"Why do we assess students?" by Dr. Angela Nagel

DIRECTIONS: Click the "+" sign in the bottom right to create a blank post-it. Be sure to add your first and last name to your post.

dranagel921 — 2025-08-10 18:57:40 UTC

On your Post, reflect on the following: What is one key phrase from this article that stands out to you? WHY?

Why do we assess students?

2025-08-18 14:53:08 UTC

One key phrase that stuck out to me from the article was " why would you want to give students 20 questions when 2 would do just fine? Similarly, why would the cook taste 20 spoonfuls of soup when 2 spoonfuls would give her the information she needs?" I had never thought about why we give the amount of questions we do like that before, it really brings in a different perspective of is 10 questions too much or too little. And while I defintiley think that varies from time to time, I think it is essential to really consider what the purpose of the assement questions are.

2025-08-18 16:46:43 UTC

A key phrase that stood out to me is, "If you can’t explain what you will do as a result of a student getting each additional question right or wrong, then you’ve got too many questions." I think this is important for teachers to know because it causes less stress on everyone involved: students and teachers. It's unnecessary to give students a million questions if half of them will get you what you need. Not including unnecessary questions gives less workload on students and less time grading for teachers.

Lesly Serrano

2025-08-18 17:08:28 UTC

One key phrase that stood out to me is “the cook tastes 20 spoonfuls of soup when 2 spoonfuls would give her the information she needs.” I love how the author put these phrases to help us gain a better perspective on the matter. Including more questions allows more work for the teacher and student, but it is way easier to have a smaller number of questions that will give all the information the teacher needs. It's important to have a deep understanding of the purpose of assessment.

Reina Wesley: Why do we assess students?

reinawesley — 2025-08-18 18:32:24 UTC

Two key phrase that stood out to me in the article was "Similarly, why would the cook taste 20 spoonfuls of soup when 2 spoonfuls would give her the information she needs?" and "I’ve talked to teachers in multiple districts that told me about putting additional easy questions on their assessments because of administrator pressure to raise assessment scores. Obviously, this leads to false positive results where students appear to understand a topic but don’t." These both stood out to me because it is so true, and they work hand in hand. Including more questions on exams that can be done in 2 or 3 questions is pointless. It adds work to the teacher's plate and can make the questions more difficult for students. However, if you're adding a bunch of questions that are easier, what is the benefit? You are providing false positives and not really learning any of the strengths/weaknesses of the students.

Abby Kurupas

2025-08-19 01:47:26 UTC

One key phrase that stood out to me was "if 29 students showed that they needed intervention, would you skip doing intervention if the 30th student was fine?" This phrase stands out to me because it puts into perspective how to gauge what the teacher will need to go over and what they won't. It also shows how one must do what is best for the majority rather than just a single student. This phrase really shows the need for formative assessments in the classroom.

Delaney Brookover: Why do we assess students?

2025-08-19 16:10:39 UTC

One key phrase that stood out to me in this article was “if you can’t explain what you will do as a result of a student getting each additional question right or wrong, then you’ve got too many questions.” This is important for both a student and an educators. As a college student I believe that sometimes even our assessments are too long. There is no need to give students 50 questions just to lengthen the time of the assessment. If we as educators are not able to justify why each question is on the assessment then it should not be there. This also is lessening the work load on both students and teachers. Teachers can grade faster, and students who may not be good test takers are given less stress.

"Why do we assess students?"

2025-08-19 21:14:22 UTC

Within this article, there was one key phrase that stood out to me. The key phrase that stood out was "why would the cook taste 20 spoonfuls of soup when 2 spoonfuls would give her the information she needs?" I love having visuals when I am talking to someone that needs to understand what I am saying, or when I am trying to learn from someone else on a topic. So, for this, it made sense, and I connected to it quickly. With formative assessments, you don't have to worry about every student. You may grasp the information you need with just a few students' assessments. You also don't have to have an overbearing number of questions, if say 10 questions are sufficient enough for you to get the assessment completed. This is lessening the work for the students and teachers and still give the teachers the information they are needing.

Joshua Hare- Why do we asses students.?

2025-08-19 22:34:48 UTC

"Why would the cook taste 20 spoonfuls of soup, when 2 spoonfuls would give the information needed." This stood out to me because I have seen firsthand a quiz being administered with 30 + questions; many of which are redundant and ask the same thing over and over again; just worded differently. This can be overwhelming to the test taker, and is simply extra remedial work for the one grading.

