Instructional Practice

InTASC Standard 6: Assessment

The teacher understands and uses multiple methods of assessment to engage learners in their
own growth, to monitor learner progress, and to guide the teacher's and learner's decision
making.
Assessment is important to recognize student growth and concept understanding. I utilize both
formative and summative assessments in varying ways depending on subject matter and
current curriculum topics. Examples of formative assessments I use include: daily
conversations to cover material, which I record on a student-by-student response basis; exit
ticket check-ins; one-on-one and small group conferences; and progress checks (ongoing
reviews of student work). Examples of summative assessments I use include: whole-class tests,
small group evaluations, and submissions of project-based learning activities. These are all
variations of types of assessment that can be recorded, and they also give an insight on how I
collect data to guide my instruction. I believe end of unit assessments should not be the only
way of gauging a student's ability. This is why I differentiate, as mentioned above.
The photos below give some student samples of how I assess:
The photos are of a project-based activity after a lesson where we talked about making
inferences and using text evidence. The students were to draw 3 pieces of text evidence in
their picture and paste the evidence near where it was in their drawing. They were also
supposed to make 2 inferences on what might also be happening, using the text evidence for
support.