Learning Objectives
In this chapter you will learn to:
• understand the role of developmental frameworks in developing and conducting assessment for teaching
• conduct assessments, looking at a specific example of an assessment in an online environment and controlling for distracting influences
• target assessments
• recognise the need to confirm assessment results with other sources of evidence.
This chapter introduces the administration and use of assessment for teaching. It emphasises the importance of correctly targeting assessment to maximise the information available for both teachers and students. The approach of using assessments within a developmental framework requires a significant shift in thinking for teachers and students. Assessment in this context demands a clear understanding of its purposes as the identification of a level of readiness to learn in all students and the use of this to make teaching decisions about appropriate interventions. This chapter expands on some of the ideas discussed in Chapter 1 on the use of ‘skills, not scores’ – ideas that contrast assessment for teaching with summative testing. The chapter provides practical examples of how to maximise each student's opportunity to demonstrate their skills and knowledge.
The classroom teacher doesn't always have the time or training to construct formal psychometric summative tests. This chapter reviews a range of assessment strategies teachers use in their search for evidence of learning and student growth.
Introduction
The focus of this chapter is the use of developmental assessment and issues related to administration of assessments and interpretation of data, to support the planning of targeted teaching strategies for classroom use. It builds on ideas introduced in Chapter 3 where we discussed developmental learning. Teachers need to know about the use and interpretation of assessment data if they are to use data to inform teaching.
Planning administration: Why do we recommend testing twice a year?
Testing is typically undertaken at the beginning of a school year to establish a benchmark level of achievement for the students. It also enables the teachers, at the beginning of the year, to identify the levels for intervention for each student and for the team leaders to bring this information to a team leaders’ workshop a few weeks after the first test.
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