ESSENTIAL+ASSESSMENT+PRINCIPLES

**ESSENTIAL ASSESSMENT PRINCIPLES**

**//The goal of assessment is to guide instruction//**

The goal of assessment is to support learning, and therefore to guide the instruction of teachers. Teachers assess their students to gain information about what they know and are able to do at a given point. Assessment results should be used to plan future instruction, as teachers should only spend time teaching what their students do not know or cannot do. Teachers should also use assessment to evaluate their own practice. If necessary, teachers should adjust or modify their instruction, as re-teaching is only successful if the content is delivered in a way that benefits different learning modalities

**//Assessment is ongoing//**

Assessment results also give us information as to the progresses our students have made towards our goals, and therefore should be ongoing. Regular formative assessments are important to monitor this progress and to identify student needs. Formative assessments can be used to form an understanding of students’ learning “across lessons, units, marking periods, or academic years” (Afflerbach, 2007).

In order for teachers to get a true read on students’ overall development, assessments should not only be ongoing, but should vary in form. Quizzes can be administered throughout a unit to determine if a student is meeting necessary benchmarks. Assessments such as portfolios, allow both teachers and students to monitor growth, especially for those students who may struggle on formal exams.

During a lesson, teachers can quickly measure student understanding through questioning. Although this measure yield results instantaneously, teachers need to be careful that they ask the right questions and that they are making full use of the student responses (Afflerbach, 2007). Student responses to questions, just as their results to formal written assessments, should be interpreted to determine what students have learned and to plan the instructional next steps.

//**Assessment must be fair and equitable**//

All assessments should be fair and devoid of any cultural or social biases. As educators, it is our responsibility to deliver the most effective and non-biased instruction possible. Thus, resulting in a fair and equitable assessment. We must continue to respect cultural diversity and attempt to control and presence of cultural or social bias in our assessments. We must also take into consideration the abilities and needs of our students to ensure that all students are presented with an equal opportunity for success in our classrooms. It is imperative that teachers use their knowledge about their students and their needs and/or capabilities in order to deliver the necessary instruction and assess in the most fair and equitable way possible.

**//Assessment should be purposeful//**

 The primary objectives of education have shifted over the past seventy-five years from being those of knowledge transmission to a focus on being inquiry- based. This has important implications for the types of classroom assessment and how they are used. As students grow into collaborative thinkers and problem solvers, it is important that the educational community embrace an assessment philosophy that supports this shift.

 There are several methods of purposeful assessment that will not only measure student knowledge and ability, but will also support the expansion of inquiry-based instruction. One method is to use Socratic questioning techniques to guide student thinking and inquiry and then determine student understanding. A grasp of Bloom’s Taxonomy is valuable for teachers to determine how different types of questioning strategies can be used to validate and/or redirect students to enhance their comprehension. Other forms of purposeful assessment strategies include using student portfolios as a tool for self-assessment and providing assessment rubrics that the the purposes of each assignment are crystal clear to students. (Afflerbach)

 In order for assessments to meet the objective of being purposeful, we must acknowledge that students are assessment users not assessment recipients. We, as teachers, must help them to use these assessments to help them to discover and hone the natural gifts of which they may not have previously been aware. (Stiggins)

**//Assessment should be authentic//**

 When assessing student progress, it is imperative to recognize that it is not simply a technical process. It also has significant social and political implications. It is also representative and interpretive because it reflects children’s development. It will not only shape how we see our students, but it will also shape how students perceive themselves. (IRA/NCTE)

 In order for assessment to be truly authentic, it must have two characteristics. Firstly, it should focus on the relationships of classroom activity to real-world learning. Secondly, the assessments need to be embedded in classroom instruction, learning, and routine activities. Assessment is not authentic if it is simply presented as a stand-alone activity. Specific examples of authentic assessment include: the creation of student portfolios; conducting student-teacher interviews; teacher observation and questioning; maintenance of reading inventories: and periodic running records. (Afflerbach)

//**<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Every Assessment should be a Teaching/Learning Opportunity **//

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">While assessment is primarily used to monitor student progress, it should be used as an opportunity for individual instruction. Conferences with students can help the teacher pinpoint exactly where certain students struggles and where others excelled. The results of the assessment may indicate that the students have not learned the content thoroughly enough, or may not be applying appropriate strategies when completing the assessment. The teacher can use assessment results to set up interventions for students who may fall behind. Assessment should also be a learning opportunity for the teacher; she should be able to note the students' strengths and needs and plan future instruction and assessments accordingly. The teacher can also evaluate herself in terms of how fair the assessment was to the students. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Next Page