Standardized and Authentic Assessments - Essay Example

Standardized and Authentic Assessments Author Name: Institutional Affiliation: The primary goal of pedagogy is to transfer knowledge down from teachers to learners. Learning is relative thus students do follow similar procedures to learn a new concept. This leads to the variation in the conceptualization of ideas and consequently the variation in performance. Best practice among teachers is a requisite for any viable pedagogical exercise. Assessment plays a central role in determining how best learning can take place. Students can be assessed at the beginning or end of the teaching exercise. The essence of assessment is to find out what students can do or what they know so as to show growth and inform instruction (Carrasquillo, Kucer & Abrams, 2004). Assessment serves as evidence that the student has learnt as they perform real life tasks. Teachers must know which teaching method is suitable for their classes. According to Burke (2009), assessments serve the following three roles: source of information for both students and teachers, enables teachers to deliver high quality corrective measures and give students a second chance to improve on their abilities. This paper addresses standardized method of assessment and the authentic assessment as tools for teacher’s best practices. A teacher must first assess their students so as to establish how best each student should be taught. This happens before choosing the method for teaching a certain class. The two basic types of assessment are: formal/standardized assessment and informal/authentic assessment. Standardized assessment involves giving students forms tests which could be taken from curriculum textbooks or set by the teachers. Through these assessments, a teacher can determine the best criteria for teaching certain students. Informal assessment involves a teacher looking at a learner’s interests. Universally, it is every teacher’s goal to see their students excel. The teacher must have been with the learners for quite some time for her to determine the method that best suits the class. The age of the learners becomes crucial in determining the method to be used in pedagogy. Assessment is also dependent on the method of teaching. Young children are assessed using different criterion from that used with students in higher learning cathedrals. Assessment helps the teacher to choose the best method of teaching a certain class of students. The data obtained from the assessment exercise is used to devise ways of improving a student’s achievement. A brill teacher plans her teaching in line with the method of teaching chosen. Teachers need to understand the education challenges before developing action plans for their students. The lecturing method of teaching is preferred by many educators. However, this fails to work when dealing with young children. Most teachers find convenient to use the direct instruction method as it enables them to cover a lot of work within a short duration. Young children need a hands-on method of teaching hence the direct instruction method utterly fails to work with them. Besides, it may be hard for teachers to pass information to learners with variegated learning abilities. This calls for teachers to plan effectively before they can start dispensing their duties. Assessment is an indispensable tool for a teacher. S/he can measure a student’s criticality in grasping concepts and general application in the real world situation (Herrington, Reeves & Oliver, 2010). As part of planning, a teacher must lay down assessment criteria based on the mode of teaching. For students in higher cadres of learning who want to practice problem solving and critical thinking, the inquiry based mode of learning becomes acutely instrumental. The inquiry based method of learning is student centered and student directed. Teachers are able to use it all levels of learning. This is vital for teachers who want to use standardized and authentic assessment to reinforce a student’s art of learning. Teachers may opt to use the cooperative method to promote learning among students. Students are grouped together regardless of their ability. Discussion questions are the dispatched to the respective groups to assess whether any learning is taking place. In this case, teachers need to monitor the groups closely to ensure that the students remain focused on what they are doing. Both formal and informal assessments are used so as to take care of all students in any group. Based on the feedback from the assessment exercise, a teacher can improve and promote learning among students with different capabilities. Standardized assessments provide weak students with a second chance to improve on their weakness. In the long run, students are able to realize their potential and the opportunities they can exploit. A teacher must always ensure that the information disseminated to the student is well processed by the students. This calls for well stipulated information processing procedures. It is common knowledge that not all teachers can translate a student’s data into useful information. There is a need to for teachers to be guided in matters pertaining to student data interpretation and translation. For a teacher to be in a position of improving students’ performance, an understanding of student data is a requisite. A teacher should be able to draw meaningful conclusions from the assessment results. Students need to understand the teaching methods and the assessment criteria for them to make the most out their studies. For the teacher to ensure that the information learnt is well processed, and then the students must be effectively assessed. The learning method should enable them memorize what they have learned so as to be able to apply the concepts outside the classrooms. Students should be able to see facts and concepts for effective learning. Nonetheless, applying a combination of teaching and assessing criteria enables children to stay free from boredom and anxiety. Standardized assessments, as aforementioned, involve formal tests. These tests are taken either from the course books or are teacher tailored to gauge the students’ learning abilities. The conditions for administering these tests are similar for all students. Consistency is what characterizes standardized assessments. This consistency enables for comparisons to done for all students taking the test. The tests are administered to large groups of students to measure their academic repertoire and prowess. These tests are administered in a narrative approach. Aptitude tests and assessments can also be standardized so as to be used to make predictions on how a test taker is likely to perform subsequently. This mainly tests the test taker’s skills and fitness for a given job or endeavour. Standardized assessment criteria are used to define the differences and similarities among test takers in an objective manner. There are two types of standardized assessments. These are: norm-referenced tests and criterion-referenced tests. These tests are commonly useful among young children of the preschool age. This is because it is not easy to predict a young child’s behavior. Norm-referenced tests are used to gauge a child’s understanding by comparing it with that of another. Teachers then compare how the student performs relative to another student who had done the same test. Criterion-referenced tests are used to measure