Preparing Teachers for a Changing World
Assessment Ch. 8 Summary Assessment is a critical piece of providing a quality education not only to younger students but to adult learners as well. As part of an effective teacher preparation program, a multiplicity of both formative and summative assessments must be implemented and modelled. Formative assessment is considered an assessment carried out during the instructional process for the purpose of improving teaching or learning. Conversely, summative assessments are those that are carried out at the end of an instructional unit for the purpose of certifying student proficiency (p. 275-276). Each of these plays a critical role in student learning. Types of assessment may include student self-assessment (metacognitive), observation, written work products, oral presentations, projects, portfolios, tests, quizzes, questioning and discussion. Framework questions include: Where are you trying to go? Where are you now? And How can I get there? (p. 278). Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) should be considered for students, incorporating this into the design of each lesson, without interrupting the flow of learning for some while working one on one with others. Scaffolding lessons and including routines which consider students’ ZPD can support learners. All assessments should focus on alignment with outcomes and goals, and include clear criteria for success. They should be made interesting to the learner, and provide data for both student’s strengths and areas of need. Progress maps are one way to design these. Prior knowledge should be considered. Addressing misconceptions is a documented part of this process, as well providing detailed feedback on how to improve. Teachers should keep equity issues in mind when designing assessments, such as language needs, family and community background, student interests and prior knowledge, communication methods, and access to resources. Three audiences for grading include parents, external users, and students. Some guidelines for appropriate assessment for children ages 3 to 8 include: Curriculum and assessment are integrated throughout the program, assessment benefits the child, assessment provides teachers with useful information to successfully fulfill their responsibilities, it involves regular and periodic observation of the child in a wide variety of settings, and relies on demonstrated performance in real world, not contrived, activities (p. 299). Grading can have negative effects on students, decreasing motivation and achievement. Connection Throughout this chapter, I was able to make multiple connections to my own teaching and learning. I constantly evaluated my own instruction, particularly in the course I’m teaching now, Instructional Planning. I noticed that I teach the important information about assessments, but feel a need to model and incorporate more pre-assessment into my instruction. For example, I ask my students to include a pre-assessment as part of their lesson planning, and show how they use this information to adjust their lesson. But I often go in and teach them without having conducted any such pre-assessment. Although I provide an exit ticket at the end of each class, and use this information to plan the upcoming lesson, I could do more specifically focused data collection, and then make this use explicit for my interns. The questions I use are more open ended, such as what worked for you this class, what questions do you still have, what didn’t work for you, what did you learn, and what was your level of effort. Although I use some pre-assessments, I need to increase not only the frequency of their use, but use these to further influence and direct my instructional design, making this an explicit component for my interns. The detail which the authors provide on utilizing formative assessments was helpful to me, and I plan to increase its use and my response to the data. Reference: Shepard, L., Hammerness, L., Darling-Hammond, L., Rust, F., Baratz, S., Gordon, E. Guitierrez, C. and Pacheco, A. (2005). Assessment. In L. Darling,Hammond and J. Bransford (Eds.), Preparing teachers for a changing world: What teachers should learn and be able to do. (pp. 275-326). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
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Darling-Hammond, L. & Bransford, J. (Eds.). (2005). Preparing teachers for a changing world: What teachers should learn and be able to do. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Chapter 7 Teaching Diverse Learners “To support democracy, educators must seek to eliminate disparities in educational opportunities among all students, especially those students who have been poorly served by our current system.” (p. 233) Summary In this well written chapter, the authors stress the importance of preparing teacher educators to effectively meet the needs of diverse learners. Educators need to create a culturally responsive classroom, which ties together the students’ background, community, and home life. This “boundary crossing” positively influences student achievement, and avoids the conflict that can occur for some when their personal life does not align with the expectations of formal education. Teachers have traditionally been demographically and racially different from many of their students. They bring with them their own ideas and preconceptions about school and teaching, which frame how they