I have been exposed to the idea of pre-assessments for a while now, and I can continue to learn the importance of them. This article revealed to me that we must use pre-assessments the right way in order to reap the benefits, rather than just measure expected growth. Pre-assessments must provide useful information so that students can successfully differentiate. I enjoyed learning the tips for pre assessment, particularly the one about it being short and to the point. Many times, I believe that there is an idea that assessments need to be long and torturous. However, this article taught me otherwise. "No student, regardless of background or experience, approaches a topic, skill or concept "empty." This shows how important it is to tap into prior knowledge in order to move on with instruction in the best way possible. As a future educator, I plan to use this assessment tool as a means of truly benefitting my students, and giving me the data I need to help them the best I can.
"Checklists and Rubrics" is also a chapter than intrigued me. I have been familiar with assessing my students every time I teach a lesson, in order to see what needs improvement, and the level of student comprehension. I have never been a firm believer in checklists, as I believe that it may not always be a best representation of a student's accomplishments. For example, what if a student did an outstanding essay, truly demonstrating that he/she understood the content, but had messy handwriting and a few spelling errors. This would result in some points taken away from the checklist. Is this really the best way to assess them? However, this article showed me that the teacher can alter these checklists to meet the students' needs in order to provide a more beneficial assessment. I think as an educator, I will make customized checklists for each student in order to provide differentiation and a fair chance for each student to show his/her comprehension and application of the topic. I learned that rubrics are types of checklists, except they include grade and mastery expectations. When reading about the two types of rubrics, (analytic and holistic), I saw advantages in both. For example, holistic rubrics can be used for more general tasks such as homework. I believe that I would combine to the two, to give a step by step breakdown, as well as an overall holistic assessment. Overall, I am not sure if I would use checklists or rubrics in the future. I would like to investigate other types of assessments that I feel are a better representation of student progress.
Hockett, J. A., & Doubet, K. J. (2014). Turning on the Lights: What Pre-Assessments Can Do. Educational Leadership, 71(4), 50-54.
Reeves, A. R. (2011). Where great teaching begins: Planning for student thinking and learning. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
"Checklists and Rubrics" is also a chapter than intrigued me. I have been familiar with assessing my students every time I teach a lesson, in order to see what needs improvement, and the level of student comprehension. I have never been a firm believer in checklists, as I believe that it may not always be a best representation of a student's accomplishments. For example, what if a student did an outstanding essay, truly demonstrating that he/she understood the content, but had messy handwriting and a few spelling errors. This would result in some points taken away from the checklist. Is this really the best way to assess them? However, this article showed me that the teacher can alter these checklists to meet the students' needs in order to provide a more beneficial assessment. I think as an educator, I will make customized checklists for each student in order to provide differentiation and a fair chance for each student to show his/her comprehension and application of the topic. I learned that rubrics are types of checklists, except they include grade and mastery expectations. When reading about the two types of rubrics, (analytic and holistic), I saw advantages in both. For example, holistic rubrics can be used for more general tasks such as homework. I believe that I would combine to the two, to give a step by step breakdown, as well as an overall holistic assessment. Overall, I am not sure if I would use checklists or rubrics in the future. I would like to investigate other types of assessments that I feel are a better representation of student progress.
Hockett, J. A., & Doubet, K. J. (2014). Turning on the Lights: What Pre-Assessments Can Do. Educational Leadership, 71(4), 50-54.
Reeves, A. R. (2011). Where great teaching begins: Planning for student thinking and learning. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.