What is the role of assessment in teaching and learning?

(My best friend Ryan and I in 8th grade) 

What is the role of assessment in teaching and learning?

RESEARCH: 

    This week we were assigned A LOT of work. I think that it was beneficial though. We had to do different FIP modules on introducing formative instructional practices, Creating clear learning targets, collecting and documenting evidence, and Analyzing student evidence and providing effective feedback. We have spent the last few semesters learning how to create an informative yet instructive classroom that these modules added to our knowledge (at least mine). Creating clear learning targets has been a major topic this semester in all classes that are education-based. We as teachers need to be able to create clear, student language, and a clear understanding of learning targets that foster everything the students are going to be able to do at the end of the lesson. For example: I can... analyze and describe the different types of governments and their roles in society. This shows what I want the students to know after my lesson but also shows what they need to be able to do at the end of my lesson. My biggest takeaway from the FIP modules is we need to be indepth with students whether that be with feedback, assessments, or with their learning targets. We also need to ensure we are giving students effective feedback that they can use to better their work and understand why they may have missed the question or the points. For this week's module, we also had to read an article titled "Take a Deeper Look at Assessment for Understanding". I specifically liked this article because it brought in the parent's perspective and how we can show them what their children's academic strengths and weaknesses may be. 

Field Placement: 

    At Dominion, I feel as if the assessments in my classroom are used as an understanding checkpoint. These assessments can range from weekly warm-up questions to journal work to final quizzes. Today specifically (Thursday, October 16), students had to take a final summative assessment based on everything they learned in the unit. I personally think that using a summative with younger ages can be beneficial but also has its own issues. They can use everything they learned in this unit in the real world when it comes to reading maps, figuring out what seasons it may be across the world, and analyzing the differences between locations. 

Personal Connection: 

To answer the question "What is the role of assessment in teaching and learning", I think that our role is to measure understanding, provide feedback, set learning goals, and guide students through the lessons information. I also personally think that it encourages reflection on what they have learned, how they can do better, and if they are prepared enough to take the assessment. When I was in middle school, I saw assessments as something the teachers were using as a punishment towards us (obviously not lol, I just hated taking tests and quizzes). I know they needed to see what we had learned but I felt we were never provided feedback. Instead, it felt like teachers skipped over everything and just moved on to the next unit instead of reviewing questions that were most missed or even returning the test to see what we got wrong. I do remember teachers having learning targets on the boards and using "I can" statements but I don't remember them staying on top of changing the I can statements regularly. Maybe I was not observant but I can remember one teacher not changing theirs for at least 2 weeks at a time. 

Future Classroom: 

    Obviously in my classroom, I want to ensure I give students a clear image of what they are going to be learning, provide clear but effective feedback, and documentation of how they are progressing. I can ensure students understand what the outcome of the lesson is by writing the "I can" statements on the board and going over them at the beginning of class. I can also return to the statement at the end of the class to see if the students met what was required. I can also provide effective feedback on assessments by writing physical notes, having meetings with them, or providing highlighted notes on the computer (if this is an option). This can provide them feedback that they need to see to reflect on why they missed the points. I can also do something like we do in class as in I can have the students write back to the feedback so they can reflect on my questions or points that I have based on their work. I also want students to be able to see their progress so they have a sort of motivational feeling and can see they are doing better. I don't exactly know how I can do this right now but it is just a thought that I have lol.