Megan Jones

February 16, 2011

Chapter Ten- Notes

Chapter 10 – Taking Stock: Standards, Assessment, and High-Stakes

Testing

I. Classroom Assessment Practices

a. Selecting the right assessment

i. See chart on page 190

ii. Assessments need;

1. Tied to your stance on learning

2. Driven by learning goals

3. Systematic

4. Tied to instruction

5. Inclusive of the learner

6. Integrated into a manageable system

b. Types of Informal assessments

i. Observations – see form on page 195

ii. Portfolios

iii. Inventories

iv. Rubrics

v. Conferences

vi. Self-assessments – see form on page 197

vii. Surveys – see page 199 for outline

viii. Checklist – see form on page 196

II. Reading for information and its role in formal testing

a. How did we get Here? Legislative support for testing

i. Standards, assessment, and accountability are all very new to

 educational reform.

ii. No child left behind of 2001

b. Concerns about testing

i. Alfie Kohn, believe high-stakes can be harmful and impede on

performance for those with test anxiety

ii. But today, “students will be tested; teachers and schools will be
evaluated according to student performance on these test.”

c. Characteristics of Formal assessments

i. Examples of formal assessments

1. National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

2. Stanford Achievement Test (Sat-9)

3. Terra Nova

ii. The test publisher completes most formal assessment scoring,

results are several months later.

d. Addressing high-stakes tests

i. Student need to be motivated

ii. Students must understand that the assessments they participate

in matter

e. Area #1 test format practice

i. Fostering a test-wise attitude

1. Be prepared

2. Relax

3. Think positively

4. Practice your skills

ii. General test-wise skills – these skills should be reinforced in the

class, specially when students complete teacher-created tests
throughout the year

1. Listen and read directions

2. Quickly scan the types of number of questions

 3. Budget your time

4. Answer the questions you know first

5. When you skip a questions be alert for answers in other

questions

6. At the end start over and complete the skipped questions

7. Do not change an answer unless you can prove your first

answer is wrong.

8. With 2 minutes left go back and fill in the blanks with the
same letter. Blank answers are guaranteed to be wrong

iii. Direction Words

1. Use often in the classroom

2. Practice with students and teach them the appropriate

way to answer the questions.

iv. Multiple-choice Questions

f. Area #2 reading for information on standardized test

i. Reviewing types of questions – chapter 6

ii. Access prior knowledge – chapter 3

iii. Building knowledge and fluency – chapter 5

iv. Focusing thinking and recall – chapter 8

v. Representing knowledge – chapter 7

vi. Understanding the words on the test – chapter 4

vii. Assessing content knowledge – chapter 9

viii. Comprehension strategy practice – chapter 2

g. Area #3 student engagement in reading for information

III. Using the results of informal and formal assessments

a. Engagement of students is a team effort

b. Better readers become better test takers

c. Without an awareness of what the test indicated, the school will not
 likely address the needs of its faculty or students.

d. Best to align curriculum to test?

e. A curriculum discussion cycle might take the following steps:

i. Standards review

ii. Curriculum constructions

iii. Curriculum delivery

iv. Examination of student work and test scores

IV. Conclusion

a. Importance of informal and formal assessment, there should be a

balance between the two.

b. Informal assessment should be ongoing and can include the list

provided in this outline.

c. Formal assessment, such as exams has become increasingly important

recently.

d. Keeping parents and students engaged is highly recommended.

Reflection:
This is a very important ‘subject’ for all educators to understand, research,
and be up-to-date on. I am currently taking an assessment class where we discuss
the balance of formal and informal assessment as well as the fact that we are slowly
transitioning to a national standard and curriculum. The class is also helpful and
teaching how to build good test and how to do informal assessments appropriately
based on the age and project at hand. This chapter was a good reminder and
review of that class; that is why I feel as it if is a very important topic for all
educators and parents to understand.