Running Head: DOMAIN B LITERATURE REVIEW 1

Domain B Literature Review

National University

Richard Regal

May 4, 2019
DOMAIN B LITERATURE REVIEW
2

Abstract

This literature review will cover an article titled “6 Questions to Tackle in Using Assessment in

Instruction” which information on how to best assess students throughout the course of

instruction. Several types of assessment exist; most types of assessments must prove to be

adequately rigorous and provide data and feedback for students. Ultimately, how assessments are

utilized depends on the educator and their specific student needs or state standard requirements.

Keywords: Assessment, feedback, data, standardized tests, instruction

DOMAIN B LITERATURE REVIEW
3

Assessment is an integral part of any lesson. Students are expected to master standards and

that can only be measured using assessment. Many different types of assessments exist which

means it is up to the educator to pick the assessment that will adequately and properly challenge

their students. According to the California Teaching Performance Expectations (2013) document,

teachers are expected to “use multiple measures for progress monitoring throughout instruction to

determine whether all students, including English learners and students with special needs, are

understanding content and making progress toward identified key concepts from state-adopted

state standards” (p. 11-12). Much like teaching lessons that reach all learners and styles of

learning, teachers need to carefully choose an assessment that meets the requirements of the

concepts and considers the students in their class. Naturally, a discussion about assessment and

the best course of action can lead to debate among teachers and even parents and lawmakers.

According to Konen, (2017) a balance needs to be struck when it comes to time spent instructing

and assessment, and that testing data should be “used to drive instruction” (“6 Questions to Tackle

in Using Assessment in Instruction”).

A key aspect of assessment during instruction is doing so in one of two ways, formative

and summative. Formative assessments should take place throughout the learning process to

monitor progress from start to finish. Often these assessments are done quickly and sometimes in

an informal manner. It is an easy way for a teacher to get a general sense of progress in the

classroom. It can come in the form of something as simple as a thumbs up from students or a

ticket out the door all the way up to a short format quiz or written response. Some of these

formative assessments generate usable data while others simply give a gauge to teachers of how
DOMAIN B LITERATURE REVIEW
4
an entire class, subset of students, or individual students are doing. The other side of assessments

are those that are summative. These are unit tests or novel tests, or more importantly, state

standardized tests. These summative tests are of course meant to measure a student’s growth in

certain standards across the school year. In his article Konen (2017) writes that two examples of

standardized tests, the SBAC and the PARCC make use of a wide variety of questioning that

challenge students in unique ways, suggesting that these tests are strong points of reference when

creating assessments and that depth of knowledge and using Bloom’s Taxonomy can assist in

crafting assessments with an “emphasis on rigor and relevance” (“6 Questions to Tackle in Using

Assessment in Instruction”).

Of course, all the data in the world gathered by assessments in classrooms will do no good

for the students unless feedback is given to them. Konen (2017) asserts that feedback should

begin at the start of a lesson and carry all the way throughout and will help as students begin

“forming their understanding of the concept” of any given topic or lesson (“6 Questions to Tackle

in Using Assessment in Instruction”). Feedback can be provided in a number of ways, including

focusing on a specific group of students that needed targeted assistance or by making use of peer

feedback between students. Konen (2017) states that the culture of the classroom is important

when using feedback and can affect just how effective feedback ultimately is (“6 Questions to

Tackle in Using Assessment in Instruction”). It is important to keep the feedback focused on the

lesson or task and not on the learner and ensuring that feedback is elaborated on in an

understandable way that can be used later by the student.

Teaching lessons is only half the battle; assessment is a necessary part of any curriculum

or plan. How we use assessment comes down to the goals of the teacher and the goals of the
DOMAIN B LITERATURE REVIEW
5
material, however varying assessments, increasing rigor, and providing meaningful feedback are

crucial to ensuring that students have an opportunity to succeed, which will lead to improved

assessment scores.

References:

Commission on Teacher Credentialing. (2013). California Teaching Performance Expectations.

Retrieved April 13, 2019, from https://www.ctc.ca.gov/docs/default-source/educator-

prep/standards/adopted-tpes-2013.pdf

Konen, J. (2017). Using Assessment in Instruction. Retrieved May 4, 2019, from

https://www.teacher.org/daily/using-assessment-instruction/