themselves teach. Teachers are encouraged to engage in self-examination of existing concepts, accompanied with thoughtful reflection. This “sociocultural consciousness” enables instructors to “realize the worldview they may have grown up with is not universal but is greatly influenced by their life experiences and aspects of their cultural, gender, race, ethnicity, and social class background.” (p. 253). Equity pedagogy should be a part of all teacher preparation programs, integrated throughout each course and not taught in a single isolated class. This increases the effectiveness of such an approach, and allows graduates to take action as part of the “demographic imperative”. A great deal of research supports the idea that there is a direct correlation between great teachers, great resources, and great student achievement. Poverty contributes to low achievement. The “hidden curriculum” which is not responsive to the needs of diverse learners can lead to a lack of commitment, loss of feelings of belonging, and a lack of trust, all of which influences student achievement. It is important to focus on a student’s strengths and consider what they can do, what they bring to the diverse classroom. This lens provides support for children who are different, and rallies against more traditional views of the student as a collection of weaknesses, seeing “different” as weak or bad. Additionally, reserve judgement on students who may initially appear uncooperative or unmotivated. There are many reasons behaviors may manifest, and it is best to avoid quick assumptions. Design curriculum to meet the needs of the students, not trying to force the students into a readymade curriculum which is one size fits all. Accommodations for students with special needs might include variations on assignment size, time needed, level of support, instructional strategies used, products, degree of participation, modification of goals, and alternative curriculum. Visual aids, concrete examples, and hands-on activities are also effective. Placement of student teachers should be carefully done, in order for PSTS to learn from positive skilled role models (sorry Mr. Nolan). “It is difficult to learn to teach well by imagining what good teaching might look like or by positing the opposite of what one has seen. Rather, placing students carefully with cooperating teachers who are teaching in culturally responsive ways and then structuring those field placements to connect with courses that help teachers understand those experience re both essential to providing learning opportunities for students doing this work.” (p. 273) Response I found several of the statistics in the reading shocking. For example, not only do 1 in 4 children in the U.S. live in poverty, but that number jumps to 42% for African American children and 40% for Hispanic children. That means that if you look out upon the children in a typical elementary school classroom, nearly half of them may not get enough to eat, have a safe place to live, or have enough financial resources to meet their needs. Keeping this in mind can be helpful to a teacher, who may have never experienced this type of deprivation. Knowing your students is critical, and should influence all aspects of the classroom. I was also amazed that many teachers hold negative attitudes towards minority students, including their abilities, language, behavior, and potential. Additionally, they have fewer favorable interactions with their teachers than white students, and are more likely to be punished for offenses than white students (p. 241). Whether these inequities are consciously committed or not, they are avoidable if teacher become aware and work to address these. When training new teachers, it is important that this evidence be brought to the forefront when allowing and encouraging student teachers to become agents of change in building a culturally responsive practice. Further, research shows that females are “less likely to be called upon by name, are asked fewer complex and abstract questions, receive less praise or constructive feedback, and are given less direction on how to do things.” (p. 242). This negativity could be eliminated if attention is given to the problem, and steps taken to address it. Working with my pre-service teachers is a step in the right direction. On a more general note, I agreed with the authors proposal that effective teachers of students of color link classroom content to students’ experiences, focus on the whole child, and believe that all students can succeed. This includes a genuine dialogue with and among students. These are tenets of great teaching for any children. They are ideas I want to stress to my PSTs, and plan to incorporate into future classes. Interestingly, the authors propose allowing students to integrate into the community. Our university includes an alternative field experience during the summer before the interns’ senior year, which fits in with this model perfectly. Interns work in the Boys and Girls Clubs two days a week, getting to know their students and learning about their communities. This provides a connection from school to home, and for some interns is their first experience in a low income setting. Many of the interns I worked with last year commented on what an eye opening experience this was for them and how much they learned, including confronting their own assumptions and views. |
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