CEC+8.+Assessment


 * 8. ASSESSMENT **


 * CEC Standards: **

__**8. Assessment **__

//**a. Assessment is integral to the decision-making and teaching of special educators and special educators use multiple types of assessment information for a variety of educational decisions. **//

 There are many types of tests and assessments that benefit educators and help them to make decisions about the development and learning of their students. Formative assessments are used at frequent intervals during the progress of a students learning. They are often used to modify instruction in order to reach the goals and objectives an educator wants to achieve with a student. Summative assessments are usually given at the end of an educational period. These are often used to show the accomplishment of a student during that educational period and then to provide feedback for placement during the next educational period. Inside of these there are formal and informal assessments that reflect whether students are graded or not, respectively.

 The evaluation process can occur in several ways. Curriculum-based assessments can be used to evaluate student achievements and understandings with content and school based curriculum. There are other types of tests such as performance-based assessments or portfolio assessments. These usually require students to construct responses to real-world tasks and are an evaluation of the students thinking and abilities. With portfolios, students are able to showcase their work over a longer period of time, and have more freedom to express their understandings in various modes. Intelligence tests can also be administered, which measure such things as ability to problem solve, plan, reason, comprehend ideas and language, and think abstractly. Achievement tests on the other hand measure the amount of knowledge that a person has acquired and/or mastered. These two types of tests are used to assess disabilities, where a certain score discrepancy between the two can point to a specific learning need that needs to be developed in more focused context. I administered a mock achievement test to a student who did not have a disability for one of my classes over summer. The test I administered was the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT). This individual had to provide me with sample work and follow up questions to the areas where they performed lower in (8.a.1). These results would be used to develop an action plan for this student and inform about areas of skill that need development and emphasis in instruction. I also gave her an authentic assessment that I thought could better show her understanding in one of her lower sections. Authentic assessments are a great way to evaluate student understanding because they let students build off of their strengths and are often constructed around an interest of theirs or something that is more relevant to their life. In ED 405, as a science group we constructed an interdisciplinary authentic activity and assessment that a class might do about the oil spill (8.a.2). We integrated many different skills and contents and had the students doing work that would actually be sent to the president and could make a difference. In my interview for the school I am now teaching at, I was asked to give a lesson on the spot and actually implemented a very abbreviated version of this activity and had sixth graders take on different career roles such as engineer, scientist, mathematician, and so forth, where they worked in groups to come up with a solution for the oil spill, after having discussed pollution and different ways humans pollute. We also looked at the effect that the oil spill was having on the ecosystem, different animals, as well as fishing and trade that earn people money to live, and vacationing and the money people spend and receive from traveling and tourists.


 * //b. Special educators use the results of assessments to help identify exceptional learning needs and to develop and implement individualized instructional programs, as well as to adjust instruction in response to ongoing learning progress. //**

As mentioned earlier, I was able to administer an achievement test this past summer (the WIAT) (8.b.1). This achievement test allowed me to see how my student achieved in different content areas, and how much she understood different questions and topics. This was different from what an intelligence test would have measured, which is a person's cognitive ability, resulting with an IQ. If I had administered both and there had been a big discrepancy between test scores between the two, that would trigger the thought that something was wrong and the students either was not achieving as high as they could, or that this child may need help to get to where he or she should be academically. These tests help determine whether or not a child has ELN and what services they may need. With this information, an IEP team can come together and help the student and family construct an individualized instructional program that would be to support the student's learning process, with explanations of how instruction would be adjusted or tailored based on the needs identified from the results of the test. It is also important to look at work done in classes to observe the students current learning that occurs in class, and how instruction might need to be changed to better support that child.

