https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni What is your own experience with assessments as an educator or as a learner or both? Please feel free to express your experience as a written, image, video, etc. en-us 2019-03-07 01:46:30 UTC 2025-12-23 12:07:11 UTC hello@padlet.com lucyksmith126 https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/339601009 As an educator, when I think of assessment I immediately think of the data and number crunching that came with each assessment cycle at my school. I had an involved spreadsheet (see image) where I tracked student progress throughout the year, compared their current achievement to last year's achievement, and tried to make predictions about what they would score on their End of Grade (EOG) tests. Data is a prevalent part of many schools' cultures today and while I think there are certainly benefits to responding to student performance and adjusting instruction to better meet the needs of students, I feel as though educators often have to be (because of their own and their school's evaluations) so focused on assessments, that it is easy to miss what students really need on a given day or slow down instruction to build a deeper understanding of content. Data never tells the whole picture, so I wonder how we can change assessment to show more of who a teacher, a student, and a school truly are?]]> 2019-03-09 20:53:47 UTC https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/339601009 kbe2110 https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/339756916 Whenever I think about assessment, I immediately think of this distinct memory from elementary school when we were tested on our multiplication. For 12 weeks, we studied the times tables from 1 to 12 (Week 1: 1x Week 2: 2x etc.). Every Friday we were given a timed test, and we were instructed to complete as many answers within the time limit. It would look something like this:
3 x 1
3 x 3
3 x 6
3 x 8
3 x 4
3 x 10
3 x 2
3 x 7
3 x 12
3 x 5
It stands out to me for multiple reasons. One, I was always anxious leading up to the test, and I recall wanting to do well or complete the most correct answers. Two, it worked. In other words, I feel like I know my multiplication exceedingly well in comparison to any other math function. However I only know that it worked for me. Why did this resonate with me as a learner? How did others in my class feel about this way of assessment? ]]> 2019-03-10 23:14:06 UTC https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/339756916 wsl2117 https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/339766905 Wan Sze:
As a student, assessment were equated to tests and exams for me. As a teacher, I realised that for many of my students, beyond knowing academic content, many did not have test taking literacies such as how to use limited time strategically, planning and reading and interpretation of questions. Not mastering these skills can impact their eventual grades even if they have studied. 
Another issue I grappled with as an educator was when alternative assessments was heavily touted as the way to go, to move away from traditional pen and paper tests. It was baffling because our national assessments were not changing any time soon. It was at a talk by Prof. Dylan William that he demystified assessment and I came away assured that it is not the assessment that makes the difference, it is how we use the assessment as educators and as schools. Formative assessment is how we gather information regularly when I teach and the use we make of the information we gather. Having the most interesting tasks and rubrics make no difference if we are just giving a final grade at the end of the year, semester or unit.]]> 2019-03-11 00:22:38 UTC https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/339766905 wsl2117 https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/339772666 2019-03-11 01:03:41 UTC https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/339772666 tlg2139 https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/339961036 I began my teaching career in the fall of 2001, just before No Child Left Behind was passed. The influence of this, and the use of standardized tests in general, makes me feel like education was very different for me as a student than it was for me as a teacher. 

I remember sitting in a district wide meeting early in my career and listening to the superintendent tell us that we would be focusing our efforts on getting students to pass tests and that science and social studies teachers should spend as much class time as we could reinforcing reading, writing, and math skills because those were tested subjects and therefore more important than our content based disciplines. 

In the early days of AYP, when we were all coming to grips with the idea that funding could be based on student test scores, I remember watching one of my students come into school late one afternoon, having just had a physical fight with his father, and knowing that he would show up to school the next day and take a standardized test. His mental condition didn't matter to the state. His physical condition didn't matter to the state. All that mattered was his test score. I was young and naive and completely shaken by the injustice and inequity of the system. 

