Assessment Rational

            I believe that students learn best through the social interaction theory. I believe that collaborating in small groups allows for discussion of the content and clarification that students may not receive otherwise. Students also learn through scaffolding; pairing up with a more knowledgeable other to guide one’s learning. Scaffolding can take place during group collaboration or through teacher interaction. Having children work hands-on (through inquiry) and individual exploration, allows students to make meaning from content in their own way. Children learn best when they are motivated and engaged in the content. I believe that in order for children to be engaged, the teacher must be engaged and show enthusiasm of the content. Taking into account children’s interest, and adapting lesson plans according to their interests will help keep children focused and motivated to learn.

            The key elements of my assessment plan include partner and small group formative assessments, a performance assessment (which includes observing each student measure and writing down their aural explanation of why they chose certain measuring tools to measure certain objects/distances), and a paper and pencil assessment. I chose to assess my students according to these three assessments because I want to know what they can do individually (performance and paper assessment), what they can do with partners (formative observations), and how they are able to take the content they learned and put it into practice by comparing different measuring tools and explaining why one is a better fit than another, and then using that tool to make estimations and to measure (performance assessment). I also put effort into making their assessment interesting and fun to motivate my students to do their best.

            The performance assessment may have a few obstacles in the way. I want to observe each student choosing a measurement tool, explaining to me why they chose that tool, make estimations, and measure. This may be an obstacle because there is only one of me, and there are eighteen students. Fortunately, my mentor teacher is allowing me to take each student out of the classroom to do their performance assessment, while she is teaching. Also, I have eighteen students, eight of which are English Language Learners. I think for the paper and pencil assessment, it would be best for me to put it in the document camera and go through the directions with them. This is a proactive approach to eliminate the obstacle of trying to help each student with their assessment. Since I have a few multiple choice questions on my pre-assessment, I need to make sure I am observing the students while they are taking the assessment to try to figure out who knows the answers and who is guessing correctly.

            I developed my performance assessment to meet the needs of my ELL students and my kinesthetic learners. I wanted to give my students the chance to physically show me what they have learned, and to explain their thoughts aurally. This will help take the pressure off writing so much, and it will help me understand how much they have truly learned during my unit. My plan for my pre-assessment is to read the directions out loud to the students for each question. This will help my students who are below in reading and my students who have ADHD. I think paying close attention to my students’ needs and adapting my assessments to meet their needs will help my students be successful throughout my unit.

Interpretation of Results

Description of methods/strategies used to analyze assessment data:

           While teaching my unit, I learned that assessing students go hand-in-hand with instructing them. Formative assessments led my daily instruction, and a performance assessment allowed my students to use an alternative form of assessment, instead of the traditional paper and pencil test. And finally, the pre and post-assessments allowed me to see how much knowledge my students gained during my unit.

            The raw data I have on my students includes: their pre-assessment scores, their formative assessment scores, their performance assessment scores, and their post-assessment scores. After observing my students on the pre-assessment, I noticed that the majority of the class had not learned the material before. I knew I would be able to teach my unit as planned to further their knowledge on the content.

            I made three different spreadsheets and graphs to analyze my students’ scores. The first spreadsheet/graph shows my students’ scores for their pre-assessment, post-assessment, and the class average in each category.  The spreadsheet/graph following it shows the scores for each student’s formative assessment for each lesson, and their average formative assessment score for the entire unit. The next spreadsheet/graph shows each student’s performance assessment score in each category (units they chose to measure by, their estimations, and their measurements) and their average score.

Explanation and analysis of student performance/learning:

            While looking at my graphs, it is clear that my students gained a significant amount of information. The average score jumped from about a 3.5 to an 8.2 (from the pre to the post assessment). The range from my pre-test was relatively large, 1-7, for a range of 6. My pre-assessment was out of 11 points. I gave the same assessment for their post-assessment, this allowed me to measure their pre-assessment with their post-assessment accurately. Their post-assessment ranged from 6-11, a range of 5, and the average is 8.234. The average formative assessments differed depending on the lesson, but every day it was between a 2 and 3 (2=meets expectations). Every student at least had one 3 (exceeds expectations) on their formative assessment.

         So what do all these numbers mean? I interpret this to mean that all of my students progressed in measurement, they all put forth effort, and they all gained a significant amount of knowledge. The average score of their Performance assessment (which was made up of choosing the best units to measure certain objects and distances, make estimations, and then measure) was a 2.2 (2=meets expectations), allowing me to observe that all of my students were able to gain some knowledge of the content and explain aurally why they are using certain tools to measure certain objects/distances.

Explanation and analysis of gaps in student learning:

           Four students received a 6 on their post-assessment, which is 55%. And one of those students did not progress at all from his pre-assessment to his post-assessment. The three other students that received a 6 had a 1 or a 2 on their pre-assessment, so there was definitely a huge jump, but not as big as I would have liked to see. When looking at these students’ formative assessment scores, I notice that two of the students were absent 2 days, and one was absent 3 days. I also see that their average formative assessment scores were 2.3, 2.3, and 2.7, signifying that the majority of the time they met my objectives. Their performance assessment scores however, did not meet expectations. They received a 1, 1.3, and 1.6. looking closer at their performance assessment, I see that they all received  scores of 1 in the measuring category, and when I look at the raw data I see they all had trouble with measuring distances, but they did okay measuring the objects. When I look back on the lessons they missed, I see that we had measured distances on two of those days, so these students did not get as much practice measuring distances as they did with measuring objects. I believe that their absences played a huge role in their performance assessment and post-assessment scores.

