Thoughts on Assessment

I feel that it is important for children to be assessed in order to determine their progress and achievements in various areas. Without assessment, a teacher might not know that a child is lagging behind or that a student needs more challenging work in order to improve their skills. However, I feel that there are many ways to assess students and have students assess themselves and no way is right or wrong. Some student might do well on tests but some students might need to express themselves differently. They might need to act something out or draw a picture or even just discuss a topic in order to express what they know. Also, I think we should assess things like how well students collaborate with one another or how capable they are of finding alternative solutions to problems, etc. We should not be assessing only what they have stored in their memory banks. We should assess them on qualities that are important for them to survive in the global economy. We cannot just teach them and have them spit out exactly what we want them to know. We need to encourage them to think for themselves and come up with their own ideas on various topics and add to the foundation that we set before them. This is truly what should be assessed. The standardized tests that we are shoving down their throats are doing very little to benefit them. First, these are unfair, biased assessments. Secondly, they are not testing skills that are important for our democracy to thrive and so, are not very meaningful in my opinion. They additionally take a lot of time to prepare for, and that time could be spent in a different and more beneficial way. Most importantly they do not seem authentic to me. They do not connect in any real context. They are artificial.

Furthermore, I agree that teachers should not be the only ones assessing students. Students should definitely share in this task. This was exemplified in Ms. Rodriguez's classroom and I feel that it is definitely important. After all, the students know themselves the best and can best explain their actions and their work. Also, I think that in terms of a student lead conference, the student will feel more involved and feel like they have power over their situation. I think this power and having a say in what is going on will give them confidence and motivation. Also, I feel that parents should definitely be involved as well. They also know their children well and can assist their children in making changes in their routine or improving their skills. Also, in Ms. Rodriguez's classroom, I think the fact that she included both the process of the student's learning and also their final products in their portfolio was great because both are important and contain valuable information. Additionally, she did not use just one form of assessment and this is helpful as well.

Also, I agree that portfolios do not mean much without the student behind them. The student needs to explain what they have done and share everything with whoever would like to look. It doesn't make sense for someone to sit and judge a student's work without thinking of the student and how they connect to their work.

Finally, I feel that in the area of literacy, assessment is even more important. After reading that it becomes more difficult to help struggling readers after the second grade, I feel that assessing reading ability in kindergarten and first grade is extremely important. By using assessment, a child can be helped before it becomes too late and even more difficult. Also, since literacy in general relates directly with being able to function in our society, student's must be assessed regularly and continually. Even as adults, we should self access our literacy in all areas and determine areas that might need work. I for instance am not fully computer literate. I consider myself to be somewhat proficient, however, I feel I could definitely work on making myself more familiar and more comfortable with certain things.