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Lauren Mariano Dr. Monsour Assessment 8 April 2013 Philosophy of Assessment While thinking about assessment and how to utilize assessment in my future classroom, I have found many interesting aspects of assessment that will not only help my future students but also reflect if my teaching strategies are working or need to be changed. The purpose of assessment is to measure the knowledge that students have obtained through instruction. But assessment is not completely just a measurement of the student, another purpose of assessment is to measure if the instruction given by the teacher is appropriate for the students being taught, and if the instruction is helping the students obtain the information presented. Not only will I have to fix my daily instruction, but also the way that I teach because teaching in the 21 century has changed dramatically from the past centuries largely in part to technology. Some schools today have over a 100 computers and laptops in classrooms with fewer than 50 students in the building (Sheehy). 21 century learners learn using technology because they are familiar with it and it is very easy to use. Another main way that students of the 21 century learn is by hands on activities and a variety of social settings. Hands on activities not only help students to be more creative but they also help connect sensory activities to cognitive advancements. When students use their five senses to discover and explore different elements of a lesson, they will absorb the material that is being taught. In my future classroom, hands on activities will be a large part of the curriculum because 21 century learners learn extremely well using this method. Serving all students is a very hectic challenge that teachers have faced in classrooms today. By differentiating instruction in the classroom, I can serve all students and meet all of their needs individually while providing the information that was intended to be covered. Differentiated instruction provides individualized strategies to help each student be successful in the classroom or on any assessment. Related to the importance of differentiated instruction, I do realize that I will have both gifted and special education students in my classroom. The importance of both differentiated instruction for both of these students is key to their success on assessments. Many assessments can be adapted to the needs of gifted students simply choosing more complex information (higher level thinking on the DOK chart) to cover in the assessment. On the other hand, I will have students in special education that I might have to make adaptations to their tests in order
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to differentiate these assessments. Depending on the disability of the student in special education and what is specified in the students IEP in Section 504, I can make adaptations accordingly. Some test adaptations may include the way in which test items are presented to the student, the students method of responding to test items, and the process a student uses to derive responses to test items. (California Dept of Education). By using summative assessments, I can measure the knowledge that students have obtained through instruction over a period of time. Summative assessments are high-stakes and usually very important to the entire educational staff of a student because this assessment can be put in a students record and also determine some future education opportunities. A summative assessment could be used in the classroom when students take the PSSA test. Another type of assessment that I would use in the classroom would be diagnostic assessments. These assessments measure what the student has already learned about a specific area before instruction. I would provide multiple tests in the beginning of the year that would be considered diagnostic assessments to see where my students are at when entering my classroom. I would know what students knew about the material from their previous grade and also what I needed to cover that some students forgot over the summer months when they were not in school. I would also be assessing projects in my classroom using authentic-based and performance-based assessments. Authentic-based assessments include performing real-world tasks that demonstrate meaningful application of essential knowledge and skills (Mueller). I would especially use this type of assessment in my classroom if I teach the pre Kindergarten and Kindergarten ages. Some examples might include tying shoes or buttoning buttons at the end of Pre Kindergarten. When assessing projects, performance-based assessments measure the demonstration of a particular skill and often the process of accomplishing a performance specific to that skill. Performance assessments can include complex projects that involve group collaboration to write or produce a play, which would be an art and music assessment. With all of the assessments in my classroom, I would really focus on weighing grades evenly or appropriately. Each section of an assessment will be weighed according to importance to the objectives being met. After learning a wealth of information in assessment courses I have taken, I have also learned a lot about different research-based trends in education and how those will affect different assessments

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that I might be using in my classroom. Two very current trends that we have been seeing in education that affect both the classroom and assessments in the classroom are the use of common core standards and the use of technology in the classroom. In 2010, the state board of Pennsylvania adopted the PA common core standards in the areas of Language Arts, Math and English (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania). The purpose of the common core state standards are to provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them (National Governors Association) The common core state standards help to create a more organized and reliable list of all the skills and knowledge all students should be able to assessed on to be prepared for their future educational development. Common core state standards are informed by the highest, most effective models from states across the country and countries around the world, and provide teachers and parents with a common understanding of what students are expected to learn (National Governors Association) Another research-based trend in education that affects assessments in the classroom would be the increased use of technology. As I stated in the beginning of my philosophy, technology is being used is a lot of classroom and caters to the way our 21 century learners learn. In a recent article from the Huffington Post it was stated that, 78 percent of Kindergarten through Middle School teachers agree that technology has had a positive impact on their classroom (Hendricks). Technology has greatly changed classrooms from what they had been like in the past and technology has also changed assessments in those classrooms. Many assessments that used to be pencil and paper tests have become electronic, not only to save money on paper products and to utilize technology but also to create a more convenient way to assess students for teachers. Classroom management can affect assessments in any classroom. In room, I want to incorporate the idea of space. I would like to focus on each developmental domain including: social emotional, spiritual, cognitive, and physical. My room will include art tables and easels, bookshelves, large rugs, beanbag chairs and desk and chairs. By splitting the room into sections, I feel that there is a section that speaks to each student and where each individual student will feel comfortable for any assessment, whether that be in the circle rug or in the art area.
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Works Cited

California Department of Education. (n.d.). Assessment adaptations . Retrieved from http://www.guhsd.net/index.php/procedures-and-resources/assessments/adaptations/doc_view/2656guhsd-accom-and-mod-guidelines Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (2013). PA Common Core Standards. Retrieved from http://www.pdesas.org/standard/commoncore Hendricks, D. A Look at Recent Findings on Technology in the Classroom. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/drew-hendricks/technology-education_b_2867458.html Mueller, J. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/whatisit.htm National Governors Association (2012). Implementing the common core state standards. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/ Sheehy, K. Top Ten Most Connected Classrooms in Photos. Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/education/high-schools/slideshows/top-10-most-connected-classrooms/3