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Knowledge on Assessment
Knowledge on Assessment
Abstract
Assessment in school is very important because of the fact that it informs the student, the teacher and the parents about fulfillment of set goals and outcomes, especially on teaching and learning. Despite the fact that assessment has a lot of significance, it has certain weaknesses that may cause misinformation and depict the teacher and student wrongly. In assessment, there are chances of inaccuracy and this is caused by various factors including the time of giving the assessment and qualification of the assessor. Assessors must understand that inaccuracies or bias might occur and should know how to adjust when this happens. There are several strengths and weakness in terms of diagnosing and assessing special students and their needs. This paper will look at the above aspects.
Introduction
Assessment can be described as many divergent ways that the current level of a student can be better understood. It means that the review can be as complex as a standardized test, which can last up to five hours or as simple as a subjective decision by the teacher based on a single performance observation on the students. The current knowledge idea implies that a students current knowledge level is constantly changing and based on that judgments can be made on the students achievements mainly through long-time comparison. The assessments often affect advancement, grades, curriculum, instructional needs and placement decisions.
1) Discuss the value of assessment and the weaknesses of assessment
The values of assessment of a student include the fact that through the evaluation process, it can be determined whether the child is eligible for enrolling or is in need for special education. New and appropriate objectives and goals can also be derived from the assessment process, which will effectively comply with Individuals with Disability in Education Acts (IDEA) guidelines that have stated thirteen different disability categories that if a student falls under them, he or she may be found eligible to receive services. The weakness of assessment to a student include aspects like the testing may be biased, especially the standardized tests example on the IDEA evaluation and assessment procedures have to be given in the students typical mode of communication or the childs native language. There is a debate, however, that the assessment cannot hinder the tests accuracy based on disabling conditions, racial factors or cultural background. In addition, researchers have warned against the use of qualifying learning disability by use of only standardized testing because there is a tendency exhibited by the non-learning disabled students of demonstrating discrepancies between intellectual ability and academic performance (Stiggins, Arter, Chappuis & Chappuis, 2006).
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2. Discuss student outcomes in terms of inaccurate assessment results.
In terms of inaccurate student assessment results, the outcome of implication on them would include the notion of them as having learning disabilities, as stated by the results conducted by a teacher, parents or members of school staff. With these inaccurate evaluations, those using building academic programs, which are based on fears, hopes and emotions rather than on the subject objectivity, will serve the students. An accurate and unbiased assessment is vital to the correct course foundation of the correct course instruction mainly on the aspect of proper actions to take regarding the students progress, which is often contradicted within the wrong assessment of results. Those not properly trained or credentialed, and those who offer biased assessments based on disability of students culture contribute to the yielding of inaccurate results and such acts are considered illegal. An example is the 1970 case of Diana vs. Californian state, which brought out wrong assessment of Spanish children as being retarded and some getting placed in special schools for extended periods when the issue was that the tests were provided only in English, which many children were not understanding (Wright, 2009).
3) What would cause inaccurate assessment results?
The main cause of inaccurate assessment results could be attributed to many factors like the aspect of linguistics, mainly between the test modalities and students. In addition, it may come from those who hold and maintain a biased belief on the performance of the students through their various held and structured observations. The reference frame possessed by students of foreign descent may also cause the inaccurate results since they may understand English language enough to answer the questions but their answers structuring may affect the test outcome. In cases where a child has been evaluated as having an above the average intellectual ability, his or her reading level indicates a below grade level average performance. The parents and school personnel may think that the student is unmotivated or lazy and is inclined to study because of pressure to learn or improve. Despite all the efforts of the student, the initial biased ideals of educational professionals, who labeled the child as lazy, do not understand dyslexia condition they have since their initial diagnosis of the students condition was inaccurate.
4) How would you know if a test is biased? What adjustments could be made if it were known that test results were the consequence of bias?
To know whether an assessment is biased, it is necessary first to review the evaluator to determine its key components before the beginning by picking out the appropriate tests. This process would help them understand the assessments limitations and relevant parameters that the test seeks to address. The appropriate steps which are to be implemented, if the assessment results were compromised, would include careful review and planning of the entire evaluation process embedded with informal and formal assessment that would extend its reaches across all familial, intellectual domains. In addition another appropriate plan of action would include extension of school personnel (Atkin, Black & Coffey, 2001).
5) What are your strengths and weaknesses in terms of diagnosing and assessing special students and their needs?
In terms of realizing of strengths involved in assessing and diagnosing special students and their needs, I realize that more experience in terms of procedures and intellectual testing protocols is necessary. Prior experience as an attache for an occupational therapist provided a much-needed experience to administer and learn evaluation designed to assess sensory, motor and discrepancies in the visual motor skills. These standardized tests provided composite and subtest scores and standard deviations that are similar to IQ results. As part of the multidisciplinary team, I can provide information in the basic interpretation of the IQ results and knowledge, as the special education teacher based on the school psychologists reports. The experience gained while interpreting IQ tests and proficiency in the administration are some of the key aspects that helped me in the development. In terms of weaknesses, different contexts need different assessment techniques and this is a challenge. Secondly, avoiding inaccuracy or bias could be difficult if an assessment is mandatory and is meant for a group of people that may include a member who is new to a given program (Stiggins, Arter, Chappuis, J. & Chappuis, S. 2006).
In conclusion, the assessment process plays a key role in the students learning process and the way the teachers teach. In this understanding, realization that different kinds of assessments can be effective in their application since not everything revolves around exams and results. They involve countless ways of analyzing the students educational needs at specific classes, subjects, ofsted levels and school while also combining various data analysis methods. Complete school self-assessment has become an integral part in school management since it is used as a central tool for reviewing different pupil groups performance, mainly in different national exams, subjects, age mates and peers across the country.
