Assessment Assignment

Kaitlin Sharp
Each student has to make the decision to learn and my goal is to assess student learning
through authentic assessment. Within English, Language Arts, and Reading, I found that peerreviews combined with self-assessments during the writing process offered the best form of
individual assessment. During collaborative work and individual writing assignments, students
should be allowed to evaluate their performance and the contribution of their peers because
students can find out what they did well and what can be improved upon in the future. Since
peers are so important in school, teachers should take advantage of the relationship by using it as
an avenue for constructive evaluations. Self-reflection is a great assessment for learning because
it holds the student responsible for expressing how and what they learned. These reflections
could be kept in a student portfolio. Student portfolios are another beneficial evaluation practice
because it allows for a comparison of student work over time. Portfolios are performance
assessments that are relevant, authentic, and show growth. Effective teachers must also use
observation and probing with questions to assess students knowledge because differentiated
questions will help the teacher evaluate students across multiple intelligences. Collaborative
debates and group discussions are another beneficial form of evaluation because the analysis and
synthesis of the content in preparation for the discussion requires students to demonstrate higherorder thinking skills. Peer reviews, self-reflections, portfolios, observation and probing, and
debates are my favorite forms of assessment because they are very beneficial to student learning.
There are grading and assessment practices that, although they are not harmful, are not
beneficial to students and their learning. Using red pens for grading, multiple choice, matching,
pop-quizzes, and completion-based assignments are forms of assessment that are not detrimental

nor beneficial to student learning. For example, it is not uncommon for teachers to write down
their feedback on student papers in red ink because of the colors high visibility on the sea of
black and white papers. However, the red is an alarming color, and it brings forward negative
connotations and anxiety for some people. While I am not in favor of increasing student anxiety,
I do not think the color red by itself will inhibit a students ability to learn. Additionally, I do not
have negative nor positive views of the objective test items multiple choice and matching
questions. Even though there are ways to counteract the students probability of correctly
guessing their way through the test, I still feel there is too much regurgitation of content, which
is why I think there are better forms of assessment that could be used instead. Also, I remember
using memorization tricks with matching or word-box based vocabulary quizzes, and I only
learned a handful of the words. Very rarely my English teachers would give pop-quizzes to see if
students had completed the reading. Though a pop-quiz may prove a student read the material, it
does not show if they understood the text beyond a superficial reading. Sometimes teachers use
completion-based assignments for short answer essays as a way to get students in the habit of
writing. Since the habit of writing is important in the writing process, but there are other ways to
accomplish the same thing, the practice is neither detrimental nor beneficial.
The most destructive forms of assessment do not allow students to learn from their
mistakes in a positive and supportive manner. Pop-corn reading, high-stakes testing, and not
allowing students to correct their answers are harmful or destructive to students and their
learning in high school English classes. The practice of letting students call on peers at random
for reading aloud, pop-corn reading, highlights verbal readings skills in a negative manner. I
remember English Language Learners struggling with this practice and causing frustration and
resentment from the other students because of the slow pace and lack of engagement. Since I

have not encountered positive experiences with this practice, I do not plan on using it for
assessing a students reading abilities. On another note, high-stakes testing negatively affects
student learning because it is too stressful and does not focus on the learning or improvements of
the individual. Tests have their place in determining what a student has learned, but high-stakes
testing places pressure on one moment which is contrary to the fact that learning occurs over
time. One of the important parts of the learning process is reflection and feedback; therefore, not
allowing students to correct their mistakes or respond to teacher feedback is one of the most
harmful practices to student learning because of the lost opportunity for growth.
The trend that I noticed in my lists of assessments is that I place high value on reflection
and revision as part of the learning process because I want to use peer reviews and selfreflections. Additionally, I think students should be allowed to correct their work and learn what
they missed and why the answer was incorrect. This reflects my philosophy that writing is the
process of rewriting because I want to give students a chance to revise through responses to
feedback. I also have a tendency to favor focusing on individual improvement over placing value
on norm-referenced tests through my dislike of high-stakes testing versus my favor for student
portfolios. Since my disposition towards matching and multiple choice are neither harmful nor
beneficial, it reveals that I see their purpose as assessments but do not trust them as sources of
assessment because of memory skills. My hope is that my assessment dispositions reveal that I
am student-centered because I want to use assessments that are uplifting and relevant.
Honestly, I would like to look into more forms of informal assessment to create the ideal
evaluation program because at this time I underestimate my knowledge of assessments. I hope
that my observations and student teaching will give me a better understand of the assessment that
I am familiar with while presenting me with new forms of assessment. As of right now, my ideal

evaluation program would include active parent participation. Since families are a strong
influence in student growth, I want them to be involved in the assessment process. This would
include students coming home with graded papers and discussing what they missed on the
assignment and why they think they received that grade. In addition to the parents interacting
with their child, I would communicate with them directly to discuss what progress they have
seen in their students learning. Does their child discuss what they learned in school with them
and ask them questions? Does their child seem interested and engaged in the material when
completing homework? Another key component in this is that I would appreciate feedback from
the parents on what they thought I could improve upon. Are students frustrated about not
answering questions in class, meaning that I need to have a longer wait time for students to
respond? While I am sure there are other ways to include parents in the assessment process, I
would have the final say, but my ideal assessment program would take advantage of their role in
the students life.
As much as I would like parents to be involved in assessment, a majority of the
assessments would be from in class participation in discussion over the readings, responses to
probing, and self-reflection on writing exercises. My notes about student participation and
responses would be included in the portfolio of student work throughout the course. At the
beginning and end of the semester/year, I would have students answer the same writing prompt
to allow for a more direct comparison of improvement in the portfolio. Additionally, I would
have students write their own questions and their responses for discussions based on higher
levels of thinking in Blooms Taxonomy. The questions would be kept in the portfolio to
demonstrate improvements in questioning and critical thinking abilities. Ideally, the assessments
would focus on improving individual learning more than meeting Overall, I would like for my

assessment plan to be based on my teaching philosophy that every student is capable of

mastering the content to the best of their abilities while acknowledging that not everyone is on
the same level at the same time.