Assessment

As a result of the standardized reform movement, assessment data has been used to influence rewards and punishment rather than to drive teacher instruction. If differentiated instruction is going to work, a teacher must also differentiate his or her assessments.

Before reading Chapter 4, reflect on your educational experiences with assessments and answer the following questions:

• When you think about assessments, what do they remind you of?
• How did they make you feel?
• Were you ever given options to show what you had learned? Explain.

Now read Chapter 4 and the following video titled What is Differentiated Assessment? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvzRcArujOU You can also read the video transcript.

Based on your reading and the video,

• What should be the purpose of assessments? Explain diagnostic/pre-assessment, formative assessment, and summative assessment in your own words.

• How do these three types of assessments work together to improve student learning? Give an example of how you might use all three to teach a unit on a particular subject.

• Explain the difference between grading and assessment. When is it appropriate for assessments to be graded and when is it not? Provide evidence to support your opinion.

Be sure to use the text to support your opinions.

Carefully review the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate this Discussion Thread.

Book: Sousa, D. A. & Tomlinson, C. A. (2011). Differentiation and the brain: How neuroscience supports the learner-friendly classroom. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

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