I have never had to initially use an assessment to identify a student with ELN, but I have had to work with many students with ELN and had to be creative in the ways in which I taught so that they were able to grasp different meanings and make sense of the knowledge and ideas that they were uncovering. Throughout my student teaching placements, STARS after school program, and the Get Real! Science Camp, I have had to adjust my teaching in many ways to make sure that I am incorporating much differentiated instruction that can reach all students. There was a lesson I did that stands out to me on constructing graphs for trends in the periodic table. The students did not seem motivated during it, nor did they do well on constructing the graphs. I realized that this was my fault. Had I assessed their prior knowledge better, I would have found that not many of them were strong at making graphs. Also, I needed to give more explicit directions, and not only just give them, but give them a place where they could refer back to the steps they needed to take. Knowing this, I adjusted my instruction the next time we did graphs. The day after that activity, and when doing graphs during our acid and buffer lab, I brought the class together to go over the axes they needed on the graph, with one of their peers at the board facilitating the discussion on how to set up the graph and what it might look like. He and I then modeled what one of the graphs might look like when they plot their data. For the remainder of the class when they were working with a partner on creating their graphs, the agenda was left up on the board, and I included a checklist of what the students needed to get done and up to which point they had to be at by the end of class (8.b.2). With the explicit directions, modeling, and going over tough concepts with them as a whole class, the students were successfully able to complete their assignment. In my CTC (Continuous Teaching Cycle) I used this innovative unit on acids and bases, and kept extra close track of the progress of three of my students who had IEPs (8.b.3). By looking at my results of the assessments to see what they did and did not understand, I was able to change my instruction to cater to their needs and help them to better understand what we were doing in class. Additionally, during the implementation of my CTC, I often provided students with written instructions, pictures they could follow along with, as well as a demonstration to model what they would be doing, before they would go work with partners on it (8.b.4).

//**c. Special educators understand the legal policies and ethical principles of measurement and assessment related to referral, eligibility, program planning, instruction, and placement for individuals with ELN, including those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. **//

There are many legal policies and ethical principles of assessment related to referral and eligibility for special education. First of all, when a parent or teacher requests that a child be evaluated, it is often because of behaviors of the student that they think are atypical, or even what that individual teacher expects from students, or the materials available at that school already and how teachers deal with differences in students. For example, I know that when my brother was younger his teacher wanted him tested for ADHD which my parents never did because he was only 5 years old, being a typical 5 year old boy. The year after he had a much younger teacher who always got the class up and moving and had absolutely no problems with my brother, demonstrating that a referral might even be due to the way a teacher teaches and what they expect from young students. Once referred to a team on the CSE, then the student can be evaluated. After the assessments, the team determines whether or not the student is eligible for services. Some things to consider are the student’s age and behavior, maybe the student is just acting his or her age. Maybe the material presented to the student has been insufficient in the past, and maybe the lessons have just been uninteresting and not culturally relevant or able to meet linguistically diverse backgrounds, and therefore they simply assume a child has a disability. Luckily in 1970 a law was passed that stated all children must be tested in their native language during placement procedures, which helped a bit to decrease the number of minority students that were said to have a disability. Also, IDEA stepped in to require changes for when a student was evaluated, saying that every member of the evaluation team had to look at the data when needed rather than reevaluating the student every three years. The evaluations do their best to protect against cultural discrimination, and therefore only use tests that are reliable and valid (8.c.1). Not just one piece or assessment can determine whether or not a child has a disability, but rather a collection of samples and evidence must be provided. for reliability. Once an IEP is planned with the team, the instructional accommodations and modifications must be made in the classroom, and are observed to see if there are any changes that need to be made, and how the student is doing with the accommodations. I know that when I went to a CSE meeting, the girl who the meeting was for had been doing very well in her transition from a segregated classroom to an inclusive gen ed classroom, shown by her social behavior and her academic progress (8.c.2). The student and the adults decided that because of her progress, they were slowly going to cut down on how much time she would be pulled out for the resource room, and try to get her to advance more independently. When a student needs services, the special educator must be responsible for keeping an eye on this case and making sure that the student has his or her educational needs met. By law it is required that the students receive an educational experience in the least restrictive environment. It is the responsibility of the special educator, along with other colleagues, to determine what this least restrictive environment is based on the relevant data and accomodation plans. The accomodations are also a matter to be addressed and advocated for by the special educator, and they should be provided decided for the student based on the appropriate services and levels needed.

