Ada Melnik 13841085 EPSE 310B- Juliette Lyons-Thomas January 21st, 2013 Philosophy of Assessment and Evaluation In my opinion,

the purpose of assessment is to give students the guidance in developing their ideas and opinions, as well as the knowledge that is part of the school experience. I feel that the purpose of school is to give young people the guidance to develop as contributors to society. Teachers should aim to build the skills of students without placing too much pressure on students with grades, which ultimately creates competition between students. Grades are inevitable part of the school culture because it affects the students opportunities beyond the classroom walls. Some students strive off of grades and need that as motivation to succeed in school. We also need grades to determine who can continue on to various post-secondary institutions and most districts put a fair amount of weight on grading, so it is not something we can eliminate completely. However, I think that we need to shift the focus of assessment from high-stakes tests and projects, and balance it out more in the classroom. Formative assessment that provides students feedback on how they are doing and whether they are improving will help them grow and understand more about themselves and their habits. Formative assessment in my teaching will include giving students opportunities to form their opinions about the subject at hand without having anxiety about having their work evaluated. My plan is to provide students with constant feedback on their strengths and areas of improvement. All assessment should be geared towards building on the students strengths and enhancing their skill set. Their skill set should include communication skills, both oral and written, work habits in the class, following instructions, participation in class, and developing

their own values and opinions, organization and time management. I believe assessment can focus on all of those aspects throughout the year. As a Social Studies teacher, my main goal is to provoke interest in the subject matter through showing students the connection the content has with their own lives. Focusing on specific assessment and evaluation in Social Studies, I believe students should have the space to feel comfortable to express their thoughts about places, people and events in a respectful way. In my upcoming practicum, I plan on giving students a personal reflection question for homework based on what we had covered in class that day. I will be reading through the students reflections and providing written feedback, without a grade, for every student. This will not be done every day, but will be done quite frequently. My philosophy behind assigning such a task without putting a grade on it is because I believe students should have an opportunity to voice their opinion without being judged. It is also meant to give them feedback on their writing abilities and give them chances to improve on their reflections in paragraph form without being constantly critiqued. This feedback will give them more confidence to improve on their writing throughout the class so when they do have formal writing to hand it, they will have less anxiety. For participation in class, instead of assigning grades to students who participate most, I believe in encouraging participation through a variety of instructional strategies. Participation means more than one thing and if students can show that they are engaged in the class, they can participate just as frequently as anyone else who might be more vocal. By creating pair, group and class discussions, students can participate at different levels they might feel comfortable in. Also, creating fair strategies to get each student to participate in class discussions will also work to get everyone involved. Having interactive activities that require each student to have a role

will allow for more participation as well. Overall, it is just a matter of being willing to participate in some form or another. In terms of summative assessments, I believe providing a variety of types of assessment throughout a unit is essential for students success. I plan on assigning projects, both creative and informative, tests, reports, presentations and role plays. This allows learners who are visual, auditory or kinesthetic a chance to show off their strengths in the way they produce their final product. Variation is very important for student learning and this must be reflected in the students assessment. For testing specifically, I believe all items on the test should be things that have been covered in some detail in class. The test should focus much more greatly on the students analytical and evaluative skills than their knowledge of the material. Although it is important for students to know some dates and be able to remember Social Studies facts, it is more important for students to see the connection of Social Studies to their own life. Therefore, my tests should reflect that philosophy and give students opportunities to make those connections between the learned content and their own experiences in the world. Teachers have a really important role in preparing students for tests. I will provide review sheets and clear instruction to give students the best chance of succeeding on tests For other assessments in the class including projects and presentations, students will have opportunities to get feedback on their process before they present their final product to get some feedback. Students should only receive a formal grade on the final summative product and not on the process they went through. They should be allowed to make mistakes in the process with being penalized for it. The requirements and expectations for the final products should be made very clear and give every student an opportunity to succeed. Teachers should go through, or even better, construct the criteria on the rubric or rating scale with the students so that nothing

they are assessed on would be a surprise to them. Students should only be evaluated on processes they have had opportunities to improve on and build on their strengths. This type of assessment can also accommodate students who are ESL and consider the multi-cultural classroom. Because students have the type of develop their product and get feedback through the process, it gives support to students who might be struggling more. It allows them to communicate their concerns and get feedback on a more consistent basis and it takes the pressure off of students to get the product perfectly right without proper guidance. Overall, my philosophy of assessment and evaluation reflects the idea that students need a safe place to develop and make mistakes and that all evaluations of students should be fair. My goal is a teacher is to make sure that all students succeed and improve over time and assessment in my classroom will reflect that. Nothing I give the students will be a surprise and assessment will be for the benefit of the students more than anyone else. It is an opportunity for students to realize their strengths and improve on their weaknesses. It is a guide for me as a teacher to see what I can do so students have the opportunities to improve. Assessment should be a positive experience for the students, not something that gives them anxiety and stops them from taking risks in my classroom.