Student Assessments Name of the Student Instructor Institution Date Professional Development Session Outline Assessments are a critical way of knowing how the students are fairing in knowledge ...

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Student Assessments
Name of the Student
Instructor
Institution
Date
Professional Development Session Outline
Assessments are a critical way of knowing how the students are fairing in knowledge acquisition. Teachers use various assessments to understand different metrics of students' understanding of the concepts taught. The following are some of the different assessment types used to measure student achievements, challenges to the assessments, and appropriate solutions to identified challenges:
Diagnostic Assessments
Diagnostic assessments are used in the classroom to understand students' level of knowledge and the gaps in a particular learning area. They include short quizzes, student reflections, and discussions in the classroom that help an educator gauge knowledge levels. They are also used to benchmark the progress of the student. Diagnostic assessments, however, might not be considered true assessments. It is also time-consuming as the educator must strive to understand each student's level of knowledge. It might also lead to anxiety for students unaware of such assessments (Hu et al., 2018).
The challenges of the assessment make it hard for it to be very effective in understanding the knowledge levels of the student. Educators should thus communicate such tests to their students before administering them. That eliminates anxiety as the students understand what the assessments are for and provide accurate information on their levels of knowledge about particular topics. It is also important to focus on general diagnostic assessments, such as short quizzes that many students can do simultaneously. That reduces the time needed for such assessments.
Formative assessments
They are mostly carried out at the end of units. They help the educator understand the level of student understanding as they teach. It thus helps them analyze their teaching strategies and change accordingly. It tracks the growth in students' knowledge and intellectual changes in the classroom over time. Formative assessments include quizzes and feedback on projects, portfolios, group work, and class discussions. It is important to keep the formative tests short and easy to understand (Alt, 2018).
The benefits of the assessment are that it allows the tutor to alter their teaching techniques to get the best results. It also engages the students in learning, enhancing their comprehension of class concepts. Formative assessments are, however, disadvantageous in that they are time-consuming. For instance, the educator must grade and review each student's assessment and provide feedback. To deal with the issues related to the formative assessments, educators have to ensure that they make the assessments easy to understand for students and mark. That will ensure that they have less workload at the same time, understand the levels of knowledge of each student. If done well, the formative assessments improve academic achievement, motivate students to learn, and create personalized learning experiences.
Summative assessments
Summative assessments are used to understand student learning after a unit. The assessments are used to evaluate the student's skill acquisition and academic achievement. They include assignments and projects that determine whether the student has learned as expected at the end of the unit. The summative assessments are often recorded as grades or scores and are factored into the student's academic records. Some well-known assessments include end-of-semester examinations, end-of-unit tests, and standardized tests that evaluate the overall understanding of eth student at the end of a unit.
Summative assessments have challenges in that they might demote individuals instead of motivating them to learn. Those that fail the tests are likely to e less motivated to achieve better. The assessments might also be disruptive as they might be stressful to most students. They also fail to provide a perfect gauge of student understanding (Alt, 2018). To deal with the challenges, preparing students for the assessments is necessary. Preparing students includes telling them to set dates for tests and the units that will be covered in a test. That allows them to be well prepared for the tests and gain more understanding as they prepare for the tests. It is also necessary to have opportunities for students that perform poorly to improve on the results of their assessments. It eliminates instances of learning demoralization.
Resource Handout
Digital/Online
They are resources that are available over the internet. They include the following:
OER Project Teacher Community: https://community.oerproject.com/w/planning-resources/155/arizonaState Resources
Arizona Online Instruction Program: https://azsbe.az.gov/resources/arizona-online-instructionAlternative Educator Preparation Programs: https://www.azed.gov/titlei/epp/Journal Articles
Hrastinski, S. (2021). Digital tools to support teacher professional development in lesson studies: a systematic literature review. International Journal for Lesson & Learning Studies, 10(2), 138-149. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJLLS-09-2020-0062The article provides educators with insight on digital tools that they could use for professional development. It includes a literature review of recent tools used in education and how tutors utilize each of the tools. They include the use of audio visual tools, animation and complimentary videos to aid in classroom delivery of lessons.
Norcini, J., Anderson, M. B., Bollela, V., Burch, V., Costa, M. J., Duvivier, R., ... & Swanson, D. (2018). 2018 Consensus framework for good assessment. Medical teacher, 40(11), 1102-1109. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2018.1500016The authors discuss on the most appropriate assessment methods for students. They show that here are single assessment methods that could perfectly evaluate learning. They recognize the challenges in the implementation of assessment methods. They offer recommendations such as the increase in diversity of candidates and programs and legal defensibility for assessments.
Books
Estrellado, R. A. (2022). The K-12 Educator’s Data Guidebook: Reimagining Practical Data Use in Schools. Routledge.
Mandinach, E. B., & Gummer, E. S. (2016). Data literacy for educators: Making it count in teacher preparation and practice. Teachers College Press.
Peterson, J. (2022). Teach Like a Champion 3.0: 63 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College. Principia: A Journal of Classical Education, 1(1), 119-123.
References
Alt, D. (2018). Teachers’ practices in science learning environments and their use of formative and summative assessment tasks. Learning Environments Research, 21, 387-406. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10984-018-9259-zHu, Y., Wu, B., & Gu, X. (2018). Learning analysis of K-12 students’ online problem solving: a three-stage assessment approach. In Learning Analytics (pp. 120-138). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429428500-10/learning-analysis-12-students-online-problem-solving-three-stage-assessment-approach-yiling-hu-bian-wu-xiaoqing-gu