Love to Assess

On Valentines Day we discussed different types of assessments, which is a teachers favorite thing to do right? It may or may not be, however it is extremely important in the classroom.

There are 2 types of assessment that we, as teachers, are expected to utilize: formative and summative (or informal and formal in EdTPA terminology). The main goal of formative assessment is to allow the teacher to monitor student learning during the lesson, while providing feedback to the student. These assessments are not usually given a grade. Summative assessments tend to have higher stakes. They are given a specific grade and are used to measure the students' mastery of the learning standards. They are usually given at the end of a unit or chapter and at the end of the term/semester.

We also talked about "Assessent of-for-as Learning." Assessment of learning is a summative assessment where a grade is applied. It is given at the end of learning. Assessment for learning is a formative assessment which is on going during the lesson. Examples of these are tickets out the door, quizzes, homework.... Assessment as learning is where the student self assesses, or where peers provide feedback to one another. It is also on going during the lesson. Some examples of these are rubrics, peer feedback groups...

It is super important for a teacher to assess her (or his) students. A teacher always needs to know where their students are performing. If I had to pick one, I would say that formative assessment is more important. It allows the teacher to monitor student learning everyday. They are able to make sure that each student understands a concept before moving on. This helps every child to succeed. It also allows for a teacher to reflect on their practice (NCPTS 5) by helping them discover gaps in the students' learning. They are then able to adapt their teaching methods to better suit the class.