"Why Do We Assess Students?" Mandi Burton

2025-08-20 01:22:05 UTC

The key phrase that stuck out for me was actually the first sentence in the article, “Sometimes it seems like collaborative teams of educators are on different pages when it comes to assessment.” This statement stood out to me because it is true. I have seen it with my own eyes while working in the educational field. Though educators are on the same collaborative team, such as the same grade level, they base their assessment off of different ways data is collected. Assessments are necessary to see where the students are and what areas need improvement; however, some of those educators believe giving just exams over whole chapters can determine the scale of knowledge, which is considered summative assessment. Then, some believe in discussions among peers or weekly quizzes to break up the chapter as beneficial, which is formative assessment. Overall, the difference in assessment may lead to some students falling behind, in my opinion, due to the different types of learning. I believe it would be in the students' best interest if, as a collaborative team of educators, they were more on the same page when it comes to assessments. That would be how the feedback is determined and whether or not the goals are being met.

Riley Roy - Why do we assess students?

rileyroy1 — 2025-08-21 00:05:19 UTC

One key phrase that stuck with me from the article, "Why Do We Assess Students?" was about the number of questions on assessments. It stated, " ... if you can't explain what you will do as a result of a student getting each additional question right or wrong, then you've got too many questions." I believe that this quote is saying that each test or quiz question should be essential and tied into what is happening in the classroom. When preparing assessments for our classes we must pay close attention to the level of questioning we give and the way the questions are worded. This all stems from knowing your students and their abilities on a deeper level.

Annika Garcia

2025-08-21 01:18:08 UTC

One phrase that stood out to me was "A good rule to follow is this: if you can’t explain what you will do as a result of a student getting each additional question right or wrong, then you’ve got too many questions." This phrase stands out to me, because it encourages the right mindset for assessment/testing. As in quality>quantity. Another reason this stood out to me was because it aligns with student-centered learning which I believe to be the best way of learning.

Maura Hartman

2025-08-21 17:01:36 UTC

The phrase that stood out to me was, “Assessment is gathering information to make a decision.” I connect with this because, as a future FCS teacher, I don’t just want assessments to be about points or grades; I want them to be useful. This reminds me that every time I assess, it should guide what I do next in the classroom. For example, if I’m teaching a sewing unit and I notice students struggling with threading a machine, that “assessment” tells me I need to slow down and reteach before moving forward. Thinking about assessment this way makes it feel more supportive and practical, both for me as a teacher and for my students, because the goal is growth, not just a number in the gradebook.

Riley Hafley- Why Do We Assess Students

2025-08-21 18:57:08 UTC

One key phrase that stuck out to me was, "This can lead to other problems though. I’ve talked to teachers in multiple districts that told me about putting additional easy questions on their assessments because of administrator pressure to raise assessment scores. Obviously, this leads to false positive results where students appear to understand a topic but don’t." This made me think back to my school career. I was so obsessed with getting an "A" that I did not care if I knew the content, rather I memorized the content enough to pass, and then it left my brain almost immediately. The stigma of testing needs to be stopped. Testing is not to show the worth of the student. Assessments should only be used to show the understanding of a topic. Making a 100-question test, where a student only understood 25% of the content, but happened to make a 78% is not accurate understanding of the student. Just like reviewing the day before and having a word-for-word test review does not show understanding. My suggestion is to make the tests a smaller percentage of the final grade. The work, discussions, and projects should be worth more than the test which is merely a meter of understanding. I believe this is what will make our assessments true assessment of knowledge, rather than assessment of student worth.

Ella Watwood: Why Do We Assess Students

2025-08-22 13:34:44 UTC

A key phrase that stood out to me in the article was "why would you want to give students 20 questions when two would be just fine? Similarly, why would the cook taste 20 spoonfuls of soup when 2 spoonfuls would give her the information she needs?" For me personally, this opened my eyes to a concept I never truly thought about. Typically when I think of assessment, I think of a 50 question test where each question gets harder and harder. But in reality, the students only need a couple of questions that they can answer to prove to us as the teacher that they understand the concept. Why give them a 50 question test with 40 not super relevant questions, when you could give them a 10 question test that only includes the standards the teacher covered.

Katie Hoffmeister

katiehoffmeister304 — 2025-08-22 19:30:40 UTC

One key phase that stood out to me was, "For example, why would you want to give students 20 questions when 2 would do just fine? Similarly, why would the cook taste 20 spoonfuls of soup when 2 spoonfuls would give her the information she needs?" I think this holds a lot of meaning, and for students in an education major, it can procure a lot of thoughts. In school, I think the majority of the formative assessments I took, and I'm sure many peers as well can agree, were long, and did take up a whole class day to do. While i did have one or two teachers through my high school experience do entrance and exit tickets as their formative assessments, many teachers would use a long test and go into useless similar questions. This I now understand was simply to fill the period of time. As an education major this makes me reflect on how these tests impacted how I looked at a teachers teaching style, and how I formed my own expectations for how the class would go. I think as a new generation of educators this article allows us to think on how we want to tackle formative assessments, and think about if questions are truly needed, or if we are just doing what we have blindly assumed is the "correct way."

