Assessment Philosophy Statement

Laura Taylor
As educators, we have the privilege of working with
students each and every day in diverse classroom environments.
It is important for us to be flexible and to adapt to our students
capabilities when it comes to assessment practices. My
philosophy is to assess students fairly and consistently
throughout their learning. During the assessment process it is
important to give students constructive feedback before, during
and after learning; these three critical times are when diagnostic,
formative and summative assessment tools should be used. This
assessment philosophy statement will explain the importance of
these three types of assessment. I will also address the
controversial issues of giving retests and why I believe it is
important to give students choice during assessment. I will also
talk about the importance of self and peer-assessment. Overall,
my goal is to design my assessment practices in a way that gives
students the best opportunity to be successful and demonstrate
what they have learned.
Diagnostic Assessment
I believe that diagnostic assessment, or assessing students
before instruction begins, is very important. Finding out students
prior knowledge and understanding in a given subject can be
very advantageous for a teacher in terms of where to begin
instruction and where to continue in future lessons. It would be
difficult to figure out where each student is academically without
doing this type of pre-assessment. If designed appropriately, this
form of assessment provides teachers with information on
students needs and where to target improvements. Gaps
between knowledge and skills are identified for each student. By
implementing diagnostic assessment with my students at the
beginning of the school year and at the beginning of new units, I
get a better understanding of what their strengths and
weaknesses are, as well as where instruction should be focused.
Formative Assessment
Formative assessment should be used throughout the instruction
and learning processes. This type of assessment allows teachers
to guide their lessons and adjust their teaching as needed.
Teachers can provide verbal or written descriptive feedback to

students on their formative assessments as a type of check-in for

both teachers and students. I am the type of person who relies
heavily on feedback in order to enhance and improve my work. It
only makes sense to give students constant feedback, whether it
is from the teacher or from peers, throughout their learning so
they know how to improve. By giving this type of feedback to
students, they are motivated intrinsically and encouraged to
improve. Fisher et al. quote a teacher in their article No Penalties
for Practice, saying, Practice doesnt make perfect; practice
makes permanent. So wed better be sure students practice
things that build the habits were looking for (47). I agree with
this statement because giving more practice or formative
assessments to students means more permanent learning will
take place in our classrooms. Preparing proper formative
assessment tools that actually assess what we want students to
learn is very important.
I tried out some formative assessment strategies during my first
internship. I did entrance slips with my Grade 11 biology classes;
I would pose a question from the material we learned last class
and collect written answers from students. I would then go
through each answer and write feedback on how students could
improve their responses, or see if they were right on track. I also
did a lot of verbal formative assessment with students where I
would simply have conversations with them to investigate their
level of understanding. I found this to be very effective and the
students valued my comments and strived to improve their work.
Summative Assessment
Summative assessment is used after learning has taken place;
this is typically at the end of a unit or at the end of the semester.
A lot of people associate summative assessment with final tests
or exams; however, I intend to use summative assessment in a
variety of ways in an attempt to meet the needs of all my
students. Tests, projects, assignments and presentations are also
options for summative evaluations.
I was able to develop a few summative assessment items with
one of my cooperating teachers during my first internship with
the same Grade 11 biology class I mentioned above. With my
own ideas and her previously developed test on the Circulatory
System, we created a test that was fair and covered what

students had learned while I was teaching. There were also a

couple of summative assignments we co-developed and one I did
on my own that I was able to receive feedback on from this
experienced teacher. There is a lot of value in getting other points
of view on your assessment tools and practices to figure out the
best way to evaluate student understanding.
Reassessing Students
There is a whole other world that exists outside of the classroom
that has a major influence on students. This influence can be
positive or negative and can ultimately have an affect on their
performance in the classroom. I am a very sensitive person who
understands that sometimes students cannot give 100% every
single day. With that being said, I believe in providing
opportunities for students to retest, under appropriate
circumstances. I agree with what Dueck (2011) discusses in his
article, How I Broke My Own Rule and Learned to Give Retests. I
would definitely be willing to try out some of his strategies in my
classes. For example, students can decide to rewrite a section or
multiple sections of a test. I can also give students ideas for study
strategies and pinpoint some of their weaknesses and areas
where they require extra help. Dueck explains how retesting
improves student involvement, achievement and motivation (75).
Giving students choice on which sections they would like to be
retested on is advantageous at any grade level.
Providing Choice
On the topic of giving students choice, I believe in providing
assessment practices that give students choice on how they
demonstrate their knowledge. There are many tools educators
can use to assess students understanding, whether it is a piece
of art, a formal essay, a presentation or a song. Students are
more motivated, engaged and involved in their learning when
they have choice. Some may argue that this way of assessing will
create more work for the teacher, and that is probably correct.
With that said, if we expect our students to give us their best
work then they deserve a reciprocation of that from us.
Peer-Assessment
Peer assessment is a beneficial strategy that can be used for
evaluation. Students sometimes relate more to their peers
compared to the teacher. Students are able to follow the steps in
The Ladder of Feedback, created by David Perkins from Harvard

University. The ladder provides a critique process where students

can provide kind, thoughtful and effective feedback to their
peers. With this type of assessment students will be more
involved in their learning. This can be done in a formative way so
students use their peers comments to revise their work. The goal
would be to establish a classroom culture of critique and respect.
Self-Assessment
Similar benefits occur through self-assessment practices. By selfassessment I do not mean the students giving themselves
grades. What I mean is students comparing their work to the
given criteria and making improvements. Students can see where
they need to improve and make adjustments to their work. By
doing this, students are taking on more responsibilities in their
learning and are making decisions themselves. The growth
students will experience by doing self-assessment will help them
to become lifelong learners.
By providing my students with diagnostic, formative and
summative feedback I hope to improve and encourage their
learning. By allowing students to do retests I hope they will learn
from their mistakes and grow as students. With a considerable
amount of the learning process being delivered by myself, I still
plan to motivate students to take some responsibility and
ownership for their own learning through peer and selfassessment, as well as providing them with choice on various
assessment tools that are implemented. With all of this in mind, I
am hoping these ideas will create a safe and positive learning
environment where students are not afraid to make mistakes. I
am just beginning my journey as a teacher and I am sure that
through my teaching experiences, my philosophies on
assessment will grow and adapt to meet the needs of my
students.

References
Dueck, M. (2011). How I Broke My Own Rule and Learned to Give
Retests. Educational Leadership. pp.72-75. ASCD.
Fisher, D., Frey, N., Pumpian, I. (2011). No Penalties for Practice.
Educational Leadership. pp.46-51. ASCD.

Perkins, D. (2003). King Arthurs Round Table: How Collaborative

Conversations Create Smart Organizations. Hoboken, NJ: John
Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Studentsatthecenter.org,. (2015). Home | Students at the Center.
Retrieved 17 February 2015, from http://studentsatthecenter.org
(Peer/Self-Assessment)