teacher practice in regards to assessment, testing, and grading.
· Communicate the concept of formative classroom assessment and its role in the classroom.
· Demonstrate knowledge of test development and construction.
· Show the relevance of testing to classroom instruction.
· Demonstrate an understanding of the role of standardized assessments and how their mandated use impacts teaching and learning.
· Develop a grading system that effectively communicates student mastery of the curriculum.
· Integrate assessment, testing, and grading to develop a comprehensive assessment program.
In this module, you will consider the impact of formative assessment practices on student achievement. You will also look at the role and purpose of classroom testing and standardized testing. You will learn some techniques to help insure that your classroom tests are aligned with learning standards. You will explore the impact of standardized testing in public education. Finally, you will consider a student-focused approach to grading that supports student learning. Throughout the course, you will be asked to reflect upon your current classroom practices as related to assessment, testing, and grading. The goal of this course is to help you understand how assessment, testing, and grading are integrated to create a comprehensive assessment system that supports student learning.
The Role of Assessment in a Differentiated Classroom:
Assessment is on-going (or should be) in any classroom. Differentiation by nature should also be an element of the classroom mix that is constant and normalized. Students understand that they are different from one another in many ways, as well as the ways in which they learn. This self-awareness lends itself to openness with the concept of differentiation in the classroom.
Consequently, consider holding by the adage of "fair isn't always equal" in terms of assessment in a differentiated classroom. You might need to see student A complete certain tasks to make sure that he understands a concept, and you might need to see student B complete different tasks to display the same understanding. Assessment, especially on the formative level, should reflect the students' understanding of the material, and work FOR the student, not AGAINST them. Formative assessment in a differentiated room should be searching out ways of gaining access to the students' knowledge base.
Later on, in summative assessments, students might have to conform to a set structure, but since the formative assessments helped the student access the information for mastery, they should then be able to apply that knowledge to the final assessment.