Assessment of teaching and learning practices
Order Instructions:
All key elements of the assignment covered in a substantive way.
• 1,050 to 1,400 word paper.
• A variety of assessment or evaluation practices (i.e.: commercially produced unit tests, teacher-created tests, rubrics, and portfolios) being used in the classroom to assess learning.
• Discuss at length three of those examples that represent effective and ineffective practices.
• Provide a supported analysis of these methods.
• Provide supported suggestions for making changes to the above three models.
The content of the paper is comprehensive, accurate, and/or persuasive.
The paper develops a central theme or idea, and links current assessment practices to relevant experience and educational practice.
Major points stated clearly; supported by specific details, examples, or analysis; and organized logically.
• Three examples of effective and ineffective assessment practices.
• Analysis of and suggestions for each of the methods chosen.
• At least three scholarly journal articles used to support the analysis of the practices.
The introduction and conclusion provide sufficient background on the topic, logical, flows from the body of the paper, and covers the major points.
Paragraph transitions are present and logical and maintain the flow throughout the paper.
The tone is appropriate to the content and assignment.
Sentences are well-constructed, with consistently strong, varied sentences. Sentence transitions are present and maintain the flow of thought.
The paper and presentation, including the title page, reference page, tables, and appendices, follow APA guidelines for format.
Citations of original works within the body of the paper and presentation follow APA guidelines.
The paper and presentation follow rules of grammar usage, spelling, and punctuation
SAMPLE ANSWER
Introduction
Research indicates that the process of learning to teach is similar to children/ student growth, i.e. it is developmental. There have been various theories that have proposed on the professional development process. The proposed theories are sometimes fixed, sequential, or flexible. Irrespective of theory applied, it is important to establish learning processes that encourage increased systematic inquiry as well as reflective assessment strategies. Reflective assessment strategies are important because they are used to evaluate a student’s level of understanding, improve learning, and identify learning challenges. Effective assessment strategies are those, which involve purposeful planning (Salvia, Ysseldyke, & Salvia, 2013).
Assessment practices: effective and non effective
One example of assessment is the portfolios. In this type of assessment requires student to assemble the specific topic information in a systematic approach to ensure the whole picture of their growth and achievement is reflected. This is because it normally contains speech in the form of term paper, thereby ensuring that work is produced in realistic in context. This method is effective because the student is able to document their ability for critical thinking because they actually include actual samples, which require creative thinking and problem solving ability. This takes the tutor on the processes or stages the student is going through when assigning tasks. The potential issues arise because it is possible for teachers to be convinced by fuzzy tasks, which normally would require extraneous performance. Additionally, there is potential danger if teachers are allowed to use this type of assessment because it might not fit into course needs/demands (Salvia, Ysseldyke, & Salvia, 2013).
Teacher-based assessment embraces a broad spectrum of activities and is effective for teachers to evaluate their strengths as well as weaknesses. This is because it enables the instructors chose the best or the appropriate format to evaluate the achievement of their targets. In this case, the test items often match the student objectives ensuring that there is adequate content validity. The main issue with this task is the problem of authenticity. In some cases the students could feel that the assessment does not mirror the skills, and could become anxious, especially if they compare their performances with their peers (Kitiashvili, 2014).
Rubrics assessment practices have been widely used to assess educational values. It enables the enactment of learning goals and objectives. It is a way of improving on student weaknesses. It enables reflective thinking because it establishes a multidimensional performance with time. This approach does not only assess student knowledge and abilities but also improves attitudes and values. This assessment helps the teacher to improve explicitly shared purposes. The power of the assessment is not episodic but rather cumulative (Kitiashvili, 2014).
It enables the student to identify relevant strategies that will facilitate credible and suggestive decisions that are applicable. According to this assessment, the important issue is not to collect date and return results, but a process that helps the student to analyze and interpret data, which will allow the students to improve. Through this process, educators are in a position to produce responsible students in the society. This is because responsibility goes beyond reporting of results but also involves attempts to improve the challenges that prevail (Salvia, Ysseldyke, & Salvia, 2013).
Some of the bad assessment practices are those, which assume that a student knows the information being evaluated. Summative assessments assume that the student requires no influence or no change. Such type of assessment has a backwash effect on learning. This is because it makes students memorize rather than understanding the facts. Additionally, norm referenced assessments are associated as league tables which indicates the best and the brightest student. This undermines the education standards as it distracts the student’s attention on what ought to be done. This method of comparing students with peers makes the teacher fail to have insight on values and standards of the institution. These methods of assessment have been prohibited in most of the public universities in Europe. This is because it corrupts the mind of the graduate as well as university’s systems. The society needs graduate with higher levels of skills and who are able to work autonomously. In this context, the best type of assessment is the criterion and standards referenced is the most proposed form because it addresses the dynamic demands of the population without deciding that one student deserves a certain percentage than others (Astin & Antonio, 2012).
Some assessment does not treat students equally. Additionally, there are assumptions that students will cheat the exams. Even so, exams have been found as the only way to avoid impersonation and plagiarism. This has resulted to emphasis on memorization which ill befits the modern student. The best approach is to used the open book tests which will ensure that the student is assed based on their understandings rather than prioritizing memorization. Arguably, when student cheat, they do so because they have an incentive that encourages their acts and that they are not likely to be discovered. Additionally, if the assessments are not tailored to assess the student’s interests and those tasks are made and recycled such that it is easy for a student to copy. Anonymity results to breeding of an examination cheating population. Therefore, it is important for the faculties to emphasize assessment activities, which are fresh (Baird, 2014).
Therefore, an effective assessment practice is one, which will influence the teaching as well as the studying pattern. This implies that each student assessment should have an agenda. The main carrier of an effective assessment is the tutor’s experiences and the associated distress. No matter the academic success, most people have had unpleasant experiences. Most of the examiners have fear associated with humiliation experienced in the past. For this reason, most of the examiners have made assessment charged with some degree of emotion, which does not act in the interests of the students. This has led to a pattern of setting assessment, i.e. if it was humiliating, the assessment must also be humiliating; or if it was easy for the tutor, then it should be simplified for the students (Sotelo-Dynega & Dixon, 2014).
Conclusion
None of the measures is superior to the other. Assessment practice must be designed in a way that it prevents unnecessary tension. The assessment should be thorough enough to help the student remained charged enough and not inflaming the academic situation. This implies that teachers should be mindful by briefing the requirements of the assessment. The teachers must remain explicit on how the assessment will be marked; and in ensuring that the students work is judged according to the student’s presentation and that marking is not influenced by ethnic or socioeconomic status. The assessment practice should signal the student on the most valuable or important thing in their profession, and the desired outcomes.
References
Astin, A., & Antonio, AL. (2012). Assessment for excellence: the philosophy and practice of assessment and evaluation in higher education. Maryland. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Baird, J. (2014). Teachers’ views on assessment practices. Assessment In Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 21(4), 361-364. doi:10.1080/0969594x.2014.960689
Kitiashvili, A. (2014). Teachers’ attitudes toward assessment of student learning and teacher assessment practices in general educational institutions: The case of Georgia. Improving Schools, 17(2), 163-175. doi:10.1177/1365480214534543
Salvia, J., Ysseldyke, J., & Salvia, J. (2013). Assessment in special and inclusive education. Boston: Cengage Learning.
Sotelo-Dynega, M., & Dixon, S. (2014). Cognitive assessment practices: a survey of school psychologists. Psychol. Schs., n/a-n/a. https://www.doi:10.1002/pits.21802
We can write this or a similar paper for you! Simply fill the order form!
