Assessments: They have to happen, the question is just how?

     Assessments...Such an anxious word. The word itself seems daunting. Yet, I believe that it doesn't need to be that way. I believe that schools have degraded education down to just "passing" tests. I feel that with my own education all I was ever assessed on was in a test, worksheet, or fill in the blank assessment. Which if I'm being honest I'm not sure these actually assessed if I'd gained knowledge of the bigger picture. Yet, after reflecting on this chapter I realized not all assessments are daunting and can break from the typical test or worksheet mold. 

    Informal vs. Formal Assessments 
      Informal assessments are those that the students are unaware of. Which myself was unaware of as student. This happens when the teacher is monitoring the room during group time. Or when the teacher asks questions of the classroom during a lecture or reading. Another example would be a teacher taking record of how well students read their read alouds. This would be a type of assessment I would use in my 1st grade classroom often. The student would not be aware but I would be taking mental notes (and maybe actual notes) of if they were understanding the story by their inflections, speed, and awareness of punctuation. I would also be taking note of their progression with reading. 
      Formal Assessments are those that are planned ahead with a specific date, time, and topic. Students are aware of when this assessment is happening. They are able to prepare in advanced for the assessment because they know the specific topic or topics the assessment will cover. This would be like a planned quiz to see if students understand how to subtract. It could also be a test that covers chapter 1 in science. The idea is that the students are aware of when, where, what, and how the assessment is occurring. 

   Paper-Pencil vs. Performance Assessment
      Paper-Pencil assessments are those that require a student to write an answer down on a sheet of paper. This happens on quizzes, short essays, fill in the blank worksheets,and etc. This is where to test the knowledge of the student you are having them write down their understandings. I would use this assessment with math problems, getting students to practice their writing, and answering plot based questions about a story. 
      Performance assessments are the assessments that require the student to demonstrate physically their understandings. I would use this in my classroom to check children's pronunciations and ability to read aloud. This could be done in front of the class or individually. I think I could also use performance assessments with science lessons. Having students create experiments about a lesson. 

    Traditional vs. Authentic Assessment
      Traditional assessment are the type of assessments we think of normally when we hear the word assessment. These are the quizzes, multiple choice tests, fill in the blank, short answer, matching, graphing, etc. Typically these tests are objective and have one right answer. These assessments also typically take little time to administer and are easier at grading because of the objectivity.I would use this type of assessment all throughout my classroom. One specific example would be for end of the chapter multiple choice tests. 
     Authentic assessments is where the students are asked to describe their knowledge through real life scenarios. A way to use this in my classroom would to help with learning Math. I knew a teacher who asked students how many grapes would be make up a peach and they had to determine the answer by using their theories but in a new environment. I think this type of assessment is beneficial because it causes the students to think of what they learned outside of in the classroom. 

   Standardized Tests vs. Teacher-Developed Assessments 
     Standardized tests are those assessments that are not designed by the teacher. These assessments are typically developed by outside sources and used to determine achievement in terms of the state standards. These are usually only used once a year with tcaps and then less and less as students get older. The only time I would use this in my classroom would be when mandated by the state for tcaps and such. 
    Teacher-Developed assessments are the tests and quizzes that are made by the teacher for their specific classroom. I like to think that I will use a majority of teacher-developed tests in my classroom. These are important because it allows the teacher to make sure that what the students are being tested is material that was gone over in class. It also allows for better understanding of the questions for the students. The students will understand the wording better because it will be in the style of their teacher. I also think that using teacher developed assessments in my classroom will help to make sure that I am keeping things related and on topic. Otherwise I may over look items if I was to use someone else's test. 

  Criterion-Referenced Vs. Norm-Referenced Assessments
    Criterion-Referenced assessments are assessments that are used to pin point the exact concepts that students are misunderstanding. These type of assessments are used for math,spelling, map quizzes, and theories in science. These are the type of assessments that have clear answers and a concrete score. For example there are 20 questions so there are 20 points. After these type of assessments the teacher is able to see what exactly each individual student is understanding or having trouble with. These types of assessments will be used weekly in my first grade classroom. From math worksheets to spelling tests. 
   Norm-Referenced assessments are those that compare students to the rest of the classroom. These assessments rank the whole classroom from highest to lowest. These are tests that are comparing each student to the other students who took the test as well. An example would be the ACT. This test ranks the students based on how well they did up against other students. Where as the criterion-references assessments compare students to a rubric. I can't think that this type of assessment would be necessary for a first grade classroom. Maybe for some statistic test for an outside source. But not for my own personal educational development of my students. 

    Assessments are important in the role of educating students. They allow the teacher to reflect and determine if their strategies are working with their students. It also allows the teacher to see the development of their students. These assessments are used interactively amongst one another. For example a paper-pencil assessment may be used to create an authentic assessment. Assessments do not have to be daunting objectives. There are also many ways to change your assessments to create the best learning environments for individual students.