Jessica Fairweather

Philosophy of Assessment
Professor Bill Buggie
Measurement & Evaluation

February 28th, 2019

 Being a teacher can be a challenging yet rewarding career. You have the chance to teach

students of all ages and to positively affect the lives of many in the process. I hope to create a

classroom environment centered on positivity, inclusion and overall a place where students feel

welcomed and accepted. I want my students to feel like they can be the best version of

themselves and believe they can achieve anything they want. A contributing factor to the success

of students is involving them in the learning process, more specifically, in the assessment

process.

It has been proven that when students are not involved in their leaning they are not

motivated and do not want to try and achieve a higher level. From the beginning of the year it is

important to use the triangulation process of observation, conversation and production.

Throughout this process it is crucial to include the students in assessment and communicate

regularly with parents. Making use of this model will give me the opportunity to further know

my students, their strengths and weakness, and to have a clear understanding of what they expect

from me and what I expect from them. By including parents, I will have a better understanding

of how they want to be informed on their child’s progress and they can even be the ones to

suggest critical things about their child that I would need to know. According to Anne Davies in

“Making Classroom Assessment Work”: “When parents are involved in talking about learning

with their children, children achieve more” (Davies, 2011, p.23). Relationships are key and as a

teacher you want to build a strong connection with your students and their guardians, because

when it comes time to talk to them about the grade and their child’s progress, they will be more

open and willing to provide help. When students see that their parents are involved in their
education, they become motivated to succeed and want to demonstrate their learning through

their various products they may have spent a lot of time and effort creating.

Using multiple assessment strategies in my classroom will benefit my students in their

learning. That is why I intend to use formative assessment, summative assessment and self/peer

assessment. All of these types of assessment are optimal to include in my classroom however, I

will need to ensure that my students know how we will be using them and how they will have an

influence in the assessment process. Teaching my students about self assessment and peer

assessment is the only way that we will be able to use if efficiently. The process might be long

but worth it in the long run because my students will have the knowledge to use these assessment

practices properly. Anne Davies provides valuable insight into this assessment practice, “Self-

assessment gives learners opportunity to think about their thinking and their learning – a process

called metacognition” (Davis, 2011, p.11). Students learn better when they can critique their own

work and when they are able to assess their progress of learning. When students understand what

they have learned and have a clear idea of what they need to accomplish, you can see how useful

self-assessment was for them.

Using formative assessment as my main type of assessment in my classroom is my goal. I

want to be able to help my students as they work on a goal and I want to be able to give them

advice and help them reach the expected expectations and requirement on each assignment. By

collecting evidence of students work throughout the process you can really see how the students

has evolved and what they have truly learnt. Conferencing is another excellent tool that I want to

implement in my classroom. Meeting with students at the beginning, in the middle and at the end

of an assignment is crucial. By meeting with students throughout the process I can provide
feedback and to help them get back on track if necessary. Conferencing also give me a chance to

get to know the students and to understand his or her needs.

As an educator and life long learner, I strongly believe that students should have the

choice in how they learn. Giving students multiples options when assigning assignments allows

them to express their learning in ways that best suit their learning and their personality.

Overall, using self-assessment, peer-assessment, formative assessment and summative

assessment are all needed to have a great balance in my classroom. Maintaining a good

relationship with parents, students and coworkers are critical. It will create a positive learning

environment for the students to learn, parents will trust you with their child’s learning and

coworkers are able to lend a hand when needed. As a teacher I will make it my goal for my

students to feel like their learning matters and that they feel like they have a say in how they

learn and how they demonstrate their learning. Students are the reason why teachers should use

multiple assessment practices because not every student learns the same way and wants to be

evaluated the same way.

 References

Davies, A. (2011). Making classroom assessment work (3rd ed.). Courtenay, BC:
Connect2\learning
Herbst, S., & Davies, A. (2016). Grading, Reporting, and Professional Judgement in Elementary
Classrooms (1st ed.). Courtenay, BC: Connect2learning.