Philosophy of Assessment

Introduction

As a future educator, my job is to make sure that students are not only learning new skills, but

improving in their execution. Assessment plays a vital role in determining whether or not

students have met the standards set by the state of North Carolina. Teachers must balance

content, task difficulty, subjectivity, and fairness as they create and grade tests. While this

process can be difficult and time-consuming, it is fundamental to providing students with the

opportunity for a quality education.

5 Belief Statements

I believe that grading is subjective. Marking student responses is a vital part of the

assessment process, but is important to do so with very specific standards in mind. In my

classroom, I want to ensure objectivity, so I will use several different strategies. Clear and

concise rubrics will highlight my expectations for students and provide quick, holistic feedback

on various types of assessments (Andrade, 2000, p. 15). Having these pre-determined outlines

will prevent me from putting comments on a paper that could potentially discourage a student

from personally investing in assessments. As a professional, it will be my responsibility to self-

evaluate my feedback to students. It has been revealed that teachers who have close relationships

with students tend to overestimate the abilities of those students (Kamenetz, 2015). To prevent

favoritism, I will blindly grade papers by covering up the names. This practice might get harder

throughout the school year as I begin to recognize handwriting, but it would encourage me to

have concrete reasoning that logically justifies every number or letter grade I assign.

I believe that feedback is more important than a grade. While teachers are here to

help students pass one course or another, not everything boils down to a single number or letter.
It matters whether the student understood the concept and can perform the skill. Students need

regular, consistent, and accessible feedback that tells them how they are doing. David Carless

from the University of Hong Kong discusses how these positive elements of feedback intersect

with improved student achieving. Students have to get the feedback in a timely manner and it

must be written in a language they understand (Carless, 2006, p. 221). Theres no point in telling

a student that a particular film frame in Bottle Rocket manipulates temporal space if they cant

understand a single word in the sentence.

I believe that educators put too much emphasis on summative assessments.

Formative assessments should have a more intense focus in the classroom, as they inform and

drive instruction to meet the specific learning needs of students. By giving students the chance to

practice working with concepts and material in a low-stakes environment, opportunities for

constructive feedback are more accessible. It seems like a natural response for teachers to be

concerned about student performance on end-of-unit tests, standardized tests like the SAT, and

other benchmarks throughout the year. While it is important that students are prepared for these

various types of exams, educators should not lose sight of the methods used to get students to the

finish line.

I believe that you should begin assessments with the end in mind. For teachers that

are teaching three different classes during the same semester, backwards design is a more

efficient way to lay out a unit plan for students. It allows you to pinpoint exactly what students

need to know. Once all appropriate elements that need to be included in the unit have been

specified on the summative test, creating the rest of the unit lines itself up. Wormeli suggests

giving the test to students at the beginning of the unit to introduce expectations. As students are

moving through the unit, it turns into discovery learning as they find answers to the questions
through discussion and class activities (Wormeli, 2006, p. 21).

Modifying assessments only means meeting a kid where they are to get them to

where they need to be. Before this semester, I thought that modifying an assignment meant

coming up with something entirely new. However, a modification can be as simple as increasing

the space between lines or changing the color of a font. If this is what a student requires to be

successful, educators must work to accommodate those needs. Whenever a student and I attempt

a strategy, we will record the process and reflect on the results, much like an experiment.

Throughout my career, I plan on keeping track of the different strategies I use to promote student

success. A cumulative notebook of methods used over the years will help me ensure that I am

meeting the needs of all students with learning disabilities or other needs.
 Sample Syllabus Section

Grading Scale

A=100-90
B=89-80
C=79-70
D=69-60
F=<59

Grades will be weighted in POWER School as follows

Type Percentage Details

Homework assignments 10% Effort, not perfection, to
master skills outside of
class

Participation 15% Regular contribution to

class discussion and
activities
Classwork 25% Free writes, warm ups,
worksheets, etc.
Assessment 50% Quizzes, tests, essays,
projects, etc.

Late work
As outlined in the Cary High School Student Handbook, students may turn in completed work
for a minimum of 50% credit for non-homework assignments up until 5 days after the original
due date (Cary High School Student Handbook 2017-2018, 2017, p. 9). They can turn in these
assignments until 3 days before the end of the grading period. For all homework turned in and
completed, the lowest grade that a student can receive is a 50, unless it is turned in outside the
timeline of 5 days for accepting late work. A student may then receive a zero on an assignment.
Late work does not include work missed due to an excused absence.

Makeup Work
Students missing work due to an excused absence will receive 2 days per day absent to complete
and submit make up work for full credit. It is the students responsibility to check with me
concerning any make up assignments following an absence. If a situation arises where the
student has to miss significant amounts of class time, we will together to create an individualized
action plan to ensure that all learning needs have been met.
 Conclusion

Grading is an inseparable part of teaching, but it has to be thoughtful, effective grading

paired with feedback. Great teachers reflect on student data and make use of those results to

drive instruction forward (North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards, 1998, pg. 7). While

it may be difficult to accept that a lesson plan or activity was unsuccessful, it is better to

recognize what does not work and think critically about what could be done to improve student

achievement. Education professionals must not only assess their students, but themselves.
 References

Andrade, H. G. (2000). Using rubrics to promote thinking and learning. Educational

leadership, 57(5), 13-19.

Carless, D. (2006). Differing perceptions in the feedback process. Studies in higher

education, 31(2), 219-233.

Cary High School Student Handbook 2017-2018 [PDF]. (2017). Cary: Cary High School. 1-35.

Kamenetz, A. (2015) If Your Teacher Likes You, You Might Get A Better Grade.

Retrieved Novmber 20, 2017, from

https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/02/22/387481854/ifyour-teacher-likes-you-you-

might-get-a-better-grade?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=education

North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards [PDF] (1998). North Carolina Professional

Teaching Standards.

Wormeli, R. (2006). Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessing & Grading in the Differentiated

Classroom. Stenhouse Publishers.