Assessments
...rms of assessment, they have some disadvantages as well. Many formal assessments must be obtained from a testing company at a cost per test. They must be administered in a secure environment following specific guidelines, time constraints, and directions. Tests are sent off to the testing company to be scored and can take several weeks to receive results. Depending on the time of year the test are given will depend on how information can or will be used to assist teachers and students in improving their education and skills mastered. Severe penalties result for those who are unable to maintain test security. Another downfall for formal assessments is that they tend to have only one correct answer per question, lending it self to convergent thinking. Typical or standard type assessments such as True/False, multiple choice, matching and fill in the blank questions tend to focus on the two lowest levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Knowledge and Comprehension. Knowledge level testing then lends itself to an overemphasis of memorization. This in turn can lead to “cramming” for a test and then forgetting the information shortly after the test is over. The numerical system normally associated with this type of testing or assessment often has the students, and parents, more interested in the “grades” rather than the learning process or achievements. On the other end of the spectrum is the less discussed Informal Assessment. Just as formal assessments take many forms so do informal assessments. They inherently involve a potential or perceived level of bias for any number of reasons. These assessments include, but are not limited to, observations, interviews, questions and answer sessions or discussions, portfolios, checklist and rating scales. Some of these methods are discussed in more detail. Unlike a typical formal assessment informal assessments can provide both the teacher and the student an immediate feedback of a students performance as well as providing the teacher a measurement of their own effectiveness. Informal assessments are more interactive than traditional formal assessments and occur during both class time and at prearranged times such as a conference with a student and or parent. Informal assessments are often not graded and should help the teacher identify what, how much, and how well the students are learning in order to help prepare lessons for success. This type of assessment can also help to evaluate an individual student’s level of involvement and effort on a particular subject or lesson. A more in depth look at a few of the informal assessment methods follows: Conversations and discussions with students are the most basic and essential element of informal assessments. This process is relatively quick and can be used to fill out an informal “teacher created” checklist providing a basis where the students are currently functioning. This type of interaction can begin as a simple question and answer session and build into a more in depth conversation. This takes the level of learning from the Knowledge and Comprehension levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives to a higher-level process of Application, Analysis and Evaluation. By listening to student’s questions and answers, a teacher can determine what materials the students have mastered or have a faulty understanding. From there, the decision can be made to review the material or move on to a new topic. Another Informal or Formative assessment is that of a portfolio. A portfolio is a collection of a student’s work over a period of time. A formative portfolio can be a good indicator of a student’s progress. This portfolio is not necessarily a collection of the student’s best work, but a collective summary of their progressive work. A portfolio also provides the student a direct opportunity to reflect on their work. Teacher and student can share the responsibility for deciding what should be placed in the portfolio. A writing sample that covers the entire writing process may be determined as a requirement by the teacher, and the student may select a science test with a high grade or well answered open ended questions to add to the portfolio. Students can complete response sheets as to why they have elected to include a particular item in their portfolio. Space can also be left for parents to respond about items in the portfolio. A third form of an informal assessment is that of conferencing. Conducting a student conference does not have to be done outside of class time. This can be done during group project, seat work and “lab time.” Conferencing can provide a shy and reticent child the opportunity to express their level of knowledge and understanding directly to the teacher instead of being overshadowed by their classmates in a group setting. It also gives the teacher an opportunity to give one-on-one feedback to students abo...