Helping Your Students Succeed Through Assessment!

Word Cloud of terms having to do with assessment!

         For the research article review assignment, I chose the article The Role of Assessment by Lois Moseley. This article provides extremely useful information about following: the purpose of assessments, all of the different types of assessments, what we should assess, and when we should assess our students. The article starts off talking about how the last decade has experienced  significant changes in educational assessment practices. Moseley states "These changes are reflected in both large-scale, standardized tests and in individual classroom assessment practices. At least four factors have contributed to assessment reforms: the introduction of standards-based education; the importance of alignment of curriculum, instruction, assessment and professional development; the flexibility of technology in data analysis; and accountability." (Moseley, 1). I think what she is saying is very important to us as future educators and considering assessing our students is a huge part of our role. Us future teachers need to realize all of these changes occurring and why they are occurring. This article really stresses how assessment should be more than just a test at the end of the instruction to see how students perform. Moseley argues that they should be integrated into the instruction that informs and guides teachers as they make instructional decisions. (Moseley, 1). 

According to Kellough and Kellough (1999), there are seven purposes for instruction: 

1. To assist student learning
   
2. To identify student’s strengths and weaknesses
   
3. To assess the effectiveness of a particular instructional strategy
   
4. To assess and improve the effectiveness if curriculum programs
   
5. To provide data that can assist in decision making
   6. To communicate with and involve parents.

            One of the main reasons I chose this article is because I think knowing how and when to assess your students is one of the most important aspects of being an effective teacher. It is so important to be knowledgeable about the purposes of assessment and knowing the difference between them. As studying to be a future educator, all of these purposes are essential in a classroom to build achievable tests in the small amount of time a teacher has to devote their time to the task. It is crucial for us future teachers to be aware of the rudimentary principles in order to construct assessments and interpret them. I also chose this article because it goes into depth about teachers being aware of different technologies and all of the technological advantages we have today as teachers. Assessment technologies are very useful in todays society and in a variety of situations. These technologies enable and help teachers plan the assessments, construct them, and score and analyze them. 

           This article was an excellent, simple read and I highly suggest it to anyone studying to be a teacher. This article provided me with information that shows with research how written tests are not the only way to assess students, and there are a bunch of alternatives. Assessments can be standardized or alternative, and summative or formative. It is incumbent that teachers know the difference between these assessments, and understand when it is appropriate to give a formative test opposed to a summative test. I would use assessments in my future teaching by not just giving my students my students written tests in order see what information they are obtaining, but also enjoyable assessments to check for understanding where they won't even know it is an assessment. I would incorporate formative assessments in my classroom in numerous ways. I would make them engaging and use observation, exit tickets, discussions, presentations, and simply questioning. I would also choose ways to incorporate writing, drawing, speaking, and reading into my assessments without giving my students an actual exam. Incorporating different types of assessments for each lesson would also be important in my classroom in order to assess my students learning in different ways. I would also be aware of the results from my formative assessments and use that knowledge to build my next assessments for my students to help them succeed and reach their fullest potential!

Moseley, L. The Role of Assessment. Retrieved December 2, 2016, from glencoe.com, http://www.glencoe.com/glencoe_research/Math/trawp.pdf