Blog post 2

How has growing success impacted my beliefs on assessment?

Growing success has impacted my beliefs in a way that it allowed me to realize that when it comes to assessment it really is the process of gathering information that accurately reflects how well a student is doing in the classroom and if he/she is meeting the curriculum expectations.

When I used to think of assessment I used to picture some sort of test or evaluations. Talking about growing success has impacted and changed the way I think of assessment. I now realize that the primary purpose of assessing a student is to improve the student learning. Not to just simply get a grade from the student. The main purpose is improving the students learning and I have learned that this is demonstrated in both assessments for learning and assessment as learning.

I used to think assessment was done in one particular way and that was to look at the final product, however that’s because that’s what I remember from being in school. But there are different ways you can assess a student with the purpose of student learning. You can assess a student throughout lesson units and keep track if the student is demonstrating and understanding, thinking, communication, and application.  To relate this to the final product, my beliefs have changed in a way where I have a deeper understanding of various type of evidence that are used in considering a student’s final grade for a report, keeping into account observations, conversations, and student product (test, exams assignments).

My beliefs have changed overall where I now have a deeper understanding of the process in growing success on assessment and that there are essential steps in assessment for learning and assessment as learning. Us as teachers need to plan assessment and integrate it with instruction, share the learning goals and success criteria with the students, gather information about students learning before, during, and near the end and use assessment to inform instruction, and guide the next steps to help the students grow in their progress towards achieving their learning goals.