Running head: PLANNING, PREPARATION, INSTRUCTION, AND ASSESSMENT

Planning, Preparation, Instruction, and Assessment

Linda Rowan
Regent University

In partial fulfillment of UED 496 Field Experience ePortfolio, Spring 2016

PLANNING, PREPARATION, INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT

Introduction
An important element of effective instruction is being able to collect, interpret, and utilize
student data. In order to ensure that this is accomplished, teachers must use pre-assessments to
identify where students are, engaging lessons that help students rise from those beginning points
and meet the requirements, and post-assessments to determine whether or not students have met
the objectives. From this data, teachers can then determine whether or not the material needs to
be retaught or if students are prepared to move on. Without this skill, teachers will have a very
difficult time gauging the growth of each student and the progression of the class as a whole.
Rationale for Artifacts
The artifacts I selected to demonstrate my skill in this area are a pre-assessment I had my
students complete at the start of a new unit, the data I collected and analyzed based on the results
of the pre-assessment, and the post-assessment I used to determine whether or not my students
had met the objective. The objective for this period was SCI.4.5.2 -Describe how the processes
weathering, erosion, and deposition relate to the structure of Earth.
I used the given objective and an assessment from the unit guide to create a quick preassessment to determine how much students already new about weathering, erosion, and
deposition. The students first matched five new vocabulary words to their definitions and then
attempted to match the three processes to a series of real world examples. I collected these preassessments and graded them to determine the students prior knowledge and create groups for
different activities throughout the lessons.
The data I collected from this pre-assessment demonstrated that there was a wide range of
prior knowledge in my class. I used this to my advantage and allowed my lower students to work
with the higher ones on several partner activities throughout the unit. This gave my advanced

PLANNING, PREPARATION, INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT

students a chance to gain a deeper understanding of the topic through teaching, while my lower
students had the chance to hear the information from both myself and from another student. On
some other activities, however, I used my data to create groups of students on the same level. For
example, I had my students complete a sort with different examples of weathering, erosion and
deposition. I gave my highest group a larger number of examples to sort and provided more
guidance for my lowest group. I provided only one page of examples to my two middle groups
and gave them more examples to add to the sort as they progressed. Creating groups and
differentiating in this way this would not have been possible had I not collected data through a
pre-assessment.
Finally, I gave my students a post-assessment from the unit guide. This assessment
allowed them to demonstrate their knowledge of the definitions of these terms, but also allowed
them to show a deeper understanding by having them draw and describe the connection between
the three processes. I was able to determine that all but two of my students understood these
elements and were ready to move on to rock types. The two students who were unable to
adequately complete the assessment received remediation to ensure that they would not be left
behind as the rest of the class moved forward.
Reflection on Practice
According to Wiggins and McTighe in Understanding by Design, planning should be
done through a process called backward design. This process requires teachers to begin
planning by looking first at the desired end result, creating an assessment that reflects that goal,
and then creating lessons and finally a pre-assessment that all reinforce the objective and lead
students towards the desired end product (2005). I used this strategy throughout my student
teaching internship. I would select or create an assessment that would gauge how well the

PLANNING, PREPARATION, INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT

students understood the content and skills required by the SOLs and VBOs. I then created lesson
plans that adhered to the standards and designed a pre-assessment tool to help determine each
students starting point and prior knowledge. I would then use the data from those preassessments to modify the lessons in order to help students fulfill the objectives. Finally, students
would complete the post-assessment to determine if they had met the goals we had set at the start
of the unit.
I also made sure that the objectives were posted where students could see them. In
addition, I placed the objectives on assessments, worksheets, and other materials to help ensure
that the students were always aware of what they were working towards. This helped me to
confirm that my lessons were focused on helping the students reach each objective. According to
Waugh and Gronlund in their text, Assessment of Student Achievement, If the students are made
aware of the objectives at the beginning of instruction, both teacher and students are working
toward common goals, and instruction and assessment are both part of the same process (2013,
p.35). Students were always aware of what the objectives were during both assessments and
lessons, which certainly helped to ensure that we were all on the same page.
A major aspect of my personal philosophy of education is that all students are capable of
learning and deserve instruction that meets their individual needs. Pre-assessments, data
collection and analysis, and even summative assessments can help to ensure that students are
growing. These tools can also be used to help determine what each student needs in order to meet
the objectives. I was able to design plans and differentiate them to meet the changing needs of
each student. Assessing also helped me to gauge the overall achievement level of the class as a
whole and create lessons that helped all of my students to advance and grow.

PLANNING, PREPARATION, INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT

References
Waugh, C. K. & Gronlund, N. E. (2013). Assessment of Student Achievement: Tenth Edition.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Wiggins, W. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.