Assessment and Outcomes The students at Lower Elementary School will be assessed on their learning using formative and summative assessments. The students will all be working on mastering grade level learning goals and content standards. Each grade level will take formative unit tests upon the completion of a unit. Before taking the unit test students will participate in a goal setting activity and students that meet their goal on the test will receive recognition in their classroom. This will help with motivation. The formative assessments will be given using an interactive response system or on tablet PC. The purpose of using a computer based testing system is so that the teacher can receive immediate feedback and reteach as needed. The formative assessment data will be shared among grade levels to see what content standards or learning goals need to be retaught. Formative assessment allows teachers to “investigate weaknesses and strengths of learners, what they have learned, and what their gaps are” (Kiryakova, 2010). The data will also be shared with parents during parent-teacher conferences. The summative assessment strategy that will be used at Lower Elementary School is an ongoing digital portfolio. Using a portfolio for assessment purposes is “relevant, fair, and useful” (Joosten-ten Brinke, Sluijsmans, & Jochems, 2010). Teachers can add work samples, test data, and other pertinent documents to the portfolio throughout the school year. The purpose of using a digital portfolio is to show growth over an entire school year. This information can be shared with parents to show the growth the child has made from the beginning of the school year to the end. The digital portfolio can also be shared with the child’s teacher the following year to show areas of strength or concern. In the Lower Elementary School knowledge acquisition will be assessed by analyzing the assessment data. Teachers will sit down and analyze their formative unit test scores. If there is a standard that many of the students missed, then that standard should be retaught before moving on. Grade levels can also sit down and analyze data for the same purpose. After each unit test there will be a reteaching or review week to ensure mastery. To assess skills and behaviors the teachers will use observation tools and checklists. Each child will have a checklist of social and behavioral skills that are being assessed that year the teacher will date the checklist when the skill is observed. By “using an observational coding system that defines specific categories of behavior, observers can record the behavior of a child over a period of time” (Warnes, Sheridan, Geske, & Warnes, 2005). Technology in Lower Elementary School will play a large role in the assessment process. There will be little to no paper-pencil tests. Assessments will take place using an interactive response system, tablet PC, or laptop computer. This way the teacher can receive immediate feedback and analyze the data right away. The use of technology for testing purposes will apply to all subject areas taught. Through goal setting and immediate feedback from the teacher the students at Lower Elementary School should prove very successful in their assessments. References Joosten-ten Brinke, D., Sluijsmans, D. M., & Jochems, W. M. (2010). Assessors' Approaches to Portfolio Assessment in Assessment of Prior Learning Procedures. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 59-74. Kiryakova, G. (2010). USING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES TO CARRY OUT FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT. Trakia Journal of Sciences, 11-20. Warnes, E. D., Sheridan, S. M., Geske, J., & Warnes, W. A. (2005). A contextual approach to the assessment of social skills: Identifying meaningful behaviors for social competence. Psychology in the Schools, 173-187.
The students at Lower Elementary School will be assessed on their learning using formative and summative assessments. The students will all be working on mastering grade level learning goals and content standards. Each grade level will take formative unit tests upon the completion of a unit. Before taking the unit test students will participate in a goal setting activity and students that meet their goal on the test will receive recognition in their classroom. This will help with motivation. The formative assessments will be given using an interactive response system or on tablet PC. The purpose of using a computer based testing system is so that the teacher can receive immediate feedback and reteach as needed. The formative assessment data will be shared among grade levels to see what content standards or learning goals need to be retaught. Formative assessment allows teachers to “investigate weaknesses and strengths of learners, what they have learned, and what their gaps are” (Kiryakova, 2010). The data will also be shared with parents during parent-teacher conferences. The summative assessment strategy that will be used at Lower Elementary School is an ongoing digital portfolio. Using a portfolio for assessment purposes is “relevant, fair, and useful” (Joosten-ten Brinke, Sluijsmans, & Jochems, 2010). Teachers can add work samples, test data, and other pertinent documents to the portfolio throughout the school year. The purpose of using a digital portfolio is to show growth over an entire school year. This information can be shared with parents to show the growth the child has made from the beginning of the school year to the end. The digital portfolio can also be shared with the child’s teacher the following year to show areas of strength or concern.
In the Lower Elementary School knowledge acquisition will be assessed by analyzing the assessment data. Teachers will sit down and analyze their formative unit test scores. If there is a standard that many of the students missed, then that standard should be retaught before moving on. Grade levels can also sit down and analyze data for the same purpose. After each unit test there will be a reteaching or review week to ensure mastery. To assess skills and behaviors the teachers will use observation tools and checklists. Each child will have a checklist of social and behavioral skills that are being assessed that year the teacher will date the checklist when the skill is observed. By “using an
observational coding system that defines specific categories of behavior, observers can record the behavior of a child over a period of time” (Warnes, Sheridan, Geske, & Warnes, 2005).
Technology in Lower Elementary School will play a large role in the assessment process. There will be little to no paper-pencil tests. Assessments will take place using an interactive response system, tablet PC, or laptop computer. This way the teacher can receive immediate feedback and analyze the data right away. The use of technology for testing purposes will apply to all subject areas taught. Through goal setting and immediate feedback from the teacher the students at Lower Elementary School should prove very successful in their assessments.
References
Joosten-ten Brinke, D., Sluijsmans, D. M., & Jochems, W. M. (2010). Assessors' Approaches to Portfolio Assessment in Assessment of Prior Learning Procedures. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 59-74.
Kiryakova, G. (2010). USING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES TO CARRY OUT FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT. Trakia Journal of Sciences, 11-20.
Warnes, E. D., Sheridan, S. M., Geske, J., & Warnes, W. A. (2005). A contextual approach to the assessment of social skills: Identifying meaningful behaviors for social competence. Psychology in the Schools, 173-187.