Ashley Scott

2025-08-23 18:07:49 UTC

A key phrase that stood out to me from this article is "For example, why would you want to give students 20 questions when 2 would do just fine? Similarly, why would the cook taste 20 spoonfuls of soup when 2 spoonfuls would give her the information she needs?". I love comparison's and analogies, it helps me better understand things. In order to assess a student's knowledge about a topic or subject, why should they have a quiz with so many questions that you are just going to have to take extra time later to grade? If just a few questions is enough to let you know that you've taught them well and they understand the topic, save yourself the headache and move on.

Cindy Willett

2025-08-23 18:42:45 UTC

A key phrase that stands out to me is, "Putting additional easy questions on their assessments because of administrator pressure to raise assessment scores."

This seems to defeat the purpose of assessment and does harm to students' learning. We need to be held accountable and learn what we need to do better for the success of our students.

"Why do we assess students?" Lilyan Driesbach

2025-08-23 19:39:17 UTC

There was one thing that stuck out to me the most while reading what Kaplinsky had to say about assessments. "Also consider the pros and cons of doing reviews before assessments. How might a review affect the assessment results? What does it mean if scores are different when there is or is not a review? Which would be a more accurate measure of what students know?" When I read this, it immediately grabbed my attention, resulting in me having to reread it to make sure I understood it correctly. I'm still not sure what to think of this statement because I personally feel that a quick and simple review is necessary to ensure that your students remember all the key points from previous lessons. If your students don't have someone reminding them of the information they learned, then they most likely will forget to go back and review those lessons that weren't as recent.

Emma Simpson

2025-08-23 20:22:34 UTC

A key phrase that stood out to me was "why would you want to give students 20 questions when 2 would do just fine." I think this is a very important question to ask when looking at assessments. The only thing that adding unnecessary questions is going to do is waste everyone's time, including the teachers.

wendell newsome

2025-08-24 13:57:41 UTC

What I took from the article is that whether we are using a formative assessment or a summative assessment is that if we as educators on all levels aren't able to be able to decipher or understand the collection of data that our assessments are trying to identify we aren't' really going to be able to make any progress. This is what must be really important in the way we design our assessments.

Tania Gonzalez

2025-08-24 15:22:09 UTC

In Kaplinsky's article, I came across a phrase that highlighted and important point that often goes unnoticed. As a teacher responsible for a good number of students, it is simply not feasible to review every single assessment in detail in order to gauge each's students level of understanding. He points out that "something strange about formative assessment is that you don't have to review every single student's assessment." This resonated with me because, in the classroom, teachers naturally develop a sense of their student's strengths and weaknesses through daily interactions. This ongoing observation allows educators to identify who is grasping the material and who may need additional support to fully master the content.

2025-08-25 01:00:03 UTC

A key phrase that stood out to me was at the beginning of the article, stating, “Generally, you have a specific question and you need data to answer it”. This shows that assessment are a tool to help teachers do their job instead of a test to see how smart students are.

Kaitlin Hayden

2025-08-25 01:49:53 UTC

One thing that stood out to me while reading the article is that there is no need to ask students multiple questions when using formative assessment. Just using 2 great questions that cover the topic is better than asking 10-20 questions that aren't much use to what you're trying to gain knowledge about. I feel like it is common for teachers to use big pop quizzes with multiple questions that take a quarter-half a class period when they could've used follow-up or bellringer type of questions. Additionally, bellringers remind me of a formative assessment for K-12 grades.

Emma Tully

2025-08-25 03:09:52 UTC

A phrase that stuck out to me was, "Why would you want to give students 20 questions when 2 would do just fine? Similarly, why would the cook taste 20 spoonfuls of soup when 2 spoonfuls would give her the information she needed?" I thought this was an interesting perspective to think about. I feel like I have always taken assessments with ten or more questions, when in reality, half of the questions were things we didn't have to know. In some cases a lot of questions are needed, but it is easier to retain information and for the teacher to assess a students knowledge with less questions.

Harper Hurt

2025-08-29 17:18:09 UTC

A key quote that stood out to me was, "If you can't explain what you will do as a result of a student getting each additional question right or wrong, then you've got too many questions." This stuck out to me because I believe it is very important that educators have an intention behind what they have their students do. In order to be an effective teacher you shouldn't do things just to fill up time, instead you should have a purpose. Making sure you can justify your assignments will help you to hold yourself accountable as a teacher or educator. It is also best not to over work your students because it can add stress which would affect their learning process.