        The student that did not gain from his pre-assessment to his post-assessment scored relatively high on his performance assessment. He received “meets expectations” in two categories, and “exceeds expectations” in the other category. His average score for his performance assessment was a 2.3. When I look at his absences and his formative assessments, I see he did not miss any days and he received 2’s and 3’s on all of his formative assessments. This student is the reason why I believe alternative forms of assessment are necessary to accurately gauge a student’s progress. From looking at my data, it is clear to me that this student gained a significant amount of knowledge, but his post-assessment does not show that. This student may become anxious when taking paper and pencil tests, or may not clearly understand the instructions. I am glad I gave a performance assessment so I could see how much knowledge this student gained from this measurement unit.

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Description of unexpected learning:

            During my unit, I had students work in pairs and small groups. I noticed that sometimes students did not always work well with certain partners and some students wanted to leave their partner behind while measuring. I used this opportunity to address effective ways to work with a partner or in a group. I had a large group discussion on strategies they could implement to work well with their partner. The students came up with all of these strategies; be patient, work together, ask questions, wait for each other, and use rock, paper, scissors. The students learned how to be patient with one another when working together, how to respect each other during small group time and large group time, and how to be responsible for their own work.

Evaluation of assessment plan:

            I am glad that I used multiple forms of assessment and that I used my students’ formative assessments as a form of data collection. This helped me see where/what went wrong (i.e. absences). One thing that I could have done differently is make different assessments for the students who missed two or more lessons. Instead of having them take the same test that the other students took, I could have modified their assessments to only include the concepts that they were able to practice. One problem I faced was not being able to have those students complete the lessons they missed. Most of my lessons were one hour long, and every lesson called for instruction from me, so I had to move on with the lessons along with the rest of the class. If I had a volunteer or an IA in the room, I could have gotten those students caught up so they could progress along with the rest of the class.

Uses of Assessment Data

Feedback plan to students to support student learning:

            I gave feedback daily to any student who did not meet my objectives for the day. The students were able to see their pre-assessment scores and their post-assessment scores, and during their performance assessment I made comments and gave feedback after they had completed it. I also gave my students feedback as they were doing their activities, and I gave them suggestions and encouragement.

Feedback plan to inform and collaborate with parents/guardians to promote learning:

            I was fortunate enough to have parent/teacher conferences at the end of my unit. This allowed me to communicate with the student’s parents/guardians about how the student was progressing in Math. I wrote one letter to the parents during my unit (at the beginning) introducing myself and explaining what we would be doing in Math.  I sent home students’ record sheets with their daily score (formative assessment). Finally, upon completion of my unit, I graded all of the student’s assessments and sent them home.

Impact of assessment data on future teaching:

                After completing my unit, I believe I have a strong sense of creating lesson plans that correspond with objectives and assessments, district and state standards, and students’ interests and needs.  The feedback I received from my mentor teacher supports the way I view myself as a teacher, and give me the confidence I need to continue teaching with best practices in mind.

            Creating lesson plans with objectives and assessments that relate to standards was something that I felt was important to accurately assess my students and my own teaching.  Implementing formative assessments and observing my students’ work daily allowed me to see how my objective and assessment corresponded. I felt I did a good job making sure the daily assessments were an accurate measure of whether or not the objective was met. An example of how I corresponded my lesson plan objective with my daily formative assessment is as follows:

Objective: The students will be able to estimate length in inches and measure length to the nearest inch by estimating and measuring at least 5 objects around the room.

Assessment: Check the students’ record sheets, make sure they estimated and measured at least 5 objects, check the results. 

            Supporting individual students’ learning was a challenge I felt I successfully accomplished. I tried to address individual needs as much as possible, whether this was conferencing with students, modifying my lesson plans for students, or giving aural feedback at the end of a lesson. I was fortunate enough to build relationships with each of my students, this allowed me to know which students needed reassurance that they were on the right track, and which students had clarifying questions.

            Classroom management was my biggest fear going into teaching my unit. I was teaching in the afternoon, right after recess, lunch, and P.E. I had students in my class who had ADHD and I was scared things would get out of hand. The first couple days were hard, and I needed to work on being firm and having students pull their cards when they were not on track (consequence my mentor teacher uses). It took me a while to implement the consequences, and once I did I felt like I was being too strict. I felt like I was managing the class fine, but I felt I could do better. I had to find a happy medium of firmness, but kindness. I think mid-way through my unit i figured out how to be nice and firm at the same time, and I felt more confident with my classroom management. 

            I think the expectations I had for myself as a teacher were attainable because I had spent so much time building relationships with each of my students When reflecting on how to improve myself as a teacher, I think differentiating instruction is at the top of my list. Since I had ELL students in my class, I really took the time to find them partners that would be supportive and using visual aids and modeling every activity. They all did a great job during my unit and they stayed caught up with the rest of the class so I didn’t feel I needed to differentiate my instruction for them. But, I do want to feel confident differentiating instruction by the end of my student teaching. Referring back to my students’ assessment scores, I believe that the three students who received 53% on the post-assessment should have had an alternative assessment to show me whether or not they learned the information when they were in the class (however, I am able to figure this out by looking at what questions they missed and looking at the concepts covered on the days they had missed). I think if I would have differentiated my post-assessment tools I might have been able to have success in all of my students.