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Assessment Newsletter 2

Ms. Kidwell provides an overview of the different types of assessments that will be used in her 4th grade classroom - formative, summative, and diagnostic. Formative assessments such as exit tickets and journal reflections will be used throughout each unit for learning and will not be graded. Summative assessments like tests will be given at the end of each unit and at the end of the year to ensure students are meeting standards. Diagnostic assessments beforehand will provide a baseline of students' knowledge. The purpose of assessments is to enhance learning and inform instruction.

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62 views8 pages

Assessment Newsletter 2

Ms. Kidwell provides an overview of the different types of assessments that will be used in her 4th grade classroom - formative, summative, and diagnostic. Formative assessments such as exit tickets and journal reflections will be used throughout each unit for learning and will not be graded. Summative assessments like tests will be given at the end of each unit and at the end of the year to ensure students are meeting standards. Diagnostic assessments beforehand will provide a baseline of students' knowledge. The purpose of assessments is to enhance learning and inform instruction.

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welcome to

Ms. Kidwell's Room!


Welcome back!
Parents and students,
We are SO excited to be back in school and see everyone's smiling
faces again! Fourth grade is a little bit different than third, so in this
letter, I would like to address some concerns that you all may
have as we start the new year! I will talk specifically about our
assessments that will occur throughout the year, the purpose of
each assessment, and the difference between scoring and
grading!
what are assessments?
Before we get into each type of assessment, we must
understand what an assessment is and does first. The
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
and the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators
(AMTE) stress three key ides: "(1) Assessment should
enhance students’ learning, (2) assessment is a
valuable tool for making instructional decisions, and (3)
feedback should help learners progress" (Van de Wall
2019). Assessments help me understand where your
children are at in the learning process so that I can plan
instruction based on where we stand. There are three
types of assessments: formative, summative, and
diagnostic.

Formative assessments
A formative assessment is an assessment that is FOR
learning. This means that they are given periodically
throughout each unit. Formative assessments are to
promote the improvement of learning and to involve
the students in the ongoing assessment of their
learning! These formative assessments will not be for
grades, but for me to see where each student is in the
learning process. Some formative assessments we will
use in class will be listed and described on the next
page!
Formative assessments we will use
Summarizing: At the end of the lesson, the
students will have the opportunity to summarize
the main points of the lesson. This will be done by
talking as a class or creating a visual
representation.

Exit ticket: On an exit ticket, I will ask the


students one or two questions for them to write
an answer to. Once they have the answer(s)
written down, they are to hand it in to me before
leaving.

Journal Reflections: After we finish a lesson,


students will get out their journals to reflect on
what they learned. They can include key
information, new vocabulary words, something
that they struggled with, or strategies that they
found were useful for them.

Peer Instruction: Peer instruction would involve


having one student teach another student what
they have learned. If that is done correctly then
the students have mastered the lesson.
summative assessments
Summative assessments are assessments OF learning.
They take place at the end of the unit, but will also take
place in the springtime when the students take their
SOL tests. These tests are given to ensure that the
students are meeting each standard that is necessary
to move on to the next grade level. I understand the
anxiety that tests can bring, so I will give the students
opportunities to complete project-based assessments
rather than a big test at the end of each unit. There will
still be a few tests, but I will let both the parents and
the students know well in advance!

diagnostic assessments
Diagnostic assessments take place before we start our
unit. This gives me a baseline on what the students
may already know and where I need to start
instruction. This will be done in the form of a pre-test
before a given unit. These will not be graded.
Grading versus scoring
Grading is a long-term task that Scoring relates to an individual
involves the teacher assessing student's level of performance
how a student did overall. With on a specific task, not the overall
the grade, the student receives achievement in the current
feedback on their mastery of the class. The score looks very
content. Grades get put into the similar to a grade. These scores
grade book to determine a go into the grade book for the
student's final grade at the end teacher to later assess all of the
of the quarter, semester, or year. scores and determine what final
Grades that are included are A, grade the student will receive.
B, C, D, and F.

(Griffith University 2018) (Griffith University 2018)


(Habeeb 2011) (Habeeb 2011)
Rubrics
A rubric is a tool used for scoring that provides the criteria
that are required for a specific piece of work. Rubrics help us
define the quality of work that is done, and they help the
students develop a sense of intrinsic motivation!

how can students get


involved with rubrics?
Students will be provided rubrics when they are working on
different tasks such as big writing assignments or big projects.
Before the students are sent off to work, we will review the
rubric as a class so that we can address major items that are
needed and so that I can answer any questions that the students
may have before we start our work. As the students become
comfortable with rubrics, the layout and what is expected, we
will work together on creating a rubric that the students can
make contributions to. This will give the students a voice in the
classroom and ensures a better understanding of what is
expected of them.
Ms. Kidwell's
Assessment philosophy
Assessment in our classroom
When it comes to assessments, I believe that assessments
need to aid in enhancing students learning and be used as
valuable tools to help inform my decisions on how I teach, and
the feedback that I provide students to help them progress
(Van de Walle 2019). Students should be given regular
formative assessments, especially after a lesson that can be
challenging for the majority of the class. These can be done as
exit tickets, journal entries, or even just open dialogue with the
class so that they can ask any questions that their peers may
also have. Summative assessments that are give too
frequently can become draining for the students, especially in
the form of paper-pencil tests. The best way to measure a
students level of understanding is to do it while the lesson is
still going on (Briggs 2014). Students should be given the
opportunity to work on authentic tasks that provide the
students with real-life situations. Assessments should be
diversified in order to meet each diverse students specific
learning needs.
References
5 Strategies to Use Assessment Purposefully. (2022, January 13).
[web log]. Retrieved from https://www.kdp.org/blogs/community-
manager/2022/01/13/5-strategies-to-use-assessment-
purposefully.

Briggs, S. (2014, May 2). 21 ways to check for student


understanding. InformED. Retrieved November 2, 2022, from
https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/21-ways-to-
check-for-student-understanding/

Blogs. 5 Formative Assessment Strategies: Promises and Pitfalls.


(2022, March 2). Retrieved November 2, 2022, from
https://www.kdp.org/blogs/community-manager/2022/01/13/5-
formative-assessment-strategies-promises-and-pit

Griffith University. (2018). Marking and grading. Retrieved from


https://app.griffith.edu.au/assessment-
matters/docs/designassessment/process/implement/marking

Habeeb,S.(2011,September6).Newterminology:Scoringv.grading.Nin
g.http://salemafl.ning.com/profiles/blogs/scoring

Nctm.org. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2022, from


https://www.nctm.org/?
gclid=CjwKCAjwzruGBhBAEiwAUqMR8Jw61ubbXJ0Lnx0S5URcjEPr
a9NRvVTQVmhwZxS08jCVnJXhQpGPtRoC8lwQAvD_BwE

Van de Walle, J. A., Karp, K., & Bay-Williams, J. M. (2019). Elementary


and middle school mathematics: Teaching developmentally.
Pearson.

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