Assessment Philosophy

EDTE 613: Assessment

There are three different types of assessment. I believe that all three have a time and a place in the
classroom.
Diagnostic: Too often, teachers start teaching a unit, topic, or concept without any
understanding of the class prior knowledge. This exposes two assumptions that teacher
makes when it comes to planning: 1) Whether the group has a sufficient enough grasp on
the necessary foundational information in order to handle the topic at hand, and; 2) What
the class already knows about the new topic, resulting in time unknowingly wasted. I believe
in using diagnostic assessment in order to gauge my students understandings first so that I
can effectively plan to teach them new information and correct whatever prior
misconceptions they may have.
Formative: Student learning should be about more than just memorizing names, dates, and
facts for regurgitation on a unit test. I believe in using formative assessment activities in
order to ensure student understanding of the content. Such activities will be used in support
of a final, summatively assessed learning activity. Feedback will be given regularly to ensure
the best possible product from the student. Such feedback will be useful and developmental
to the student; that is to say, comments will be more than just a checkmark on their work or
a rubric. Formative assessment activities will not be included when calculating a grade for
the course.
Summative: Student learning of a unit, topic, or course will be evaluated at the end of the
segment via a summative learning activity, which could be a test, project, ePortfolio, report,
presentation, or other tool. Expectations for summative activities will be made explicit from
the outset.
In the case of Formative and Summative assessment, students will have a voice in the development
of the learning activities, criteria, and expectations so to ensure ownership and motivation.
Furthermore, students will have opportunities for formative self- and peer-assessment wherever
appropriate in order to encourage the best possible outcomes for all students; these cannot be
used in the calculation of a grade, however.
The inclusion of self-assessment, peer-assessment, and student-designed assessment tools and
criteria in this philosophy statement supports the third pillar of my Personal Frame of Reference:
Active Engagement; these elements promote student ownership of the products they produce, and
this ownership ties directly into motivation, a key element of this pillar.

Brennan Conroy (EDPB Yr. 5 Secondary)