an individual’s performance in working to achieve certain laid down objectives. The major undoing with the criterion-referenced tests is that they cannot be used to determine a child’s repertoire and reading skills (Smith & Roe, 2011). Value added assessments are used to reinforce learning. The value added assessments tend to sum up one’s academic growth and development. The example of standardized assessment that follows can be used to expound on what constitutes standardized assessments. A science teacher enters the class and gives her students five questions from the previous topic. The test is impromptu but standardized. The students are given half an hour to answer the questions and respond back to the teacher. When the time has elapsed, the teacher tells the students to stop and hand in their work. How effective is this mode of testing to the teacher and the students? The test helps the teacher in measuring the different levels of understanding and retention capacities of the students. From the responses the students give, she can point out each student’s strengths and weaknesses. Before proceeding to the next topic, she can then get back to the students and direct them accordingly. This serves as an eye opener to the students as it will enable them realize their strong and weak points. This fits in the assessment cycle since the questions given to the students are taken from the curriculum that is followed when teaching the students. It is the same curriculum that will be used to test the students at the end of the course. Hence the teacher’s assessment is relevant to the assessment cycle. Authentic assessments are informal in the general sense. It involves group activities such as projects, experiments, demonstrations and/or oral presentations. These assessments may be drawn from classroom activities such as assignments, essays, journals and reports among other activities. In this assessment, the teacher may stop midway as he teaches, just to observe or to discuss a point with the students just to see whether learning has been taking place. Authentic assessment is ongoing and informative in approach. Teachers are able to use the information collected to determine which students are hard working and which ones are not. Because of the ongoing and informative nature of authentic assessment, teachers find it to be the most effective to use (Keier & Johnson, 2010). Authentic assessments provide information about the knowledge that a child can construct. Teachers are to monitor a child’s development over time. A kindergarten teacher who uses psychometric assessment for her pupils is a paradigm for authentic assessment. The teacher asks the pupils to draw the parts of the human body and their functions. She goes round to see what each pupil has drawn and then asks for the function it performs. This helps her gauge the pupils’ psychology and their general knowledge. At another point, she asks the pupils to say their interest and hobbies. Some pupils find it enjoyable to talk about themselves. They freely talk about their interests. Based on each pupil’s interest, the teacher is then able to decide which method to use when teaching the pupils. The pupils also gets increase their interest when they are taught along their interest lines. Another candid assessment is, when a teacher asks a question at the end of the lesson to assess the students’ understanding of that day’s topic. The question mostly asked is; “any question”? If the students do not ask any questions, then the teacher asks clarification question so as to ascertain that the students understood the topic. The assessment criteria discussed above have been criticized for decades. It can be said that the standardized assessments, for example, lack in cultural appropriateness. There exists some prejudice when it comes to the relevance of what is learned and tested. Different cultures have different perspectives on certain aspects of history. The narrative approach of giving tests may not be the best for learners in subjects such as Mathematics. It is strenuous to read a comprehension and then answer a math problem! It is also likely that teachers will only concentrate on those subjects that are to be tested and ignore other disciplines. Standardized tests make the test takers emphasize on recall of concepts and facts instead of thinking towards problem solving (Woolfolk, 2006). The standardized assessments do give a learner’s significant achievements. This does not give a true refection of a student’s understanding of key concepts. Authentic assessments do not allow for easy comparison among students. Authentic assessments lack information on generalizability to other contextual data. This works against the teacher’s best practices in the field of pedagogy. In the context of early childhood assessments, standardized assessment becomes ineffective as it does not inform instruction. The curriculum based approach that is used under the standardized assessment criteria may not fit well in determining a child’s problem, for example (Lidz, 2003). Children at the age of four years require a hands-on approach for them to remain active in what they are doing. Close monitoring is a prerequisite in teaching and developing the child’s knowledge. These children at the age of four years can best be assessed through things that they interact with in their environment. In conclusion, for effective learning to be realized in any pedagogical endeavour, teachers must understand how best to teach their students. Assessment is a vital tool for a teacher who may want to know how teach a certain class of students. For best practice in the teaching fraternity, teachers must know and understand their students before teaching them. This calls for guidance among teachers in matters pertaining to student data interpretation and translation. The data from the assessment exercise is translated into priorities, goals and strategies. This helps in improving a student’s performance. Emphasis is laid on the student’s interests and preferences so to know exactly how to teach that student. Through assessment, a teacher can know the different levels of understanding among students. Standardized assessments provide ground for students to memorize facts and concepts. This, however, does not inculcate critical thinking skills in students hence it has been criticized for decades. Authentic assessment becomes preferable due to its ongoing and informative approach in measuring a student’s abilities. It informs different constructs of knowledge hence it is preferred in levels such as the early childhood development. References Burke, K. (2009). How to Assess Authentic Learning. New York, NY: Corwin Press. Carrasquillo, A., Kucer, S. B. & Abrams, R. (2004). Beyond the Beginnings: Literacy Interventions for Upper Elementary English Language Learners. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.  Herrington, J. Reeves, T. C. & Oliver, R. (2010). A Guide to Authentic E-Learning. London: Taylor & Francis. Keier, K. & Johnson, P. (2010). Catching Readers before They Fall: Supporting Readers Who Struggle, K-4. Portland: Stenhouse Publishers. Lidz, C. S. (2003). Early Childhood Assessment. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. Smith, S. H. & Roe, B. D. (2011). Teaching Reading in Today's Elementary Schools. Stamford: Cengage Learning. Woolfolk, A. E. (2006). Educational Psychology: Oxford: Pearson College Division. Read More