Reading Reflection

    Assessments in the classroom are critical. As a teacher, you will use both formal and informal assessment methods on a daily basis in the classroom. When designing assessments, it is critical to ensure that the assessment is developmentally appropriate, meaning that the goals for the students are aligned to their strengths and where they are at in their development. 

    One way that teachers develop developmentally appropriate assessments is using standards. The academic standards are given by the state, and we must teach these standards. The standards ensure that children are meeting grade- level criteria and gaining the necessary skills. The steps to ensuring that assessments are developmentally appropriate are...

1) Decide what you want the children to know--> Choose the top priority content from the standards and think of what the end goal is for the students. What do you want them to learn and take away?

2) Decide how to measure essential outcomes--> Think of the different tasks or goals that you have for students and how you want to measure these outcomes

3) Organize the information you collect --> The information should be presented in a way that makes sense to you and that you can explain. You should also be taking lots of observations of the children. 

4) Collect information across time--> Collect information on the children's progress throughout time. Record what went well and what didn't. 

5) Interpret the assessment results -- > Share results with families! Reflect on what the children have learned and then assess where to go next.

    From the article, I learned that there are seven assessment skills that educators need. The skills include: define learning goals, use a variety of assessment types, analyze the data and act on it, adapt your instruction, engage and captivate children's engagement, and enhance learning environment. These skills are important because they provide the best learning environment for children. These factors work together to provide a rich learning experience for children.   The information from these documents will help me in the future to plan assessments that are developmentally appropriate and aligned to standards. Also, my knowledge of Bloom's Taxonomy and Webb's Depth of Knowledge will help me to add depth into my assessments and challenge students.