Running Head: ASSESSMENT IN INCLUSIVE EDUCATION 1

My Burning Question – Assessment in Inclusive Education

Breanna Carels

Brandon University
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Burning Question – Assessment in Inclusive Education

At the end of last semester I began focusing on assessment in education.  In my research

for my final paper I started coming across some information about assessment.  I started really

thinking about assessment and why there is such emphasis put on it. I recognized that within my

own school division there was a lot of time and effort put into administering standardized

assessments and collecting the data.  What has really been on my mind, or what I would consider

my burning question, relates to looking at assessments through a different lens. Assessments are

the major focus in education and I want to know how I can honor that while looking at the

assessments more critically.  

As a student I understood that after you learned new information and completed a unit

there would be an assessment to conclude the unit.  Generally I did well on these assessments

and was excited to compare my marks with others in the class to see if I had the top mark. As I

transitioned into teaching I took a very similar approach to assessment.  At the conclusion of

each unit there would be a large test that was weighted heavily compared to any other work

completed throughout the unit. As I gained a little more experience I began including more

formative assessments so I could gauge students learning prior to the final test (Mitchell, 2012, p.

185).  As a Grade 12 math teacher I was quickly exposed to the Provincial Essentials Math 40s

exam. In my first year four of my students failed the provincial exam, and I felt like I had failed

them. The next year I knew what to expect on the exam so I began preparing them earlier for the

exam and quickly moving past topics that I knew wouldn’t be on the exam.  Again, four of my

students failed the provincial exam. Each student had their own reasons for having difficulties

with the final exam. Regardless, these failures felt like my own again and I spent more of my

time the following year teaching with the final exam in mind. As a high school teacher
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consistent assessments are fairly standard in the core courses.  This September I began a new

teaching position in middle years while simultaneously taking part 1 of this course. My

perspective on assessment has been rocked and I am looking at everything I do very critically.

One thing in particular that is bothering me currently is an upcoming divisional assessment that

all my math students need to complete. The expectation is that we have reached a certain place

in the curriculum and the students will be tested on their knowledge.  My issue is that I have not

got through the recommended curriculum because I am trying to be a responsive teacher and

spend time on what is needed rather than rushing to the end so they are “prepared” for the

assessment. Yet whether I am there or not the assessment is required and will be happening at

the end of the month, and then three more times this year. So this is what I am currently working

through.  

I went ahead to the March 18 readings of this course and found them to really speak to

what I was feeling.  The following quote aligned with what I was feeling, “Pressures stemming

from accountability structures and high-stakes examinations have made many educators and

administrators feel that inclusive education is difficult to maintain for students who are far

enough behind grade level” (Bacon, 2012, p. 51).  This is a further challenge because I am

already teaching multi-grade classrooms, never mind the different levels of students. Then

following the assessment we are supposed to analyze and prepare them for the next assessment

one month later. This follows the idea that, “students with disabilities must spend the bulk of

their instructional time learning to remediate deficits in order to pass exams” (Bacon, 2012, p.

47).  Reading this passage helped me recognize that I am certainly not the only one that has

struggled with this idea of assessment. I need to remember that standardized assessments are

only a small tool to give information but there is no need to dwell on the data. Focusing on
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student strengths will be much more beneficial than spending large amounts of time trying to

“fix” their deficits (Bacon, 2012, p. 41). As I have read many times before, the author stated that

fair doesn’t mean that everyone gets the same thing. “What is fair is differentiating instruction

and providing every student with what they need to be successful” (Bacon, 2012, p. 52).  My

goal is to always keep this quote in mind when planning for my students.

I look forward to finding more literature on the topic of assessment in education.  I want

to look at it from a disabilities perspective as I have many students in mind when I work through

these problems in my head.  I don’t know that I will find all the “right” answers but I do hope to

gain more clarity as I seek direction for my own teaching practice. 

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References

Bacon, J. (2012). Navigating assessment: Understanding students through a disability lens.

Enacting Change from Within, 39-59.

Mitchel, D. (2012). Formative assessment and feedback: Regularly check and inform learners of

their progress. What Really Works in Special and Inclusive Education, 183-190.