Assessment is a critical component of effective teaching and learning but assessment and evaluation are often confused. So, is there a difference? I am making this contribution because many teachers are still using these words interchangeably. I believe that a vital part of our role as reading specialists will be to train teachers so that they develop a clear understanding of the reciprocal relationship between curriculum, assessment and instruction. This is how I perceive the relationship :Curriculum ↔ Assessment ↔ Instruction
Where am I going? I must help my students to achieve levels of
content standards
How will I know that? By providing students with multiple opportunities for demonstrating learning
How will I get there? Through purposefully planned teaching and learning experiences
Now let’s go back to the difference between assessment and evaluation. In education, an evaluation occurs when a single score is used to report student learning. In it you’re looking at what has already occurred ,with no intention of intervention or changing eventual outcomes. Assessment, in its fundamental form, provides us with information to help students. Like Checkley (1997)I also believe that in effective classrooms it is difficult to determine where instruction ends and where it begins. Evaluation, on the other hand, is a summation and is used upon completion of instruction. It is the final analysis of instruction and assessment and is used to assign grades or determine a grade placement.In my practice I use three suggestions offered by Guskey (2003) for making assessments more useful for my students..I want to share these with you. I inform my students of (1) the concepts and skills necessary for achievement, (2) the criteria that will be used to judge successful achievement. In addition ,I follow up with corrective instruction.. I hope this is helpful to you in some way.
Lemoy
No comments:
Post a Comment