I personally believe…

When it comes to assessment I felt that they chapter was informative in some areas but not in all. The overall theme of teachers holding responsibilities is something that I highly agree with. Being that the teacher is the one who comes into the most contact with the student it would be impossible to conclude that they have no connection in terms of responsibility when it comes to assessment. However, just because they are an essential link between students and assessments doesn’t mean that they are the only people with responsibilities.

For instance, one of the sections that I had a problem with was the section on choosing assessment procedures. While it is important for teachers to take some responsibilities and consider what type of assessment there are times when the choice is out of the teacher’s hands. In taking away their choice their responsibilities are taken away as well. One of the specifics that the chapter gives is that “publication does not always guarantee quality.” While I agree with this statement I disagree that it is placed under a larger subtopic connected with responsibility. Certain standardized tests are mandated to be given and a teacher has no control of if it is given and whether or not it is quality. While to a certain degree they can prepare their students in other aspects they cannot due to the fact that many test such as the regents the actual questions are kept secret until the day they are given. Past regents can be used as practices but question type and how hard said test is can always vary. There is always a level of mystery that it is out of the control and responsibility of the teacher.

One of the sections that I did agree with was the section on scoring assessments in reference to feedback. I liked how the chapter emphasized that providing feedback is essential. Giving back an assignment to a student marked just with what is wrong is irresponsible because it doesn’t provide the student with the opportunity to learn from their mistakes. To be a responsible teacher one must either explain on the assignment or in person what they student did wrong. If the student has a question it is the responsibility of the teacher to answer it for the entire class or in a personal conference. When it comes to providing feedback on the actual assignment I feel that teacher should provide it but with caution. Give the essential feedback and then allow for students to seek deeper explanations in person. To “make the paper bleed” with an excess of mark ups may cause the student to feel overwhelmed and give up because there is just to many items to fix.

Another aspect of the chapter that I liked was that it provided a section on student responsibilities. I liked that this was included because while the responsibilities of the teacher those of the students are just as important. It is the responsibility of the teacher to prepare the students for the test by letting them know what will be on it, when it will be, and what is expected of it. However, it is the students’ responsibility to take this information and prepare themselves though studying. Especially as students progress into higher grade levels I think that it important to provide students with more responsibilities since they are growing into adults and will soon be facing the real world and true responsibilities.

Although there are broad rules for assessment that need to be addressed I feel that in most situations scenarios need to be looked at case by case since no two teachers are going to be the same nor are two students or school districts going to be the same. What works in one instance may be completely wrong for another. I think that it is the responsibility of the teacher to do all they can to meet the needs of their students and their individual school distract first and then expand their thoughts to a larger picture. Teachers need to know and understand what is expected of them and meet those needs while working with those around them.