EDU 6613: End of Course Reflection

          Education is important to students. It provides them a view of the world and how they can make an impact on it. As a teacher I am responsible to get students to understand key issues that they can overcome. Working in the specific subject of math, my goal is for students to be able to critically think deductively and inductively with a major emphasis on problem-solving skills. To check to see if students understand the material is through the use of assessments. Whether it is formative or summative the uses are to analyze what students know and how as a teacher I can effectively teach my students. From this course, Standards-based Assessment I was given a main goal, to “utilize formative and summative assessment in a standards-based environment.” From that class goal I am to think how far I have come from when I started the course to the end.
       
          My views on standards-based assessment have been a bit misguided. Whenever I have heard the term used it has been in connection with a school wide grading system. I was unaware of the use of the term toward formative and summative assessments. During the duration of the class I was opened up to new ideas to how I can help my curriculum become better to teach students with. As Lalor (2017) notes, “formal curriculum describes what students need to know, be able to do, and be like through statements in the form of national and local standards, content-specific understandings and practices, district- or teacher-generated outcomes and objectives, and other types of learning targets” (p. 3). By adding formative and summative assessments into the curriculum it allows for teachers, like myself, to give students an education with a curriculum that properly focuses on student learning.
   
          From the course there are two goals. The first is for the person to, “develop a sense of assessment vocabulary and conversation”. After taking this course I have learned the importance of developing more conversations with my students as well as the use of the curriculum’s vocabulary. I first want to make sure all activities are aligned with standards. “Standards that are taught and assessed are the standards that are the focus of instruction and are evaluated during the unit of study” (Lalor, 2017, p. 35). After analyzing my curriculum I found I have to add in formative assessments that assess student understanding of the vocabulary and content in multiple areas. It also has to be engaging to the students. As Williams (2011) points out, “high-engagement classroom environments appear to have a significant impact on student achievement” (p. 81).

          The second goal is to, “define and implement a strong understanding of sound classroom assessment practice and experience within an authentic classroom context.” After taking the class I learned that it means to have proper formative and summative assessments. One area I focus deeply on are formative assessments. As Lalor (2017) points out, “formative assessment serves as a check for understanding” (p. 82). With my formative assessments that I have used in my geometry curriculum I now learned I should create a variety of formative assessments. Lalor (2017) finds that feedback comes in a different forms are in peer conferencing, creates small-group discussions, students seeing if they are aligned using rubrics and checklists. Most importantly is the feedback is descriptive toward each student. In the Figure 1 is my learning progression for a particular unit in geometry. The green squares represent different formative assessments used in the class. From left to right each formative assessment helps me figure out how my students are progressing and what they need if they have not mastered the concepts. As Williams (2017) states, “the processes are: finding out where learners are in their learning, finding out where they are going, and finding out how to get there” (p. 45). With each of the formative assessments they have different methods of assessing students but also giving me as the teacher ideas on where the students need to go next. With that I will have to look at the rest of the curriculum to ensure they are getting proper formative assessments that will help them succeed.

Figure 1

       
          Overall the class has been helpful. The ideas presented by the instructor and the fellow classmates have been helpful in finding new methods to proving students with stronger, research-based instruction. As Silver, Berckemeyer, and Baenen (2015) note, “By having students solve problems, students practice authentic learning rather than merely memorizing” (p. 92). Through problems within the formative assessments such as the ones presented in Figure 1 my students will be given an authentic education. I also have learned how to create a better conversation with my students toward them understanding the curriculum. Since the school year is starting soon I will work to look through how I have taught in the past with the curriculum and construct new progression of tasks using formative and summative assessments. After taking this course I know my students will receive a stronger education.

Works Cited

Lalor, A. D. (2017). Ensuring High-Quality Curriculum: How to Design, Revise, or Adopt  

Curriculum Aligned to Student Success. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Silver, D., Berckemeyer, J. C., & Baenen, J. (2015). Deliberate Optimism: Reclaiming the Joy in

Education. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

William, Dylan (2011). Embedded Formative Assessment. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.