Assessing Student Learning

Description
The focus of this week’s reading was about formative and summative assessments and why they are important to students and the teacher.

Analysis
Formative assessments/evaluations are important because it tracks how well students are doing and lets the teacher know what concepts or skills a student may need additional help and support in. Formative evaluations are designed by the teacher to let them know if students' need additional instruction or if students need additional learning (Slavin, 2014, pg. 350).  They are also important because they find what weaknesses and strengths students are showing in their learning. With the outcomes of the assessments, teachers can focus on what students need to learn more of or what skill a student understands. Formative assessments are quick and gives teachers immediate results and feedback. The brief assessments can be given orally or by students' writing short learning probes (Slavin, 2014). Teachers can even listen to students interacting in groups with their peers to see if they understand what the concept is. Some examples of formative assessments can be think pair share, exit/admit ticket, classroom polls and analyzing student work.

Reflection
The concept of using formative assessments on a daily basis is a great idea. By doing the quick assessments daily, I am able to see which students need additional support and learning of a concept. I do quick formative assessments like thumbs-up and thumbs-down, mini whiteboard responses, exit/entrance tickets, red and green cards, google forms and docs, and I listen to students interact with their peers during group work.

To become a better teacher, I will make sure I implement formative assessments daily. Doing this will allow me to keep up with which students may be falling behind. I will also continue to give summative assessments at the end of the units. I will compare the data with all the students in the class to see which students need additional support and what concepts they need support in.

Formative and summative assessments are significant for my kindergarteners and all grade levels. They keep track and identify which students maybe having difficulties. I use different strategies to assess, and keep students engaged in the lesson. So, when I assess students formatively, they don't even realize that they are being assessed.

References
Slavin, R. E. (2014). Educational psychology: Theory and practice (11th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.



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