//**d. Special educators understand measurement theory and practices for addressing issues of validity, reliability, norms, bias, and interpretation of assessment results. In addition, special educators understand the appropriate use and limitations of various types of assessments. **//

In ED 405 we spent a class or two discussing reliability and validity of assessments, and why those characteristics are important and what can make a test unreliable or invalid. We were provided with different samples of tests, and asked to decide whether they were good tests based on those two criterion. We learned that even if some multiple choice questions are worded funny or written in an order that tricks the students, that is not valid. Reliability means that the test can reproduce the same (or very similar) results multiple times and is therefore very consistent. Validity has to do with whether or not the test is evaluated what it is intended to evaluate. If a test is trying to trick a student, then it is assuring that the student will not be able to answer to their fullest potential, which is not fair.

 Often times, looking at a rubric or a test, what the teacher is looking for or bases a grade on, does not always seem to reach any of their content or skills related objectives. Putting neatness and creativity on a rubric are controversial because meeting those standards does not necessarily show they have any knowledge of the material. But if they are not neat or creative, but all the information was there, then a teacher who had that on the rubric would take points off. Also, we had a good discussion in that class about how sometimes rubrics seem to limit the work and effort put into the assessment. Even in an authentic assessment, if a rubric is worded a specific way, students might only be trying to reach what is highest on the rubric, rather than choosing to go above and beyond and adding even more things if they could have (8.d.1). That is why, I believe that with authentic assessments and problem-based learning activities and expeditionary learning assessments, students have more freedom and choices with which to approach different standards (8.d.1a). I do believe that rubrics are important, but they only work well if they are designed well, which some educators do not know how to do.

 Before administering the WIAT, we also did research on that achievement test and looked through it ourselves to write up a paper on whether we deemed it to be reliable and valid (8.d.2). Having experience determining whether a test is reliable and valid, was good practice for when it comes to developing our own assessments. Many times assessments are not showing what a student knows, but rather what they can remember for a short period of time before forgetting it. Another limitation is that some tests cater toward people with certain learning styles, while interviews and portfolios might be better for another person. That is why it is so important to allow for choice within assessments. During STARS, we gave the girls interviews at the end and allowed them to select questions that they felt most comfortable answering out of different categories that would ensure they were still meeting a specific objective (8.d.3). I did the same thing with an assessment I gave at East High. I let them select from certain questions, and then also demonstrate their understanding in one of many forms, such as a rap, poster, drawing, letter to a friend, etc (8.d.4).

//**e. Special educators collaborate with families and other colleagues to assure non- biased, meaningful assessments and decision-making. **//

