Philosophy of Assessment in Elementary Education

Kristen Santey

Everyday, schools are constantly going through some kind of change. Whether we know
it or not, more and more classrooms are revolving around assessment and are becoming part of
what could be called the: Assessment Bubble. I believe that schools are becoming surrounded
by assessment and it plays a critical role in our education system. I believe assessment is key to
teaching students what to learn, how to learn and also motivating students to learn. In order for
assessment to work, I believe that teachers must use many different forms of assessment in the
classroom that is both reliable and valid. I also believe that collaboration between both the
teacher and student is very important in assessment because it gets the students motivated to
learn. Feedback is also a very critical component in assessment. If teachers provide positive,
detailed feedback which focus on the work, it will help students understand what they did well
and what they can improve on and the classroom environment will become much more effective
for the students to learn.
There are many different types of assessments that teachers can use in the classroom with
their students. One of these types of assessments that can be used is called pre assessments.
Teachers use these types of assessments to find out about students prior knowledge, skills and
abilities about a topic before it is taught in the classroom. As a teacher, I will make sure that what
I am teaching to each student is appropriate to their needs before I teach it and accommodate my
lessons for all my learners because as we all know each student is different and learns differently.
According to Howard Gardner and his Theory of Multiple Intelligences, mentions that there are
seven different intelligences a child can exhibit in the classroom. His theory mentions that a child

can have more than one intelligence and can excel in more than one area in school. Whether we
know it or not, pre assessment is the most important step in assessing our students because it is
critical for us as teachers to understand whether a student has been taught or remembers related
content we teach, if the student needs extra help on a topic that is being covered in class, or if
they require enrichment. Pre assessment also gives the teacher the opportunity to understand
what each student has knowledge of, so that learning can be customized to be most effective for
all students. As a teacher, I plan to use a many different types of pre assessment tools to reach
out to the diverse learning needs of my students.
Another type of assessment I will use as a teacher in my classroom are formative
assessments. As teachers, we can use formative assessments to check for student understanding
which can play a pivotal role in our future lessons. Teachers are formatively assessing their
students every day and they dont even realize it. Just by interacting with students on a day to
day basis, teachers are acquiring an abundance of knowledge about their students. In all reality,
assessment is taking place as learning occurs. As a teacher, I plan to use a variety of different
strategies to formatively assess my students in the classroom. According to Benjamin Bloom and
his taxonomy model, the model provides a structure that allows teachers to
present a lesson to a group of students who have varied needs and abilities.
This model supports the need to differentiate the curriculum so all students
are able to participate in the same content area during a lesson.
I am a strong believer in collaboration, learning centers, and hands on activities. These
tools enable students to develop their critical thinking skills and communicate effectively with
their peers. I strongly believe that these tools will play a key role in the students learning process
helping them better understand their strengths and also places for improvement.

With any type of assessment also comes feedback. Students rely heavily on feedback to
help guide themselves in the learning process. As a teacher, I strongly believe that feedback
should always be specific and descriptive. Teachers should always be making comments to
students on a daily basis. As a teacher, I strongly believe that positive feedback is very beneficial
and will help to keep students motivated and confident to work hard toward their goals. By
providing positive and detailed feedback to students on a daily basis, it enables students to grow
and learn.
The last type of assessment I plan to use as a teacher are summative assessments.
Teachers use summative assessments to evaluate student learning at the end of a lesson or unit,
commonly by the use of tests. As teachers, we should show students a more positive meaning
behind these tests and make them part of the students learning process so they can see how these
tests can benefit them. As a teacher, I know that I cant escape testing as a way to summatively
assess my students but what I do know is that I will use a variety of different tools to evaluate my
students progress. I also believe that when it comes time to evaluate and test my students
progress, I find it critical to differentiate the tests in any way possible to meet the specific
learning needs of the student.
I believe that assessment is a very important part of the learning process. As a teacher, I
plan to incorporate a variety of different assessment tools into my classroom as I can, to meet the
diverse learning needs of my students. If someone were to walk into my classroom, they should
expect to see many creative approaches to assessment and accommodating for each student. It is
my number one priority to integrate assessment in my classroom in a positive way for my
students. I also believe in offering my students many different opportunities to do well and
achieve their goals inside my classroom and to become the best student that they can be.