I remember teaching in a public district that had 5 high schools, each with several thousand students, and being told that district policy would be that every single chemistry student in the entire district would take the exact same first and second semester final exams. How could that possibly allow teachers to be their best selves in the classroom, or allow students the opportunity to actually learn the material? How would it allow for anything other than teachers sticking to a strict schedule to make sure they "covered" everything before the tests, regardless of where the students were? 

Now, working in an independent school, I have quite a bit of autonomy with my assessments, so I can ensure they happen when students are ready, and I can use a variety of methods. However, the specter of assessments is still strong as students spend an enormous amount of time, money, and emotional energy on the SAT, ACT, and SAT subject tests. 

In my 18 years of teaching, I've come to have a better understanding of a lot of things, such as pedagogy, relationship building, and curricular choices. But I admit that assessment still stumps me, and is the root of many of my frustrations with the education system. ]]> 2019-03-11 14:07:15 UTC https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/339961036 Oluwaseun https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/340013785 As an educator, I am always very interested in assessment because it measures learning outcomes and determines students' career pathways and/or academic capabilities at different points in time. The issue of standardized tests, especially, has troubled my mind for a long time and I am yet to get over it. 

Students are really good at taking tests (basically regurgitating information) but there is usually no rigor (transfer of knowledge to real-world issues as we discussed in class). Is the purpose of learning not forfeited in the name of assessment?

I struggle to understand the fairness in standardized tests since we all know that learners learn at different levels. How can one test be adequately used to measure the learning outcomes of different learners?

I don't even want to dive into the effect of these assessments on teachers or even parents. If we were to honestly thoroughly analyze standardized tests, the cons far outweigh the pros. That's my take.]]> 2019-03-11 15:32:33 UTC https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/340013785 Oluwaseun https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/340016459 2019-03-11 15:37:09 UTC https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/340016459 Oluwaseun https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/340017708 2019-03-11 15:39:22 UTC https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/340017708 Oluwaseun https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/340018102 2019-03-11 15:40:00 UTC https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/340018102 jph2180 https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/340030947 As several classmates have pointed out, assessment often misses the mark in terms of measuring real world skills.
 In middle school and high school, I studied Spanish. For 6 years,  I was taught Spanish, but we never used it in class. In the end, I took a  New York State Spanish proficiency test and I got 98% on the test, even though I can't speak or understand Spanish. My friend, who is Colombian, speaks and understands Spanish fluently. He took the same test, and he got an 84%. The moral of the story: Standardized tests are made for good test takers, but don't necessarily translate to real-world application.
  The washback, or real-world impact on teaching and learning,  of this test , and many other high stake standardized tests, is that many classes teach towards a test, even at the expense of the real skills that the test is meant to measure. People with real-world skills may be denied the opportunity in education or the professional world because of low test scores.
Here at Teachers College, I took a class with Dr. Jim Purpura, one of the current leading minds in assessment in ESL. He is working with others to make standardized assessment a better measure of real-world skills, but for now, the current practice is still a long way off. ]]> 2019-03-11 16:02:32 UTC https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/340030947 bjr2143 https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/340106095 2019-03-11 18:15:42 UTC https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/340106095 simmonsjackie1 https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/340186598 Diane Ravitch, once the biggest proponent of national standards and testing, has famously walked back from that position. She now leads the National Opt Out Movement to encourage students, parents, and teachers to resist high stakes standardized tests that have had a detrimental effect on curriculum and teaching in public schools.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/04/03/diane-ravitch-why-all-parents-should-opt-their-kids-out-of-high-stakes-standardized-tests/?utm_term=.d7b9463fcb2d ]]> 2019-03-11 22:21:46 UTC https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/340186598 simmonsjackie1 https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/340189272 I think it's important to see examples of how public schools are addressing high stakes accountability driven evaluation systems. It's possible to talk to learners about competency and mastery of knowledge and skills and let people define what that makes look like in projects that motivate them. How can we reintroduce passion and interest back into the ways we think about assessment?]]> 2019-03-11 22:38:01 UTC https://padlet.com/ssy2120/i297cpnfrkni/wish/340189272