Running head: ASSESSMENT DESIGN PROJECT

Assessment Design Project

Brooke Lambert
University of La Verne

ASSESSMENT DESIGN PROJECT

Assessment Design Project

The assessment I chose to administer my students is based upon a science unit on
ecosystems. In this unit, the students will learn about the different aspects of an
ecosystem and the role that nonliving and living factors play. The assessment I used
includes several different types of questions that relate to ecosystems as a whole. There
are multiple choice, short answer, and fill in the blank (chart format) questions. This
gives students an opportunity to showcase their strengths and weaknesses in regards to
question formatting.
The lessons designed for this unit include topics on resources needed for survival
in an ecosystem, reasons to a populations rise or fall, food chains and food webs, and the
differences between ecosystems. The standards were originally based upon the California
content standards for fourth grade students under life sciences. The assessment
incorporates questions from all the topics listed above. The questions also allow for
students to give reasoning behind their answers. There are a few questions that require the
students to choose an answer of a, b, c, or d, but then the students have to explain their
reasoning behind choosing that answer. This takes away from the students being allowed
to guess to get the right answer. They have to know the why behind the answer chosen.
The original assessment I found was created to be administered at the beginning
of a unit on ecosystems to help the teacher get a better understanding of the content her
students did and did not know. I modified this assessment to be given at the end of a unit
on animals to help me understand what the students learned and understood about the
content material. I had to change some of the questions so they required more detailed
responses from the students. It was important that I chose an assessment that did not

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include an excessive amount of questions that would frighten the students. The
assessment chosen only includes twenty questions. I found this to be the perfect amount
to be included in an exam given at the end of a unit.
I modified this assessment to fit the time that I would administer the assessment.
As previously stated, the original assessment was designed to be given at the beginning
of a unit on ecosystems, and I modified this assessment to be given at then end of a unit
on ecosystems. I modified this lesson for the whole class by including questions that
required more detailed responses. Instead of finding out if the student had heard the word
before by checking yes or no, the students had to explain what the word meant. For
example, originally the students had to write whether or not they knew what a producer
was, but in the modified assessment, the student has to write the definition of a producer
and give an example. I also modified this assessment to fit the needs of two focus
students, an English learner and an ADHD student.
To fit the needs of the English learner and in order to get the best response from
him or her, I will be reading the questions and answers aloud to the student. This will
give me an opportunity to check the students understanding of the content material, and
make sure the student understands what is being asked of him or her. I also incorporated
more visuals throughout the exam to help the student understand what the word is.
As for the ADHD student, I modified the assessment so he or she would be given
more time to complete it. I shortened the amount of answers given for each multiplechoice question. Instead of there being four answer choices, there are only two. I will
also have the student sit close to me throughout the exam, so I can help him or her stay on
task. This will hopefully detour the student away from any distractions he or she would

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have had by sitting elsewhere in the classroom. ADHD students have a difficult time
focusing, so allowing more time to complete the exam, as well as shortening the amount
of answer choices, is essential in promoting the students individual success.
The assessment chosen is a summative assessment that would be given whole
class at the end of the unit on ecosystems. Each student will be given his or her own
exam sheet and be allotted about forty-five minutes to complete the test. The
modifications made for the two focus students will be handled accordingly. Because one
of the focus students is being allotted more time to take the exam, the remaining students
in the class will be given an activity to keep them busy once they have finished.

References

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Dahlin, L., Garcia, H., Mavaro, C., & Tomscha, K. (n.d.) Science matters. Retrieved from
http://sbsciencematters.com/lesson-units/4th-grade/4life-ecosystems/