EDU431 METHODS OF TEACHING MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE IN THE PRIMARY/JUNIOR GRADES

Required reading E: Analysis and Reflection.

Title:

Assessment for Learning

CITATION: Assessment for Learning. (2010, March). Retrieved from http://

blackboard.niagara.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-522039-dt-content-rid-2041211_1/courses/16SPEDU431OTECD/READING%20-%20E%20-Assessment%20for%20Learning.pdf
ABSTRACT:

This curriculum insert focuses on

assessment strategies that all classroom
teachers will find useful.

ANALYSIS/REFLECTION:

Reading this article has enabled me to understand that an

assessment is a fundamental part of learning and is also an ongoing part of everyday. Throughout various years of education,
whenever hearing the term assessment I always used to think
that it was something teachers did to critique where each student
was and determine what academic level each student should be
at; ex. academic, applied, and/or locally developed. Although that
analogy is true, this article makes reference to the notion that
assessments can also be utilized for students as much as teachers,
which ties into the idea of self-learning. As defined in the article,
assessment for teachers is the procedure of collecting information
about students learning that advices their own teaching, and
assessment for students is the process that tells students about
their own learning; that of which they are involved in.
When I was in elementary and high school, there was no
such thing as student-involvement. When information was
taught, my teachers would assign homework and assignments to
assess students comprehension, but no additional procedures were
made after that. When I struggled with understanding information
from a particular unit of study, I never remember my teachers
taking that assessment information to re-teach or simplify the
information taught so I was better able to understand it. Had I
been exposed to student-involvement as it is the core of the
classroom, and had teachers who acted as guides and coaches
helping me develop ownership towards the target and goals for
learning in the classroom, I believe I would have excelled a lot
more than I did in elementary and high school. Never being
shown exactly what I was learning and why I was learning that
specific target or goal, was what hindered my success in the
classroom. Discovering the various strategies used to assess
students gives me hope that the students of the future will not
experience the same difficulties I experienced as they are finally
able to engage in effective assessments within the classroom for
themselves and their teachers.