Learn to Love Assessments

As a student who thrives when it comes to writing assessments, it was helpful for me to be reminded in this article that not all students benefit from this kind of assessment. For example, in the instance of Heidi Murphy's cooperating teacher, she administers objective tests at the end of each unit (which meet the learning styles and needs of many of her students). Although Heidi wishes to employ alternative testing, it should be noted that her cooperating teaching is choosing what is best for her classroom. That's not to say that both methods of testing couldn't be used intermittently (or even simultaneously). I've watched my mentor teacher include both kinds of testing within one test at times and at other times use either a written test or an objective test.

In the instance of written assessments, it is important to devise scoring rubrics. This is something I found valuable not only in the handout, but in my experiences as an Education major. It's a way of being fair in developing expectations for students. Without a rubric, students have no way of knowing the grading scale and how they have a chance to be successful with the assessment. As Beach points out in the text, it is also important to outline the difference between "proficient" and "exemplary," for example (232). Something I have found incredibly helpful, especially in the literature classes that I have taken, is when the professor shows an example of an essay or other writing assessment that scored a 4 on a scale of 1-4. As a student in high school, I barely glanced at rubrics. In fact, I thought they were just a waste of paper. After taking some particularly challenging classes in college, however, I realized just how much of a difference having a rubric can make. My grades improved as I started using rubrics because I viewed them as insight into the teacher/professor's thought process in creating and assigning work.