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Philosophy of Assessment
To be an effective teacher, I will adopt the assessment practices that best facilitate the
learning process of my students. My classroom assessment will not be used as a pure measure of
grades, but rather, will help direct my teaching and guide student learning. It will help close the
gap between what a student understands and should understand, as well as indicate when a
student requires intervention or enrichment. Student assessment will be designed as an effective
outlet for expressing their learning and will provide as much feedback on their progress as
possible. To monitor the education of my students, I will use various diagnostic, formative, and
summative assessment techniques, as well as practices that fairly and accurately reflect learning
in their grades.
Diagnostic assessment is an important tool to establish previous student knowledge,
determine students interests, and guide my teaching. Knowing what students have learned can
help determine the focus of instruction in my classroom; incorporating students interests into
daily lessons will motivate them to learn. To get a good picture of what my students have already
been introduced to, I will use concept maps, pre-tests, and information surveys. Concept maps
are a great way for students to express and make connections between what they already know
about a topic, allowing me to get a good picture of which students already have, or lack, a good
introduction to the material. I will strategically develop pre-tests, organized according to
outcomes, in order to get a precise measure of which outcomes need the most focus in class. To
easily gauge the interests of my students, I will develop and employ personal information
surveys that cover subjects like favourites, hobbies, life experiences, and what they are excited
about learning. With this information about my students I can then collaborate with my team of
colleagues to determine essential learnings and construct my instruction to maximize student
achievement and engagement.
Throughout the learning process, I will administer frequent, common formative
assessments to provide feedback on achievement to both students and myself. To ensure that
students are being given the same quality of education across classes, I shall make sure to
collaborate with my team in creating formative assessments. Collaboration ensures that all
students are covering the same material and allows for the sharing of ideas and formative
assessment strategies amongst teachers (DuFour, Dufour, Eaker, & Many, 2010). I will strive to
administer some form of formative assessment at least twice a week in order to collect
information on the progress of student learning. These types of formative assessment will include
a variety of exit/entrance slips, mock quizzes, purposeful homework, as well as individualized
conversations with the students. Rather than placing an uninformative grade on a formative
assessment, I will give detailed, written feedback to each student on their progress.
Whether created through team collaboration or created on my own, formative
assessments are necessary to monitor, benefit, and guide student achievement. The information
collected from these assessments will be shared amongst my colleagues so that we can
collaboratively construct remedial intervention strategies to assist students who have not learned,
as well as identify students who need enrichment intervention. Ultimately, the formative nature
of these assessments will give me the necessary feedback to allocate the appropriate resources to
both struggling and excelling students. With no numerical grades on these evaluations, students
will be able to express their learning without the fear and anxiety of being docked points; this is
the most accurate way of closing the gap between student learning reality and expectation.

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To accurately and fairly attribute a grade to student learning, I will administer a series of
various summative assessments, such as: choice assignments, projects, presentations, quizzes,
and tests. Catering to various learning styles and means of expression within a classroom
requires choice rather than a one size fits all assignment. In adopting universal design for
learning, I will offer multiple choices of assignments, all aimed at completing the requirement
for a given outcome; this will ensure that expression of learning is not impeded by learning style
and encourages student participation and completion. Quizzes and tests will be administered only
after formative assessments indicate that the students have mastered the content in order to
accurately reflect a grade. These summative assessments will be organized according to
curriculum outcomes to benefit students understanding of the content. The quizzes and tests will
also include multiple types of questions to ensure different levels of understanding are assessed.
By incorporating these methods into my summative assessments, I will be sure to set my students
up for success.
To ensure that grades reflect what is actually learned, I will offer students the chance to
redo a summative assessment. A student should be given the opportunity to express
understanding at any point during the semester, not only during a one-hour, stress-induced
period. Offering students this opportunity will create a more positive learning environment and
reduce the inclination to cheat or study for the sole purpose of achieving a high grade (Dueck,
2011). Students will be more motivated to actually learn when there is no stress or pressure to
accumulate as many points as they can in small periods of time. Offering redos also gives
students a more positive attitude toward the teacher, seeing them more as a resource and mentor
to success than an authority figure who is out to get them. To ensure that students do not take
advantage of this ability to rewrite, I would impose certain prerequisites like completing
purposeful homework and study reviews aimed at preparing students. Ultimately, student
assessment is used to measure student achievement and should not be confused with behavioural
management.
To appropriately reflect learning in grades, I will carefully approach group marks, extra
credit opportunities, and late assignments. I will not assign group marks to students because one
mark does not reflect the learning of each member (Kagan, 1995). Rather than reward students
who do not participate or damage the confidence of students who are highly motivated, I would
have group members peer assess each others contribution level to the project in order to assign
individual grades. Since I will give students the opportunity to redo summative assessments in
order to show me they have learned, there is no need for extra credit opportunities. Extra credit
simply lends support for grades as accumulation of wealth, rather than documentation of learning
(Huhn, 2005; Kohn, 2011). Similarly, I will not deduct marks for late assignments. Instead of
penalizing a grade because of a behaviour management issue, I will have a conversation with the
student to inquire into why the assignment is being handed in late. Much of the time an
assignment is not completed on time due to a lack of understanding, lack of confidence in ability,
or problems at home, and not due to a desire to perform poorly (Dueck, 2014; Guskey, 1994).
Giving students support, like extra help at lunch, is much more motivating for student learning
than deducting points. These techniques support grades as measures of learning rather than
measures of effort.
By adopting these assessment practices, students are provided the best opportunity to
learn and demonstrate their knowledge. Administering diagnostic tests before each unit will
allow me to plan my lessons based on student interest, which will allow students to focus their
attention on material they have yet to learn. With the combination of formative and summative

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assessment and without the strong emphasis on grades, students will feel less pressure to perform
and will be more motivated to succeed. Varying assessment types and structure will allow every
student the opportunity to readily express their learning. Finally, by keeping myself up to date
with best assessment practices and collaborating with my colleagues, I will ensure that my
students achieve their full learning potential.

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Work Cited
Dueck, M. (2011). How I Broke My Own Rule and Learned to Give Retests. Educational
Leadership, 69(3), pp. 72-75. Retrieved from
http://www.ascd.org/publications/ educational-leadership/nov11/vol69/num03/How-IBroke-My-Rule-and-Learned-to-Give-Retests.aspx
Dueck, M. (2014). Grading smarter, not harder: assessment strategies that motivate kids and help
them learn. Advance Copy, pp. 11-16. Retrieved from
www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/siteASCD/publications/books/grading-smarter-not-hardersample-chapters.pdf
DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T. (2010). Learning by doing: A handbook for
professional learning communities at work. (2nd edition). Bloomington, IN: Solution
Tree Press. ISBN: 978-1932127935
Guskey, T. R. (1994). Making the grade: What benefits students? Educational Leadership, 52(2),
pp. 14-20. Retrieved from
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct94/vol52/num02/Making-theGrade@-What-Benefits-Students%C2%A2.aspx
Huhn, C. (2005). How Many Points Is This Worth? Educational Leadership, 63(3), pp. 81-82.
Retrieved from
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov05/vol63/num03/HowMany-Points-Is-This-Worth%C2%A2.aspx
Kagan, S. (1995). Group grades miss the mark. Educational Leadership, 52(8), pp. 68-71.
Retrieved from
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/may95/vol52/num08/GroupGrades-Miss-the-Mark.aspx
Kohn, A. (2011). The Case against Grades. Educational Leadership, 69, 3, pp. 28-33.
Retrieved from
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov11/vol69/num03/TheCase-Against-Grades.aspx