Assessment

Assessment Framing Statement

Rachel Ostler

ED698 Master’s Portfolio Spring 2023

University of Alaska Southeast

Assessment 1

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.

In this paper I will address the use of assessment in the classroom. The artifact that I will use to

facilitate this discussion is a Teacher Work Sample (TWS) that I complete in the Spring of 2022 during my

semester as a student teacher. It can be found here. This TWS includes two learning goals that I created,

the associated standards, my assessment plans, and my lesson plans that provided students with the

information they needed to meet these goals. It also includes instructional decision making, data

analysis, and reflection. As part of this TWS, I was tasked with creating a pre-assessment to determine

prior knowledge, formative assessments to monitor student growth, and a summative assessment to

determine how successful students were in attaining the set learning goals.

“Classroom assessment drives instruction, ensures that students are making adequate progress,

determines the effectiveness of instruction, and assesses students’ achievement. Every day, teachers

use a combination of assessment tools to collect meaningful information about what students know and

do” (Tompkins et. al, 2018, p. 76). As a teacher, it is our job to make sure that are students are learning,

and part of that means assessment. Tompkins et al. (2018) says that there are four steps in assessment:

planning, assessing, evaluating, and reflecting.

Planning for assessments happens at the same time as designing instruction (Tomkins et al.,

2018). I began planning by creating my two learning goals. My goals were that students would be able to

recall two to three important facts about an animal from an internet article, and students would be able

to write, draw, and speak in inform classmates about an animal. From these goals I created assessments

that would allow me to see that the students were successful in meeting these goals. The first

assessment that I planned for was the pre-assessment. For this assessment students were asked to

research an animal and write a paper describing two to three facts that they learned. The next
Assessment 2

assessment that I planned for was the formative assessment. For this assessment I read the students a

non-fiction read aloud and asked students to complete a worksheet similar to what they use when

writing their research paper, and recall up to four facts about the animal we read about. The last

assessment that I planned for was the post-assessment where students were asked to research a new

animal and write a research paper; again, recalling two to three facts about the animal they researched.

Taylor and Nolen (2008) said that there are five purposes for assessment. These are to plan

instruction, to adjust instruction, to diagnose student misunderstanding or lack of understanding, to

assess student expertise at the end of a lesson or unit, and finally to compare student performance

either to him/herself or to other students. The purpose of providing the pre-assessment was to help

plan instruction. After reviewing the pre-assessment, I was able to see what students already knew and

what I should focus my instruction on. The purpose of the formative assessment was to adjust

instruction and diagnose student misunderstanding or lack of understanding. By providing a formative

assessment in the middle of my unit, I was able see what information students were still lacking and I

could adjust my lesson plans accordingly. One adjustment that I was able to make after providing the

formative assessment was addressing fact versus opinion. After reading about elephants and asking

students to recall up to four facts about elephants, I had a student write, “Elephants are cool.” After

reviewing the formative assessments I decided to address this in my next lesson. I used this as an

opportunity to reteach the difference between fiction and nonfiction as well as fact versus opinion. We

then discussed whether we should include our opinions in non-fiction writing. Through this discussion,

students were able to more clearly understand that while opinions do have a place in some forms of

writing, when we write nonfiction, it is important to stick to the facts. The purpose of the post-

assessment was to assess student expertise and compare student performance not only to their

performance on the pre-assessment but also to their peers.

Assessment 3

Wiggins and McTighe (2005) introduce an additional step in the assessment process. This step is

determining what student responses are necessary in determining student understanding. This step

would come before the evaluation portion of the assessment process as we would first need to set up

criterion that would help us determine student understanding. “Classroom teachers must make reliable

(dependable) decisions about students using assessment tools that are as valid (direct and reasonable)

as possible given the amount of time we have available for assessment and the very real limitations of

human observation and judgment” (Taylor & Nolen, 2008, p. 27). In order to assist in making these

reliable decisions, I created a rubric to assist in grading fairly. By providing myself, and my students, with

a rubric, we were able to see exactly what was expected of them in the learning process. Then, when

grading, I had a set criterion that I was able to use to see if my students met the expectations of the

learning goals.

After I gave each assessment to the students, I moved on to the evaluating and reflecting

portion of the assessment process. Part of my TWS included charts and graphs that allowed me to view

student understanding class wide in one place. Through this data I was able to see if students met our

learning goals on an individual level, but I could also see where common misconceptions might be class

wide. For example, when reviewing the data from my TWS, I was able to see that all of my students

were able to meet grade level standards for my first learning goal and all but one student was able to

meet grade level standards for my second learning goal. After reviewing this information, I can move on

to reflection. Tomlinson (2014) says, “Assessment is today’s means of understanding how to modify

tomorrow’s instruction” (p. 17). After reviewing the data from my students assessments, I can see that

the lessons and activities within the unit were helpful in teaching students and preparing them to meet

these particular goals and that I can move on in my lessons. I can also look at the information for the

student who did not meet the standards and plan differentiation and possibly a reteach for him in the

future so that I can ensure that he does not get left behind as we move forward.
Assessment 4

When reflecting on my assessments, I want to think about what went well and what I could

change in the future. When I reflected on my TWS, I felt like students were able to be successful because

they had multiple opportunities to practice their skills. We also began our lessons with “I do, We do, You

do” which provided students a way to see what success looked like before they had to model it for

themselves. By reflecting on this information, I can move forward and use similar models in my lesson

planning since I know that it was successful. I was also able to reflect on what was not as successful. I

found that students might not have been as successful with the writing goal as they were with recalling

facts simply because of lack of practice. I can look at this information and plan accordingly for the future,

making sure that I give my students plenty of practice opportunities so that they can be successful.

Assessments are necessary in determining student growth and success in meeting learning

goals. However, without prior planning, assessments would be of no use. “By planning for assessment

before they begin teaching, teachers are preparing to use assessment tools wisely; otherwise, classroom

assessment turns out to be haphazard and impromptu” (Tompkins et. al, 2002, p. 76). By planning for

assessment, I can ensure that my lessons are well thought out and focus on the important standards

needing to be taught.
Assessment 5

References

Taylor, C.S., & Nolen, S.B. (2008). Classroom assessment: Supporting teaching and learning in real

classrooms. (2nd ed.). Pearson.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2014). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners.

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).

Tompkins, G.E., Rodgers, E., & Rodgers, A. (2022). Literacy for the 21st century: Balancing reading and

writing instruction. (8th ed.) Pearson.

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. (2nd ed.). Association for Supervision and

Curriculum Development (ASCD).