In todays school districts, teachers have a variety of educational

resources. Schools serve as learning communities and teachers must

provide the source of the educational development within their
students. I found this evident in my field observation at Latrobe Junior
High School. In this school, I learned how the district may assess a
classroom during my observation in multiple reading classes
throughout the entire day. Generally speaking, I discovered that the
teachers were administering different kinds of assessments to their
students. For example, some teachers used fill in the blank, multiplechoice questions, and essay form evaluations assessments. I
recognized these assessments since many of them were critical in my
own early learning experiences. Therefore, when teachers provide
assessments, they can evaluate the students knowledge and
understanding of the material.
The observation at Latrobe Junior High School promoted learning
for everyone involved in this strategy. First, I learned that the Latrobe
School District uses the point system for grading the students. The
teachers that I observed indicated that the point system is a tradition,
easy to use and hard to escape. Furthermore, they stated that the
point system may provide false representation of the students
knowledge especially if it is improperly administered. For example,
some teachers misuse the system by awarding nebulous points such
as 10 points for a covered book to students. Therefore, the teachers

agreed that the point system can be skewed and it becomes the least
effective assessment method. On the contrary, the teachers identified
that the most effective assessment of students would be the masterybased system. This system allows teachers to evaluate on mastery
rather than assessing points. However, the problem that exists in the
Latrobe School District remains the lack of the teachers knowledge to
administer the mastery-based system.
As I had mentioned earlier, the various assessments such as
open discussion and the use of vocabulary worksheets used during my
observation were familiar because of my own early childhood
experiences. I have found while observing the interactions between
the teacher and students that various methods of assessment are
commonly used to evaluate the students knowledge. For example,
the teachers used the assessment of open discussion and technology
devices with the students. The teacher posted six questions and the
students were directed to respond in a group chat. Therefore, the
students were able to express their knowledge of reading the novel.
Upon reviewing the morning class that is considered having
average reading scores, the teacher used the open discussion with the
group. Being in this observation process, I was able to discuss the
results with the teacher. For example, the responses from this class
did not adequately express what they read in the novel. The answers
to the questions were incomplete and ambiguous. Therefore, this group

was disconnected from what they were reading. In contrast, the

afternoon class categorized as above average demonstrated a clear
understanding of the novel. Each student responded to the open
discussion questions appropriately and summarized the reading in a
concise way.
To review the results of the students was critical to the success
of my observation. As predicted, the outcome of the students was
typical. For example, there were students who excelled while others
had an average performance and some students struggled with the
reading material. Immediately after the teachers reviewed the results,
the teachers shared their strategy to help struggling students. First,
the teachers indicated speaking directly to the students so that they
could discuss and identify reasons as to why the material was difficult
for them. Next, the students who excelled in the same material would
pair with the struggling students. The teachers indicated that peer-topeer mentoring helps the struggling students to grasp the reading
material. These were some of strategies that Latrobe School District
teachers use to help struggling students to become successful after an
exam.
Finally, the last interesting fact that I learned from two of the
eight teachers was their usage of assessments from company books
rather than developing their own.

Teachers need information to pace

their instruction in the classroom. Therefore, the two teachers

indicated that text assessment is available in the book so why not use
it. As for the teachers who choose to develop their own assessment,
they can only surmise that the published questions contradict that
teachers strategy. Therefore, the teachers indicated that having the
option to utilize company books or developing their own assessment
allows flexibility in developing their own classroom strategy.