Journal #5: Assessment

How are students being assessed in the classroom? How do the teachers use assessment data?

In our classroom, students are given numerous, low stakes checks for understanding in

the form of quizzes or homework grades. So far, they have had about two-three summative

assessments, meaning they have completed two and are in the process of another one. Students

have out of class reading expectations as well that will be coming up soon. We use this data to

plan out next lessons. If students do poorly on a quiz, then we know that we should cover that

chapter in class since students must have been confused.

For the formative assessments, students have an almost daily reading quiz. These quizzes

are short (typically 5 questions) and are meant to check if students have read. This gives students

more accountable to read outside of class, so they are more apt to participate in class during

discussions about the chapters. Students also write in their journals. I check these to see what

students have written, but they are just graded for completion after about five entries. Any other

classwork is also a low stakes grade as they are checking for understanding – this would be

worksheets, notes, etc.

For summative assessments, students have written a narrative paper as an assessment of

our characterization unit, as well as summing up their summer work. They are also writing an in

class argumentative paper as a summative assessment for their argumentative writing unit. With

their outside reading, students are to complete a triple journal entry for each chapter. This is

something students are responsible for on their own, giving them high expectations for their

outside reading. This will be like the summative assessment for their outside reading.