Content Reading Chapter 4

"Don't tell us the only way to teach a child is to prepare them to fill in the bubbles on standardized test"
-Barack H. Obama


Learning how to assess students is, in some ways, a lot more difficult than I had originally thought it may be. There are a few different ways in which this can be done according to Vacca^2 and Mraz. As instructors we can do this through the following: High Stakes/Formal, Authentic/Informal, and Portfolio Assessments among others.

When we think high stakes, it is sort of what it sounds like. These are the higher stakes assignments, papers, essays, formal tests and the real bulk of what some students really fear. Which is why more and more teachers are pushing for the more Authentic assessment practices which is more or less what "you do with your students or help them do for themselves." These authentic assessments can be done through interviews, observations, and others, which since I plan on going into both Social Studies and Spanish I can absolutely see myself utilizing these authentic ways more than the high stakes because I knew when I was in high school I dreaded the days I had 3 tests, all formalized, and knew I had to cram the night before. Using these more informal ways we would be able to do them 2 or 3 times a week and making sure our students are focusing in class as well as retaining new and reviewed information. The background I will have in psychology will also allow me to utilize these more focused observational skills to find if these students are understanding the information and assess to see how engaged they are in a specific sub-topic.

These high stakes assessments really, in my opinion, begin to shed the students of their creativity and almost force teachers to begin to teach to these tests, or as the Obama quote I included above, preparing them to fill in bubbles.

This chapter in the book has also given many different assessments that can be used along with some ways to figure if a text is going to be "okay" and not to difficult for the students to retain and learn on their own if need be.

QUESTION?????

What do you think will be your favorite way to assess your students?