Ryann Kimberly

Kindergarten Teacher

Activity 1.3 Self-Analysis

Complete this self-analysis at the beginning of your study of CASL and then at the conclusion.

Scale:
0 I am uncertain about what this means.
1 Not at all: I don’t or can’t do this, or this doesn’t happen in my classroom.
2 Beginning: I do this infrequently, or this happens infrequently in my classroom.
3 Partially: I do this sometimes, or this happens sometimes in my classroom.
4 Completely: I do this regularly, or this happens on an ongoing/as needed basis in my
classroom.
Key 1: Clear Purpose Rating 1/ Rating 2/
Date: Date:
5/17/22 6/27/22

I can identify the key users of classroom assessment 1 4

information and work to meet their information needs.

I understand formative and summative assessment 4 4

uses and know when to use each.

I understand the impact of formative assessment 3 4

practices on student achievement.

Key 2: Clear Targets Rating 1/ Rating 2/

Date: Date:
5/17/22 6/27/22

I can classify the learning targets I am teaching 1 4

according to one of four types.

I base instruction and assessment on clear learning 2 4

targets.

I translate learning targets into student-friendly 4 4

language.
Key 3: Sound Design Rating 1/ Rating 2/
Date: Date:
5/17/22 6/27/22

I know how to design or select assessments to serve 2 4

intended formative and summative purposes.

I know how to select the appropriate method(s) to 2 4

assess each type of learning target.

I create assessment plans to map the content of my 1 4

assessments.

I understand and apply principles of sampling 1 4

appropriately.

I can write and/or select assessment items, tasks, 2 4

scoring guides, and rubrics that meet standards of
quality.

I recognize and avoid sources of bias that can distort 3 4

assessment results.

I know how to apply formative assessment practices 2 4

within each assessment method.

Key 4: Formative Usefulness and Student Rating 1/ Rating 2/

Involvement Date: Date:
5/17/22 6/27/22

My students can describe the learning targets they are to 2 4

achieve.

My students can give each other effective feedback. 1 4

I design assessments with students’ information needs 2 4

in mind.
I have prepared my students to self-assess accurately 1 4
and to set meaningful goals for further learning.

I give students opportunities to track, reflect on, and 1 4

share their learning progress with others.

Key 5: Effective Communication Rating 1/ Rating 2/

Date: Date:
5/17/22 6/27/22

I offer students effective feedback during their 3 4

learning.

I track student achievement by learning target. 3 4

I keep track of both formative and summative 3 4

assessment information.

I record and combine summative assessment 3 4

information to accurately reflect student achievement.

I calculate report card grades to accurately 3 4

communicate level of individual student achievement
at a point in time.

I participate in conferences as needed to discuss 3 4

student progress.
Overall reflection on first rating (3 sentence minimum for each question) Please note: Reflection
is evaluation so do not just list the areas, explain why.

1. I have the most knowledge and skill in these areas:

I have the most knowledge and skill in effective communication. In my undergraduate classes, this is
something they really focused on and I feel strong about my knowledge here. My current principal
likes for us to keep data for us to reflect upon and record our feedback to students and parents too.

2. I want to work on these areas:

I ranked pretty low in formative usefulness and student involvement so I would like to work on this
area. Increasing in this area will be beneficial for my future students and myself. Right now, I am
struggling with this area because I am a kindergarten teacher and I don’t always know how to
integrate ideas like my students giving each other effective feedback.

After the second rating, please do a final reflection on your learning from this course.

Write a short (1/2-1 page), graduate level quality reflection/self-evaluation:

Going into this course, I thought I knew how to create authentic assessment pieces to evaluate my
students successfully. Turns out, there were a lot of different pieces that I was missing. This course truly
made me look back and reflect upon the different types of assessment I utilize in my classroom and why
they might not be working or how I can help improve them for better data from my students and even
more retention from them. I learned that sometimes we need to make assessments “fun” so some students
don’t even know they are being assessed so they can even perform even better on the assessment. I am
grateful I was able to learn and feel more confident about what summative and formative assessments are
too. It solidified for me that I am matching summative and formative assessments to the learning targets
to make sure I am receiving accurate data and students are able to perform more confidently on the
assessment too because we have learned everything on the assessment in class. The importance of
students telling the teacher and them knowing their learning targets are able to understand why we are
learning a certain topic is something I am excited to start implementing more in the classroom this
coming fall. My students will perform better because they know why we are learning a certain concept
and the importance of them knowing it and how to apply it into the real world. Being able to understand
how to make assessments for my students is an important skill I will bring to the table at my new school I
will be teaching at and I can’t wait to help and teach my new co-teachers the importance of developing
authentic assessments.

1. Based on the Course Outcomes, include the most important concepts you learned in this course and
why they are important to you.

The most important course outcome I thought was students will demonstrate proper strategies for
aligning assessments with intended student learning outcomes in terms of performance verbs and
academic content and verify the alignment. This is something I will utilize everyday in the classroom this
upcoming school year. It is so important that we align our assessments with the intended student learning
outcomes. Without doing so, students might become frustrated that they are not understanding how to
complete a specific question on their assessment or it does not provide accurate data to the teacher to see
if the student has mastered the learning target. We have to make sure we use appropriate performance
verbs and academic content in order for the assessment pieces to align. For example, I cannot say a
student will identify different letters in the alphabet and then make them write the letters instead. It is not
accurate data and doesn’t show true data to see if the student mastered that learning target.

AND

2. Indicate what changes you need to make to improve the assessments you give your students.

A change that I need to improve the assessments I give is to go back and take a look at my assessments
that I have been giving and make sure these assessments align with our grade card. I need to make sure to
look at the performance verbs and make changes to the assessments if needed. Another change I will
need to make for this upcoming school year is including more formative assessments in the classroom.
Right now, as a kindergarten team, we have a lot of summative assessments that don't help me or the
students as much. I want to create more formative assessments so I can see where all my students are at
and how I can change my lesson if needed to help certain students master the learning target instead of
just pushing forward and leaving some students still not understanding what they are learning or the
importance of it.