Group Summary- ASSESSMENT, Rachel Reed, Allison, Laurel, and Pat

Rachel-
My blog detailed different kinds of assessments like informal and formal assessments in general. I then talked in more detail about literacy assessments, especially the ones I had to perform last year. I spoke of the DRA (developmental reading assessment) which is done fully twice a year and then is followed up every month with a running record to see how your students are improving in reading. This assessment will tell you what grade level your student is reading at.

Briefly, some other assessments are the Slosson which measures verbal cognitive recognition, writing assessments, word walls, and novel assessments.

Overall, I stated that assessment drives instruction. It tells us whether the students are "getting it" and if they aren't we change our instruct around so they do understand better. Assessment is also a great way to make sure your students are making progress and will also tell you what areas extra help is needed in. Without assessment, teaching would be lost.

Allison-
Allison touched on a good point. I will quote from her blog:
"One quote that I thought was very important and thought it really explained a lot was "Assessment must promote learning, not just measure it." pg 559. I think that is really important to remember that we often do assessments just to measure or compare students, but the important thing is to make sure that students are learning. It shouldn't just be the numbers."
Allison also liked the idea of the portfolio and the student led conferences. She also related to her own experiences and said she loved back to school night where was proud to show her Mom all the work she had done. She also said that she loved the concept of rubrics because it tells the kids what is expected of them but that her school does not use them because it is a school for children with autism.

Laurel-
Laurel starts off her blog stating:
"assessment - the process through which educators collect data about their students’ progress. This data, if used correctly, will inform instructions, as the students’ strengths and weaknesses are revealed as well as the effectiveness of the teacher’s method of instructions. Assessment is an ongoing process and may be conducted formally or informally."
She goes on to mention that the NJASK and GEPA are relied on heavily but that urban school do have the financial backing to instruct efficiently to achieve the desired results. Laurel then says that teaching to test can have it's positives if it is followed up by other assessments such as, " portfolios, performance based assessments, open-ended questions, teacher observations, and self-assessments that are based on work samples, interests, motivation and attitudes about learning (p. 559)."

Pat-
Pat started her blog saying that the chapter on assessment was pretty much the same as the class she already took on assessment but that there was on added benefit. In her words,
"What I particularly appreciated about Evaluations as Part of Teaching was the information on portfolios as a tool that, when used correctly, could assist teacher and parents, as well as serve to drive the self–assessment need in students."
Pat fortunately gets many parents that come in with their sons/daughters on back to school night and that next year she is going to use the portfolio idea. She feels that the portfolio will help her students succeed better because all her students have some form of learning disability and the portfolio will be a way to assess their learning and at the same time provide her with a tool to drive instruction.
Pat ends her blog by stating:
"Because the creating of portfolios is so personal, it will continue to allow me to sit beside (Routman p. 557) my students and really have an opportunity to give authentic assessment."