Katie Edney

Measurement & Evaluation

Professor Leo-James Levesque
17 February 2015
Assessment Philosophy
There are so many areas of assessment to consider as an educator. One of the biggest
struggles I have faced as an educator has been finding the balance between summative and
formative assessment strategies. I believe both to be useful and hold their own purposes,
therefore, I have targeted my own assessment and evaluation purpose which is that I want to
understand and apply the learning patterns of my students! By following this purpose, I believe
that I will further be able to apply assessment before, during, and after learning. Considering
prior knowledge, environment, planning extensive and differentiated lessons, and by targeting
enrichment opportunities, I believe that all students can be successful. Applying learning tools
for formative and summative assessment strategies will provide a basis for myself as a teacher
to aid my students in building confidence, motivation, and practical learning strategies that will
hopefully guide them in their future learning endeavours.
Formative assessment is easily used across all subjects. The goal of this form is to
provide formal and informal assessment through observations, the use of tools, and oral
communication. I truly believe that providing students with a positive and safe working
environment where they feel encouraged and accepted on a daily basis will foster students to
become more self-aware and reflective about their own learning. Formative assessment is highly
regarded as a practice that assesses students comprehension in naturally occurring contexts
rather than structured, test-oriented ways. By using formative assessment, students are given
the chance to learn through auditory, visual, and kinaesthetic means by applying conferences,
technology, and small/whole group work. As a teacher, I hope to intrinsically motivate my
students to be life-long learners through the use of formative assessment. Providing variety and
choice to my students will make them excited to learn based on their own preferences. I will use
assessment tools that will foster individualistic learning in my classroom before, during, and after
the learning process.
Before learning, it is important for an educator to consider what students already know,
what needs to be targeted, and what students weaknesses and strengths are. By assessing
understanding before learning, an educator can gain the necessary perspective and insight into
the many needs of students within the classroom environment. Giving myself the most accurate
picture of my students abilities before diving into a learning unit will provide me with the
knowledge I need to offer differentiated lessons as well as enrichment opportunities for my
students. It is necessary to consider the different learning habits and abilities of my students in
order to provide an equal and fair opportunity for each individual to succeed within my
classroom. I believe that building a sense of confidence and motivation within students is one of

the most important aspects of being an educator. I will use learning tools such as traffic lights
before and throughout the learning process in order to formatively assess my students and
guide my own teaching practice. By using formative tools students have opportunities to
evaluate their own learning and to work collaboratively with each other and with the teacher.
Building rubrics and guiding assessment with student contribution allows students to view and
understand what quality work is and gives each student equal opportunity to strive towards
success and self-reflection. I am confident that instilling the use of self-reflection within
assessment practices of students at an early age will only benefit them in the future. Therefore, I
hope to provide students with ample opportunities through collaborative rubrics, and journals to
express their own views on their personal learning styles, achievements, and weaknesses. By
providing an opportunity for students to discover their own learning abilities, I believe that I will
be able to scaffold, differentiate, and build learning within my classroom by catering to a wide
variety of students needs. I want to take the responsibility as a teacher to let students
understand that learning is different for every single person. My assessment practices during
learning will reflect this belief.
During learning, assessment should be predominantly formative and frequent. Using
formative assessment as the main, but not only, method of assessment in my classroom comes
hand-in-hand with providing students with extended amounts of time to learn. Providing
extended time would allow myself to develop dynamic lessons, but more importantly will provide
students with the time to demonstrate their growth, knowledge, and abilities within a unit of
study. It is my hope that by providing more time to students, I will be able to extend the learning
experience so that students can fully meet curriculum outcomes.
When it comes to homework, teachers need to make informed decisions on what is
going to be helpful and what is going to be stressful. I am a firm believer that literacy is a subject
area that needs careful attention outside of the classroom environment. Therefore, taking into
consideration students situations outside of school, I believe in sending home practical work
that will focus on further building skills in literacy. Communication with parents is another area of
assessment that I hope to target in connection with homework. I want to be dedicated to
providing parents with realistic resources, weekly newsletters, and on-going communication to
facilitate learning at home. I embody the belief that a childs learning is a shared responsibility,
and I hope that by providing support to parents, that this belief will be respected. Providing at
home support for parents will in-turn help scaffold learning and I believe that results will be seen
on a daily basis.
Although I will use formative assessment to scaffold, differentiate, and understand where
my own teaching skills need assistance, there is also value in using summative assessment
after learning to make informed, professional decisions about my students learning. It needs to
be an understanding of teachers that students have a need to demonstrate knowledge and
skills in different ways, testing being one of them. Show What You Know tests that are done

over the period of two-days have been the most positive summative testing experience
throughout my teaching career. These Show What You Know tests are completed after
extensive reviewing processes have taken place through mock quizzes and in-class activities.
By providing students with two periods of time to complete these tests, students will be able to
review material more completely in an increasingly stress-free environment.
I speak a lot about providing opportunities for students, but I firmly believe that is what
assessment should be. Assessment, to me, is providing students will ample opportunities to
self-reflect, become engaged, build confidence and motivation, and to communicate with others
and myself their strengths and weaknesses. Teachers can test students every single day, but
the best results come from providing students opportunities where they can express their
understanding in naturally occurring situations.