Standards
We discussed the NCTM Standards that were outlined in the 1995 document addressing assessment. There are 6 standards, and I found the openness one very interesting. The standards say that the assessment process should be open in all aspects: students should know what they are being assessed about, teachers should know what students expect, students should know how they're doing in the class and receive feedback about what they have done. It's interesting that this is a standard because too often teachers give tests without any indication of what they're actually assessing. As a teacher, I will do my best to uphold this openness standards. It's very important for students to know what they're being assessed on and know how they're doing in the mathematics classroom.
Assessment Task
We looked at a task that was given to a 6th grade math class to assess their knowledge about fractions. After looking at the solutions and the reasoning behind their answers, it's clear that these students needed more instruction about fractions. Tasks like this, as opposed to traditional tests, can really show teachers what their students know. It required answers and explanations. It also required creating an example like the task they began with. The teacher also interviewed some of the students that worked in groups and listened to their reasoning and explanation for their solution. Teachers can learn so much about students' understanding by using tasks like this on a regular basis. This information also helps with lesson planning in addition to grading. I've never thought of assessments as a task, but after exploring this task, I think they are a great way to assess students and gather a lot of important information.
Well, I head back to Eastern Montgomery High School tomorrow to start observing and planning for my student teaching! I'm very excited, a little nervous, and ready to start teaching!