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">As we have learned, the assessment process is a very complicated one. How do we know that the method of assessment we are using is truly demonstrating what the student knows? Traditional style tests and standardized tests, multiple choice, etc, are not usually considered meaningful assessments and are unable to show what the students really know (8.e.a1). Most multiple choice tests do not have open ended questions that allow students to critically think. And if there is one specific question to every answer, how is that incorporating diverse interests and cultures that are non-biased? A great way to assess students are through authentic assessments. Authentic assessments allow students to have choice, and also allow them to choose their form of presentation as well as explore a topic or concept that they are interested in, in a way that they can build off of their strengths. The reason why collaborating with families and other colleagues is because they know the student from a different point of view. They might be able to give recommendations on what the student does well with, how they learn best, how they are creative and can show what they understand, and so forth. Many times if a teacher has learned a certain way growing up and prefer to learn that way, they may teach and assess that way, accidentally staying blind to all of the other forms of assessment and instruction. Having student taught with Kaitlin gave me the opportunity to always collaborate on making assessments, and constantly edit and improve them. We made the assessments meaningful by getting the students interested in the assignment having to do with environmental sustainability, because it was a topic relevant to their lives. Students were able to create their own testable questions and plan a procedure and investigate their question in teams from beginning to end (8.e.1). The same went for the STARS after school program and the Get Real! Science Camp, where students were taken out to the community to explore issues that were relevant to their lives or to their community (8.e.2). Even having East High students look at acid rain in Rochester was appealing to them, because it was an issue relevant to their own city (8.e.3). In ED 405, the authentic assessment that we planned and presented to our class, was an interdisciplinary problem-based learning project that gave students the chance to approach the oil spill from all different disciplines, being able to choose one of their choice while still learning about the others (8.e.4). By collaborating with families and colleagues, there is more support, more resources, and more accountability, that can lead to a wider choice of ideas and opportunities for the students. Working with colleagues and the community can also result with great projects like the expeditions done at SWW where they were faced with the assignment of how and where to build a shelter for animals of Lolly Pop Farm, that was interdisciplinary and allowed them to study engineering, marketing, architecture, environmentalism, and interior design (8.e.5).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> Even the achievement test that I administered in ED 405 could be considered biased. A lot of the curriculum and tests today are considered to be tailored to and based off of the values of White, middle class men. That is why after administering the test and calculating the student’s score, it was recommended to also give her an authentic assessment that I thought could better interest her and represent her understanding of the content. Instead of just asking her a straight forward question about math, or asking her to write about a topic she was not interested in, she had expressed an interest in shopping and shoes, so I created an assessment where she was calculating the probability of choosing a certain shoe, and also writing a fictional story about a pair of shoes. She did very well on both of these and even verbally expressed her enjoyment of these assignments (8.e.6).

//**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> f. Special educators conduct formal and informal assessments of behavior, learning, achievement, and environments to design learning experiences that support the growth and development of individuals with ELN. **//

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> In my student teaching placements I conducted both formal and informal assessments of all my students in several ways. Informal assessments were made through observational mental notes in my head as to skills I say developing, answers that each student provided, and interactions the students were making with the community. Another type of informal assessment that was made was through class discussions where students could contribute knowledge about the investigations they were conducting and provide their own ideas and arguments as to what they thought was happening in those cases. These discussions and powerpoints were created to allow for misconceptions to be brought up, focused on, and then addressed as a community of learners. Review lessons and games were also used for students to assess their own strengths in terms of content knowledge and understanding, and those topics which they have need to study more before the unit is finished and they were assessed summatively (8.f.1).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> Each of these informal assessments was preceded and followed up by a type of formal assessment. For instance, questions of the day helped to introduce topic ideas for the lesson or bring up ideas from the previous lesson to assess the students knowledge and understanding in both of these cases. Laboratory investigations were made in two different ways, first where students had no previous interaction or discussion about the materials, so that they were experiencing the science first by hands-on manipulation and observation, and secondly where students went through this beginning experience, then had some discussion, then revisited their labwork with this community knowledge in mind. Investigations were formally assessed through presentations or laboratory reports that asked open questions allowing students to critically think about the issue they were investigating and how the science is related to the issue and can be used to problem solve it. Summative formal assessments were in the form of presentations, video interviews, or choice-based questions (8.f.2). Both these formal and informal assessments help me as an educator track my students progress and development not only in understanding the science content, but also in the use and growth of cognitive, motor, and social capabilities that are necessary and important for life outside of and beyond schooling.

//**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">g. Special educators use assessment information to identify supports and adaptations required for individuals with ELN to access the general curriculum and to participate in school, system, and statewide assessment programs. **//

