The main forms of assessment are summative, formative, diagnostic, peer, and self-

assessment. Each one of these forms of assessment has a unique and meaningful purpose inside
of the classroom. Formative assessment is a great way to indicate where the learning should go
next or if the lesson should take a different direction in order to best meet the needs of the
students. This kind of assessment is done throughout the lesson as the learning is occurring, and
it is usually not graded. It is a great tool to use to get an idea of how or if the students are
processing the material the way you want them to. Summative assessment is done at the end of
the chapter or unit to determine if the students have met the goal or objective of the lesson. This
is the assessment that usually is graded. This assessment can be great indicator if you can move
onto the next lesson that builds on the lesson you just taught, or if you will have to continue to
reinforce the material before being able to go any further. The next kind of assessment is
diagnostic assessment. Diagnostic assessments can be formal or informal, but it serves as a tool
to help identify what the strengths and weaknesses are of the student in that skill, such as a
multiplication test to determine if they are ready for division. These assessments can be a broad
scope that helps get an idea if the student will need additional scaffolding when entering the next
lesson. Peer assessment is a great way to get students engaging with assignments that are not
their own and determining if the assignment met the standards stated on the rubric. This allows
them to become familiar with the rubric and what is expected of their own work. This is usually
not graded since it can mostly serve as feedback for the students. Lastly, self-assessment is a
great way for a student to self-evaluate how much they have learned the material that was given
to them. it is important to let them know that this is not graded at all, but it rather helps you see
how to better help them in the next lesson. This also allows the child to not have stress about it
and feel comfortable with being completely transparent on their self-assessment.
At this point in my journey through the credential program, I truly see the value in all five
of these assessments. If I had to choose only a few to highlight, it would be formative and peer
assessment. The reason for this is because with formative assessment you are able to see the
progress that the student is making without the pressure of being graded just yet. Although a
summative assessment doesn’t always have to be in the form of a test, when the students know
that they are being directly evaluated and graded, it may add stress and some anxiety about their
performance. With formative assessment you can determine how much you need to continue to
scaffold or continue moving on with the lesson, but you are only focused on the progress that the
students are making. We are also often our own worst critic, so with self-assessment we may
need another set of eyes to get a better, more insightful perspective. That is why peer-assessment
is another powerful tool to use because I believe that there is power in practicing a skill until you
own the skill. When a student knows what to look for and how to grade their peer, they will
come back to their own work and know exactly what is expected from them as well.
I think assessments are a great tool not to place a student in a particular category, but to
help the educators know how to help them best. Along with this statement, I also believe that
students have a certain level of responsibility when it comes to their education. The teachers and
educators are responsible for providing the adequate tools, resources, and knowledge to teach the
students, while students are responsible for putting forth the effort to apply those tools and gain
knowledge. When students take responsibility for their education, it gives them a sense of
ownership as well. This means that the students have the right to know what is expected of them,
which can be done through self-assessments and making them aware of the rubric that will be
followed when grading their work. By incorporating the five types of assessments stated above,
the students will not only have a better concept of how to help themselves, but it will also allow
the educator to have a clear picture of how to lead the student to success.
When creating an assessment, it is important to have the assessment correlate with the
standard or target objective. You should have a specific goal at the end of your lesson and the
assessment simply serves as a tool to help determine if each student met the objective of your
lesson. I also believe that an educator needs to have multiple means of assessments and
performance tasks throughout their lessons to get a broader view of where the class and
individual students really are. I do not think using a single assessment tool for every lesson
would be an accurate representation of the learning that took place that day. When teaching and
planning your lessons, I also think it is important to keep the district curriculum and state tests in
mind. This can help you get an idea of where you need to steer your students towards, and what
goals must be achieved that year to successfully enter the next school year. Although, I also do
not think that overwhelming stress should be placed around State testing. The reason I say this is
because students really do feel the pressure of it, I recall it myself. Overall, teachers will be able
to know exactly what their students know and where they are in the curriculum through using
multiple means of assessment.