When I think about assessment strategies in school, I mainly recall being assessed through exams, and I usually did really well on exams; however I know that there were many individuals around me that didn’t do so well with exams. As a result of this, I have come to think a lot about the assessment strategies I plan to use when I am teaching some day. Although these tests were a struggle for some, I had a math teacher in high school that allowed for us to re-write an exam as long as we were willing to come in and get the help required to do the corrections on the exam. I only took advantage of this experience once, however it was one of the best experiences I had. There was one test that I wrote and I didn’t get a mark that reflected what I know I could have received, and so I went in for help and did all of my corrections, and was able to do the re-write. As a result of this, I got a much higher grade, and was happy that I got a second chance at the exam. Since I have seen this type of assessment used, I value it a lot, and I am sure that I would use a similar strategy when I am teaching in a classroom. I think it is important to allow students to have second chances, as you may not know the circumstances as to why they didn’t do well on the exam.
My learning strategy for the class assignment was self-assessment, and the reason I chose to do this strategy was because I always wondered how successful it could be. I found out a lot about this strategy, but the most important thing I found was a quote, and it stated that “self-assessment is the most overlooked, yet possibly most valuable aspect of assessment for students at all levels and in all fields”. I never understood just how important this strategy was until I did my research on it. I am going to start by stating the definition of what self assessment is, and it describes the process in which each student evaluates his or her own progress or performance. There are many different ways to incorporate this strategy into the classroom, and a few are I can statements, learner contracts, reflections, portfolio reviews, blogs, journals and so on. There has also been research shown that states that self assessment has been seen to increase motivation among the students, and if that is the case, I think it is extremely important that we start incorporating this strategy. On the other hand, I was able to find one flaw in this strategy, and it was that even though some students are capable of self assessing themselves, there are still many students that don’t become engaged with this process, and it can be challenging for some people to self-assess themselves. One of the most important things I think this strategy will do for the classroom is allow both the students and the teacher to become aware of both the strengths and the weaknesses of the students, and as a result the teacher can figure out the needs of each student. The last thing I want to note about self-assessment is that it should be used as formative assessment, and should not be graded. This strategy should be used in order to provide feedback to the students, and that should be its main focus.
The next assessment strategy I am going to discuss is interviews. I think interviews are a great assessment tool as they allow the student and teacher to have discussions with one another that may not occur in the classroom setting. I learned that the purpose of interviews is to observe and question students in order to get a better idea of their attitudes, thinking processes, level of understanding, ability to make connections, or ability to communicate or apply concepts. I also found out that there are different types of interviews that can be used in the classroom setting, and they are known as structured and open. I have been the most familiar with structured interviews, as this form is used to collect data based on students, and with this kind of interview all of the students are required to answer the same questions and the same order. With this interview style all students are given the same conditions and opportunities. The next style of interview I learned about was open, and I don’t think I was ever exposed to this form. In this case the format of the interview is very flexible, and the students are asked open ended questions. With this form of an interview the students can be asked different questions, and the interviews could go to different places. Although both styles of interviews can be successful in diagnosing a student’s strengths and weaknesses, there are a few things to note about them. They can be very time consuming depending on the number of students in the classroom, and you need to make sure that you are not teaching during them, as interviews are not a way of teaching new concepts; it’s a way of seeing where the students are at.
The last assessment strategy I am going to discuss is pencil and paper tests, and the definition for this strategy is a written examination of an individual’s proficiency of knowledge in a certain subject or area. One of the most important reasons teachers use this strategy is to record marks. Exams can be empirically documented, and they are viewed as consistent when they are written by a whole class. Another important reason to incorporate tests into the classroom environment is because grades are used for admissions purposes down the road, and test scores are the easiest way to record and calculate a student’s mark. To some this form of assessment has also been perceived as fair, as the students have the same conditions and the same opportunities, however; some students struggle with writing exams, and I am not so sure that this is actually a fair form of assessment. The last thing I am going to note is a disadvantage of exams in the classroom, and it is that tests cannot measure certain things. For instance, an exam cannot measure things like creativity, and so this is why we need to incorporate other forms of assessment other than exams.
Lastly I think that all of these forms of assessment can be extremely beneficial within the classroom. I think that it is important to include a variety of these strategies, as not one particular strategy will be able to work on its own. I think that because we have many different students in the classroom, we must be willing to give them different opportunities to succeed. I also think that many of these strategies can be used formatively in order to help give students feedback, and learn more about how the students learn best. I think it would be important to use strategies like interviews in order to find out where the students are at, and monitor their progress. By doing this the students will build relationships with the teacher, and develop a strong community within the classroom. As a teacher, I think it is going to be important to include forms of assessment for, as and of learning. Many of these assessment strategies can be altered to fit into any of those three categories, and so I think it is important to find a balance among all three.
