6.

Standard Six: Assessment

The teacher understands and uses multiple methods of assessment to engage learners in their own

growth, to monitor learner progress, and to guide the teacher’s and learner’s decision making.

Standard six describes the teacher as being able to use appropriate tools and methods to

understand their students learning and progress so the teacher is able to adjust instruction

accordingly. The teacher implements multiple means of engaging assessments ranging from

formative to summative, uses them when appropriate, and in which they directly relate to content

and instruction. Standard six also addresses that teachers should provide different ways students

can share their knowledge and progress, differentiating for individual students where needed, so

all students have an equal chance to demonstrate their learning in ways that best fit them. The

teacher should be able to understand what the assessment reflects for each learner, and then

commit to instruct them and provide positive feedback in ways that will benefit their own

individual knowledge. Standard six describes the teacher as being able to be responsible for

creating purposeful assessments that not only relate to objectives and goals but is also responsive

for providing adjustments and accommodations. The teacher identifies students’ strengths and

weaknesses through engaging assessments, analyzes them, documents them, and creates different

learning goals to lead each student individually to make progress.

Artifact 1:
 The first artifact is two pages from a recent math test. This test was given to the students

at the end of topic 7 which is our addition math unit. This assessment and type of assessment is

just one of the ways we are able to assess our students. This assessment reflects a summative

assessment as it was assessing all the different areas of addition that was taught over the course

of the unit which was a few weeks. My cooperating teacher and I adjusted the assessment to

meet what was actually taught this unit; we took some questions out to be sure that what we gave

the students was going to reflect what I instructed. Standard six describes the teacher as being

able to provide assessments to make have them relate to class objectives as well as what was

taught to make them both valid and reliable. As this type of assessment is given to all students,

this provided to me a clear understanding of different student’s strengths and needs in this math

content area. Standard six states that through assessments, teachers should use what is shown on

the assessment and make appropriate instructional decisions moving forward. When receiving all

assessments, I was able to see different needs and abilities really be reflected. Therefore, the

following week our centers were adjusted based on how they did on the assessment; if a student
did really well they continued to review addition problems in their math center with myself, and

if they struggled a bit on the test, I provided them with problems that were more geared to their

needs.

Standard six also discusses the importance of teachers using positive feedback for

assessments and in ways that will benefit them. Those who did not get many questions right, I

went over the test with them, and walked them through the problem for them to fix, encouraging

them along the way. By showing what they got wrong, I was able to support them and their

individual needs. This summative assessment provided me with a great amount of information to

help me understand students’ abilities and then adjust instruction and improve students’ personal

goals where necessary.

Artifact 2:
 The second artifact are screenshots of students’ progress and skills learned from IXL

which is where students practice unlimited math problems from different areas at their own pace

on their iPad. We do IXL every day and students enjoy it as it is practice in relation to their own

personal abilities. IXL can be seen as a formative assessment because it is a daily assignment

that reflects students’ knowledge and provides a snapshot for teachers as to how students are

performing and progressing in different math content areas. Standard six describes teachers as

being able to provide different assessments to measure students’ progress to identify learning

needs. IXL helps us identify different learning gaps, in which standard six aims for teachers to

have purposeful assessments to figure out what needs to be further instructed. When we look at

the different analytics for each student, we can explore what questions and skills they acquired,

and it provides an exact idea of what each student current knowledge is and what their current

needs are. We can take what we find out about each student, and determine where to adjust our

instruction, whether as a whole class or individually.

 Typical summative assessments, such as in artifact 1, can be only an understanding of

where the student is in that particular math content area, where IXL allows for a wide range of

math content areas to be assessed and much more individualized. As teachers we are able to

assign different content areas as well such as what has been taught that day or unit, reflecting

standard six to use assessments that directly relate to classroom objectives and goals. IXL also

allows students themselves also get to monitor their progress and growth by getting immediate

feedback. Standard six addresses that assessments should be given in ways that help learners be

active in their learning and recognize their knowledge to set learning goals. As IXL is done on

the iPad and as standard six addresses, it helps engage students to accommodate their needs

using technology.