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Assessment Philosophy
As an instructor it is important to keep in mind that the ultimate purpose of
assessment is to improve students learning (Miller, Linn, & Gronlund, 2009, p. 167). An
effective assessment should have specific learning goals in order to measure/monitor
progress along the way as well as assess whether or not these goals have been attained
(e.g. product or presentation). Quality assessments should provide language instructors
with results that can be analyzed to inform instructional decisions and make inferences
about students language abilities. My assessment plan includes a variety of formative and
summative assessments that reflect authentic tasks and materials my students will
encounter in the real world.
Setting attainable and measurable goals, instructional objectives, and learning
outcomes are essential in order to plan and design valid assessments of students
communicative language ability. As a language instructor assessments should These
learning outcomes can be realized through using Blooms six taxonomy categories (i.e.
knowledge, understanding, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation) to determine if
students can demonstrate their competency in the objectives we have chosen to direct our
teaching. I believe it is important to understand which of these educational outcomes are
appropriate for your learners proficiency levels and incorporate assessment techniques
that measure students ability in each.
Obtaining samples of student performance is necessary for assessment, and this
should be done before, during, and after instruction takes place. Assessments are formative
in their approach when observing and monitoring progress during instruction. Formative
assessments are incorporated into everyday classroom tasks such as role-plays and quick
writes, and can be used as a low stakes way of assessing students progress. I include these
types of assessments into my assessment plan because they are valuable for providing
feedback to the students as well as gaining information about their strengths and
weaknesses. A combination of formative and summative assessments should be used to
assess students progress along the way as well as evaluate their final product or
achievement. Traditional assessments are key when monitoring and documenting students
learning, which is important when determining student comprehension of information as
well as when making placement decisions. However, I believe alternative assessments have
a more prevalent place in the classroom since they provide more opportunities for students
to collaborate, be creative, and help facilitate learning. One example of an alternative
assessment could have students showcase their work in a final portfolio, allowing for their
product to be showcased while highlighting their progress along the way. My experience
with this assessment has been positive in illustrating what students have learned and
giving them a visual representation of their hard work.
Specifications based on the students language goals must be considered in order to
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select authentic tasks with similar characteristics to the real-world situations they will
encounter. As a teacher, I make sure that the tasks the students are being asked to
complete during assessments are ones that will reflect what they are expected to do once
they leave the classroom. For example, if a learner is studying English in order to apply for
a job in nursing, the tasks I choose will reflect the tasks this student would have to
complete in this job position, such as talking to patience and filling out forms. I believe it is
essential as a teacher to be knowledgeable on various test types and their uses so we can
adapt to our learners needs and provide reliable, valid, and practical assessments in
different contexts (e.g. classroom, institutional exam (TOEFL), workplace). The
fundamental purpose of assessment is to obtain useful information regarding where
students abilities lie as well as provide a better learning experience for students.
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References
M. D., Linn, R. L., & Gronlund, N. E. (2009). Measuring and assessment in teaching.
Miller,
(10th edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill, Prentice Hall