Assessment

Assessment is a big buzzword in education. I recently had an assignment (I'm a student AND a first year teacher!) to write about the pros and cons of high stakes testing. I hope my professor was sitting down when she read what I wrote. I made sure to give one pro (accountability), but then I pretty much ranted about the cons. My district uses test scores in order to evaluate teachers and determine bonus pay. Thankfully my students hit the district average this quarter on that big test. Focusing in on the students, not teachers, assessment is certainly important. I have learned that assessments can take on many different forms. Even the scantron tests can give valuable data to show how the students are doing with learning the standards. I was happy to find out that observation is a valid form of assessment. This is certainly something I have always done. Since my students are little, unless I am working with a small group, I am always monitoring them while they are doing their work. I know which ones are going to need more help, so I focus there. But I need to take this form of assessment a step further. I need to keep records of who knows what. This quarter I have begun keeping a running chart of many skills I want my students to master and how they are doing on these skills. We have a chart for checking off decodables and a chart for checking off sight word lists. I also need to add notes from my daily observations so I know who needs more practice with each skill. It would be better to get this information before the formative tests are taken because reteaching is easier than retesting. I am also learning about making and using rubrics. It is all good- one wild, messy, but worth it ride.