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> Assessments are used to inform instruction and identify what supports students need in order to understand the material. Continuous assessments help to let a teacher know this information, but this is only effective if there are multiple forms of assessment. Students should be assessed on skill levels, they should be tested on their cognitive abilities, and they should be informally assessed on their readiness and development in self-advocacy and self-determination capabilities. During my placement at SWW I found that my students learned well when working in pairs or small groups and so that was a continuous practice that I tried to employ in my instruction. When I taught a lesson on adaptations I found that the students held misconceptions over what an adaptation was (something used to survive) and what a survival need was (something needed to survive, ie. water). In order to correct this, I planned the next lesson so that all students would look at a picture of an animal and identify a characteristic that was an adaptation, and how that animal may use that adaptation to survive. Again, working in small groups helped these students to learn best and I employed these strategies in this lesson as well. Students found that most of their adaptations were functions of finding food or avoiding being food by other prey (8.g.1).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> I also found that differentiated assessments allowed students with ELN to access the general curriculum. During my placement at East high school I assessed students on their understanding of my acids and bases unit. This assessment allowed all students two autonomous choices. First, students could select from a list of questions on acids and bases what questions they wanted to be assessed on. Second, students could choose the method of answering these questions from a choice of things such as writing, drawing, making a poster, making a presentation, making a comic strip, etc. Students were able to cater to their own strengths and interests with this type of assessment, and it allowed every child to feel comfortable and able to contribute some understanding of acids and bases (8.g.2). Additionally, in ED 452, LaToya and I taught about differentiated instruction and gave examples of how her students did an assignment where they were able to create raps and how they got very creative with it. During our lesson in 452, we engaged the students in a think-pair-share activity to allow collaboration, and had some great products, including a rap about education from our very own Joe and Erin (8.g.3).

//**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">h. Special educators regularly monitor the progress of individuals with ELN in general and special curricula. **//

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> I assess and monitor all my students daily. Students with ELN receive a bit more attention to detail as I need to ensure that their accomodations are being met and how they are doing with those accomodations. Reviewing this students IEP is important because our goal is to develop abilities that will allow these students to live without the accomodations if possible, but it is also important to review the IEP in case a student is not making progress and more accomodations are necessary to support this student. One of the best ways to monitor a students' progress is to simply talk with them. A teacher should ask a student how they feel they are doing, what they are struggling with, and asking for feedback on what they can do to improve their practices and instruct them in the best ways possible. Video interviews or simple class discussions can help provide a teacher with an easy fix to accessing the right methods for instructing their students and ensuring that the students make progress in their understanding of the content. Another way that a teacher can monitor student progress is by reviewing their assessments and seeing what student understandings are there and what are missing. The misunderstandings can then be addressed through a question of the day or by making a connection in the current lesson back to that concept that students are missing and letting students discuss the concepts in small groups or large groups. Finally the best way a teacher can monitor the progress of each individual student is to use the power of observation and trial. They will need to build relationships with each student and know what methods of instruction work best for which students. Teachers will need to plan multiple forms of instruction so that all children will have the opportunity to access the understanding and information of the content in the way that is best suited for them. Constant reflection on each of these practices and discussions with students will inform teachers about the best methods to continue using in order to reach their students (8.h.1).

//**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> i. Special educators use appropriate technologies to support their assessments. **//

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> I have used several forms of technology to support my assessments. For instance, student were required to take measurements of pH using Vernier LabQuests and probes in cups of water which vinegar was dropped into to simulate acid rain (8.i.1). The cups contained different ground materials, such as granite gravel, limestone gravel, and sand, which the students were using to model different lakes with. Students use of these probes and the reading of the data was used as a formative assessment to compare across other lab groups to see consistency in results.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> I also used a smartboard to display video and powerpoint presentations for students. Specifically, this was used as a informal formative assessment that was accompanied by class discussion and questions. For instance, I played a video on Rutherford's gold foil experiment to show the students a visual of how Rutherford conducted his experiment and envisioned the particles moving in his head from the observations he made (8.i.2). Powerpoint presentations were used to connect student activities to the content knowledge through questioning and asking for students to discuss their results and analyze them to make evaluative statements about the science.

