Standard 6
Assessment
The teacher understands and uses multiple methods of assessment to engage learners in their own growth, to monitor learner progress, and to guide the teacher’s and learner’s decision making.
Performance
6(d) The teacher engages learners in understanding and identifying quality work and provides them with effective descriptive feedback to guide their progress toward that work.
During the Argumentative Writing Workshop Unit, I used a combination of summative and formative assessment to determine student progress and understanding. For this particular standard I have selected the reflection portion of activity 1. The reflection students wrote at the end of the activity asked them to compare and contrast the initial class essay they created and the finished polished version.
I feel that their reflection provides sufficient evidence that I have met, Standard 6's "The teacher engages learners in understanding and identifying quality work and provides them with effective descriptive feedback to guide their progress toward their work" 6(d). The reflection allowed students to analyze two pieces of work and determine what made the exemplary essay exemplary as well as what was missing from the first draft of the class essay. For many of my students I provided descriptive feedback, to help guide their understanding. For example, one student response said, "...the essay flowed better. The first is choppy." I wrote back, "what exactly does the first paper have that the other essay missed? What contributes to "flow"? In my classroom I allow students to redo their formative assessments. For that particular student, he revised his reflection and added, "The final essay flowed better because it had more transitions. The first essay had no transitions, so it sounded choppy."
I have included several reflections, that provided in depth analysis between the qualities of the essays.
Performance
6(g) The teacher effectively uses multiple and appropriate types of assessment data to identify each student’s learning needs and to develop differentiated learning experiences.
For Unit 2: Challenge of Utopia my students were required to read a science fiction novel. I allowed my students to choose one of two novels, The Giver or Fahrenheit 451. In order to keep track of their reading, evidence, and make deeper connections I had my students complete double-entry journals with their reading. The double entry journal would allow me to track student progress, ensure they collecting evidence (with required entries, geared toward helping them with their final assessment), and gauge student comprehension.
After receiving the first batch of double-entry journals I could see that several students were struggling with comprehension. From the data I received from the formative assessment, I designed my next lesson to directly deal with comprehension during reading. In my next lesson, I implemented the "Say Something" strategy to increase reading comprehension and make certain students were reading attentively. When the following double-journals were turned in, there were significant improvements.
I continue to use formative assessments such as double-entry journals. The assessments helped me make educational decisions such as determining if we should move forward or spend a little more time in certain areas. They provide teachers with the necessary information to decide the pace and strategies needed for individual students and classes.