Assessment and Reporting

Classroom assessment is done in order to monitor and improve student performances and increase the effectiveness of lesson plans, including the content and method of delivery (Eggen, P., Kauchak, D., 2010).

Historically, student assessments incorporated mostly end of topic exams, with an emphasis on determining the quantity of information learnt. More recently there has been a shift in the focus of assessment towards “assessment for learning” as opposed to the traditional “assessment of learning” (Eggen, P., Kauchak, D., 2010). The benefit of using this approach is that the results obtained are centred on capturing students existing understanding with a view to implementing strategies to increase knowledge and skill levels.

Assessing students’ knowledge is generally achieved by gathering information using formative and summative assessments. Formative assessment is the evaluation of students’ knowledge, with the aim to determine what gaps are present in the student’s existing comprehension, this information is used to structure future lesson plans so that they best achieve desired learning outcomes (Eggen, P., Kauchak, D., 2010). Summative assessment is done with a view to determining students post lesson comprehension. Both assessments may use either informal or formal assessments and in some cases a combination of both (Eggen, P., Kauchak, D., 2010).

Informal assessments generally encompass a number of appraisal strategies completed within the classroom, including; adhoc observations of student performances, participation during lessons and throughout group work. Informal assessment is an important step in the teaching process as it allows teachers to determine students’ comprehension levels and develop specifically targeted lesson plans (Eggen, P., Kauchak, D., 2010). Informal assessment however, should be used as a guide only, as results gathered can be somewhat ambiguous and making judgements based on one incident can be misleading, hence a more formal assessment should be made prior to making significant decisions based on the data gathered (Eggen, P., Kauchak, D., 2010).

Formal assessment on the other hand is a much more controlled process, which is effective in gathering more accurate information pertaining to a student’s level of understanding. Formal assessments entail more structured methods of measurement and typically have both positive and negative aspects, for ease of review some of the more popular strategies and there attributes have been outlined in the table below (Eggen, P., Kauchak, D., 2010).

(Eggen, P., Kauchak, D., 2010).

All government schools within Australia use the Outcomes and Standards Framework with a view to, assess and evaluate each child’s progress and implement improvement strategies and monitor performance of each school as a whole. In order for assessment to be a beneficial process it should, assist in establishing student current knowledge levels, improve students’ learning and increase the effectiveness of teaching practices (The Department of Education and Training 2010).. Western Australia’s Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Policy provide the following guidelines for reporting of assessment outcomes;

a) Results are written in plain English, are easy to read by parents and guardians
b) Compare results to that of other students when using standard testing
c) Include an assessment of each students achievements
d) Use the A, B, C, D, E point scale (The Department of Education and Training 2010).


(Department of Training and Education, 2010)

With the implementation of standardised testing throughout Australia, the method of school based assessment and reporting has changed substantially. Students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 undergo testing in the areas of Literacy and Numeracy. It is the aim of the National Assessment Program (NAPLAN), to provide comprehensive information on how students and schools compare throughout the nation. This data is feedback to students, teachers and parents and will now be available, as of today, on the My School website http://www.myschool.edu.au/ which has been developed by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).

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References:

Eggen, P. and Kauchak, D. (2010). Educational Psychology: Windows on Classrooms. New Jersey: Pearson.

National Assessment Program. Literacy and Numeracy.
Retrieved January 22nd 2010,
http://www.naplan.edu.au/

The Department of Education and Training, (2010). Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting. Perth: Government of Western Australia.

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, (2010). My School.
Retrieved January 28th 2010,
http://www.myschool.edu.au/

Reflective Practice

"No matter how well you teach, there is always room for improvement" (Killen, 2003, p.48).

Even the best teacher needs to be open to new ideas and other’s opinions, and even in the best teacher’s classroom there will be unmotivated students, students not participating or not understanding a topic.

We know that not every technique works for every student; one student might be intimidated by group work, another might not be motivated by a promised reward (Eggen & Kauchak, 2010).

Based on the teacher's knowledge, he makes decisions for every situation, every topic and every student. These decisions can be right, but sometimes they won’t be; and it is really important for a teacher to acknowledge that and learn from mistakes. A good way to keep track is, like Gage and Berliner suggest: "Keep records. If something works, use it again; if it doesn't [...], drop it" (Gage & Berliner, 1992, as cited in Marsh, 2008, p. 46).

To learn from these experiences, for example whether something worked or not and why it was so, a teacher needs to reflect. That means to look back on a situation (reflection-on-action), and also to try to look at a situation from "the outside" while it happens (reflection-in-action) (Schön, 1983, 1987, as cited in Killen, 2007). To reflect effectively, every aspect and every possible point of view needs to be considered (Killen, 2007).

Questions to be asked are / could be:

- Were all the set objectives met? If not, why?

- Did every student understand the topic? If not, what can I do to help them?

- Why did XY behave this way today? Is it because of something I said? Or could there be underlying reasons?

- Did I do everything possible to reach my goal / help my students reach theirs?

- Why is this situation escalating? What can I do to get it back to normal?

There are several reasons why teachers should reflect. First, to maximise learning (Dobbins, 1996, as cited in Killen, 2007) and to "complete the learning cycle for each incident in our lives" (Butler, 1996, as cited in Killen, 2007, p. 54). Another reason is that "teaching and the climate within which teaching takes place are different now from what they were" (Dobbins, 1996, as cited in Killen, 2007, p. 54).

Therefore reflection becomes crucially important in the future – 2010 and beyond – as “models of past types of situations can not fully describe situations yet to occur” (Boreham, 1988, as cited in Bright, 1995, p.76). As mentioned in the introduction, times are changing rapidly. Every situation will be unique, as education theories, legal requirements, the economic situation, culture, ethical factors and politics are frequently changing (Bright, 1995). A big factor will also be technology – the sheer mass of new inventions yet to come will change the way students learn, teachers prepare their lessons, and the requirements for future workers.
The technology we already have today provides great tools for being a reflective teacher. Teachers can use programs, tables and graphs to collect, track and interpret data about progress; there are blogs, forums and chats to share thoughts, new ideas and experiences with other teachers all over the world; and finally, in regard to research, texts about virtually anything can be found on the internet (Snowman, 2009).

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References

Bright, B. (1995). What is reflective practice? Curriculum, 16(2), 69-81. Retrieved January 4, 2010, from Curtin University of Technology Library E-Reserve.

Killen, R. (2007). Effective teaching strategies: lessons from research and practice (4^th ed.). Tuggerah, Australia: Social Science Press

Marsh, C. (2008). Becoming a teacher (4th Ed.). Tuggerah, Australia: Social Science Press

Snowman, J. (2009). Psychology applied to teaching. Milton QLD: John Wiley

Conclusion

The effective teacher in 2010 and beyond has profound knowledge of learning and teaching theories, is reflective and committed to lifelong learning. The effective teacher's aim is to model and teach students to be creative, flexible, open-minded, reflective, metacognitive, confident and to have self-efficacy.

New technologies are a major component of the effective teachers pedagogies and influence the learning activities and classroom environment. The effective teacher uses assessment to improve learning, provides a warm welcoming and orderly classroom and respects the individuality of every student.

This is the type of teacher we want to be.

This blog has detailed the foundation of knowledge required to be an effective teacher in today's environment, and with experience and reflection the effective teacher will continue to grow and develop this knowledge.


And here is one last CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING!