Assessment Presentation

This presentation about Assessment was really informative. I think that it included a good amount of history without talking too much during the presentation. I think the media used to enhance your points was rich and provided some leading questions as to how we feel and what we think about testing and assessment in general. I enjoyed the background of testing and the history of the SATs as well as information on the NCLB (No Child Left Behind). Although most of the presentation was focused on testing, I really liked that you mentioned as well as your activities included and allowed for formative and summative assessments. I began to wonder about what happens when you have someone or a large amount of people who are not only highly educated but are pursuing an educational career and they cannot pass the tests that are needed in order to fulfill their goals or career? In so many cases, and in that of one of my good friends, she changed her major and left the University of Farmington because she had taken the praxis over 6 times and could not pass. We may have just lost one of the great educators for our schools all because of a test.

Students have begun, as the presentation mentioned, learning the answers and not the process simply due to the fact that teachers are grading on the final answer not how students got there or the work they may have done. The final activity was neat. It showed the good and bad points to standardized testing as well as good and bad assessment. I really hope that in the future we have many more teachers who feel as strongly, as this class does, against standardized testing and promotes good or “awesome” assessments for their students. I want to believe that the next generation of teachers will change the way not only our students learn but the way in which our future unfolds. Great job guys!