|| ED 405 - authentic assessment || [|photo_(8).jpg] [|photo_(11).jpg] || WIAT Assessment || || Acids and bases graph making lesson || || CTC Inclusion Innovative Unit || [|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-65UJ__qztI] || 451, 404 Expeditionary Learning Paper Expeditionary Learning movie I made || [|DSC00437.JPG] [|DSC00433.JPG] || East High choice assessment (last page of easthighacidrainlab packet) || [|DSC00231.JPG] [|DSC00235.JPG] [|DSC00249.JPG] [|DSC00263.JPG] || SWW investigations || [|IMG_1628_2.jpg] [|Picture_1.png] [|IMG_1605_2.JPG] [|IMG_0980.JPG] [|IMG_0993.JPG] [|IMG_1567_2.JPG] //<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; border-collapse: collapse; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-style: normal; padding-right: 10px;">[|STARS Blue Team Video] // [|Picture_9.png] [|Picture_1.png] [|DSC07434.JPG] || Get Real Science camp STARS innovative || [|DSC00433.JPG] [|DSC00437.JPG] || East high acid rain || || ED 405 authentic assessment || [|DSC07670.JPG] || SWW biomes || [|photo_(9).jpg] [|photo_(8).jpg] || Shoes assessment || [|DSC00568.JPG] [|DSC00437.JPG] || Formal assessments || [|DSC07611.JPG] || SWW adaptations || [|DSC00433.JPG] [|DSC00437.JPG] || Acids differentiated assessment ||
 * **EVIDENCE #** || **EMBEDDED OR LINKED OBJECT** || **DESCRIPTION** ||
 * 8.a.1 || [[file:20100608-405AssessmentEvalCritique-KSchulz.doc]] || WIAT Assessment ||
 * 8.a.2 || [[file:20100615-Rubric-Jmonaco.doc]]
 * 8.b.1 || [[file:20100628-ED405Part3-MSaunders.doc]]
 * 8.b.2 || [|DSC00579.JPG]
 * 8.b.3 || [[file:20100504-ED452InclusionInnovativeUnit3-MSaunders.doc]]
 * 8.b.4 || [[file:20100327-EastHighAcidRainLab-MSaunders.doc]] || Directions with pictures and demo ||
 * 8.c.1 || [[file:20100608-405AssessmentEvalCritique-KSchulz.doc]] || Reliability and validity (WIAT) ||
 * 8.c.2 || [|DSC00589.JPG] || Student practice ||
 * 8.d.1 || [[file:20100617-ED405CC-MSaunders.doc]] || Critical Commentary on Rubrics and assessments ||
 * 8.d.1a || [[file:20100811-ED451FinalPaper-MSaunders.doc]]
 * 8.d.2 || [[file:20100608-405AssessmentEvalCritique-KSchulz.doc]] || WIAT paper- reliability and validity ||
 * 8.d.3 || [[file:20091119-STARSQswithObjective-MSaunders.doc]] || STARS choice assessment ||
 * 8.d.4 || [|DSC00588.JPG]
 * 8.e.a1 || [[file:20100520-ED405CC1-MSaunders.doc]] || Critical Commentary on standardized assessments ||
 * 8.e.1 || [|DSC00187.JPG]
 * 8.e.2 || [|IMG_0986.JPG]
 * 8.e.3 || [|DSC00419.JPG]
 * 8.e.4 || [[file:20100615-Rubric-Jmonaco.doc]]
 * 8.e.5 || [|DSC07468.JPG]
 * 8.e.6 || [|photo_(10).jpg]
 * 8.f.1 || [|DSC00412_2.JPG] || Informal assessments ||
 * 8.f.2 || [|DSC00419.JPG]
 * 8.g.1 || [|DSC07607.JPG]
 * 8.g.2 || [|DSC00419.JPG]
 * 8.g.3 || [] || Joe and Erin Rap ||
 * 8.h.1 || [[image:http://www.wikispaces.com/i/mime/32/application/msword.png height="32" link="http://comprehensiveportfolio-msaunders.wikispaces.com/file/view/Megan+Saunders+let+of+rec.doc"]] [|Megan Saunders let of rec.doc] || Jim Davidson Letter of Rec ||
 * 8.i.1 || [|DSC00419.JPG] || Vernier pH probes ||
 * 8.i.2 || <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding-right: 10px;">[] || Rutherford Goldfoil experiment (youtube) ||