In this weeks readings there was a discussion on the many different types of assessment as well as arguments for assessments that seem more effective for planning future instruction and determining what the children are able of doing. Within these articles I was able to see that an effective mathematics assessment is different from just the normal cut and dry fill in the blank or circle the correct solution tests that I am familiar with. Assessment for mathematics, like most other subjects, can be more effective when open ended and providing children with an opportunity to be metacognitive and explain their process and reasoning in the answer (Stylianou 2000).
In the Stylianou reading there was a large emphasis on providing children with assessments that give them the opportunity to explain their reasoning, which can most effectively be achieved through giving children open ended tasks (Stylianou 2000). This approach is found to be beneficial as it provides teachers with the opportunity to see specific strengths and weaknesses, as well as where within the procedure the children have a misconception. Children also use multiple strategies to reach a solution therefore it would be beneficial also to see their reasoning to determine the strategy that they are using as well to learn how to teach to appeal to each child’s background knowledge.
A question that I have concerning the readings however is how you might effectively implement these practices with young children who are not yet fluent writers and struggle putting their ideas onto paper. In giving young children assessments it can be challenging to find something that is time effective, which can be presented to the entire class at one time and where all children participate so that the teacher thoroughly understands the thought processes of all children.
If I were to begin to create a performance assessment I would rely most often on developing activities that really showcase the children’s prior knowledge and strategy use. This would be an activity where the children would reach a personal solution first and then come together in small groups to talk about their reasoning in obtaining their solutions. In order to obtain information from all of the groups then it may be necessary to record the discussions that are taking place in each of these groups. This would be a running record of the words that the children are saying and the things that those individual children are doing (NCTM Assessment). Instead of writing transcripts of this event it may also be beneficial to write short anecdotal records of the children when discussing the lesson with them individually and then rotating which children the instructor works with every day, hitting all children at least once or twice in a week. This could be a non paper/pencil assessment that could be used, based on performance within either lesson.
My MT, instead of giving children paper and pencil tests, will individually work with the children and go through all of their skills at one time and work through the children until she is complete. She also constantly is monitoring their work and everyday performance in the classroom, using observations to collect information. The only downfall from this approach is that through individual, one-on-one assessments, this is so time consuming that she is only able to do this right before report cards. Informal assessments are also useful, but it can be challenging to observe all of the children when they are working on the task all at the same time, and do not necessarily explicitly explain their thinking in completing the problem.
From looking at the readings, I gained a lot of knowledge about different types of assessments. As Jamie mentioned, the Stylianou reading encouraged the children should be doing more open-ended tasks to allow students to assess their work by giving meaning. I think meaningful assessment and feedback is really important because just giving out letter grades is so common. It is very frustrating for a student to just receive a low grade and not have any feedback or way or improving their work. School starts to become more about a letter grade than actually learning the material. Jamie mentioned that one-on-one assessments with students are beneficial while time consuming and I agree. I believe that the teacher needs to pick and choose when an assignment or specific material needs more attention and demands understanding. Just giving a student a letter grade is quicker for the teacher, but less beneficial for the student. The teacher needs to choose when it is most appropriate to use such specific assessments. I also liked how Jamie mentioned that her MT is constantly monitoring students' work. I believe that teachers should always be informally assessing students and monitoring the type of the work that they are doing/how much effort that they are putting into the material. As for my MT, she also sits down with the students (when time permits) to assess mostly reading skills. Also, on a daily basis, my MT works with a different group of students each day in literacy groups. She informally assess their progress over the course of the year. Pencil/paper assessments can be overwhelming for students and cause them to become very nervous. I agree with Jamie that teachers will not always be able to know what their students' are thinking without sitting down and having a "conference" with them. One of the most effective forms of assessments (in my opinion) happen to be creating portfolios and having a teacher-student conference every so often to monitor progress. While this is time consuming, it is beneficial. Some of the best forms of assessment are very time consuming, but worth it.
ReplyDeleteI really tend to agree with what Hannah had to say about the best way to assess a child would be to do portfolios and conferences. I know this because of my experiences as a student teacher in the preschool. The best way that I have had to get to know my students learning and assess them is my collecting work samples, giving formal assessments, playing games with, and having one-on-one conversations and interactions with the children in my class. I had to composite all of these types of assessment into one memo and portfolio all about the child. Although I agree that the open-ended tasks Stylianou encourages teachers to use are effective, I also think that having a variety of assessments is important--even closed-ended tasks. Depending on the age of your students sometimes open-ended tasks can be a total flop (not just because they don't understand the content, but mainly because of a variety of other circumstances like misunderstanding or distractions). I actually took a class on many different types of assessments and I have learned that no single assessment can tell you all you need to know about a kid's learning. There should be constant assessment that is ongoing throughout the year so that teachers can monitor student progress, as well as have results that are not just based on one assessment. Although I think these readings had some good points, I think that using multiple forms of assessment is the only true way to get a clear picture of a student's understanding.
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