What is your definition of assessment? How do you determine lesson objectives on which an assessment is based?

     

  

(Strobel Education, 2023) 


 Assessment is a broad term that can include a number of activities and data collection tools. These tools can include observations, exams, and observation of student’s responses or discussions (Watson, 2019). Most teachers in my district use lesson objectives based upon state developed benchmarks and objectives which spell out the requirements for specific tests and are tied to standardized assessments. For my Honors Biology course, I use an end-of-course assessment test item specification guide which is also used to develop the end of course exam (Florida Department of Education, 2012).  I turn these into more student friendly “I can” statements, but make sure that the lessons I teach will prepare them to be successful on this exam. For my Advanced Placement (AP) Biology course, I use objectives provided by the College Board. Again, I translate the objectives into student centered language and provide them as part of a “Student Learning Plan” in a checklist. Students get this plan at the beginning of each new unit and are instructed to use it as a guide. Some objectives require several simplified statements to make sure that students understand each part of what they are expected to know. Having a solid understanding of what students are expected to know and to be able to do can help teachers to design units which support student learning Fives et al., 2016).

In addition to summative assessment, I make sure that there are a variety of formative assessments with adequate feedback embedded within each unit. College Board provides specific review material that students may use to self assess before formal tests are administered. I have integrated these into my lessons to make sure students have plenty of exposure to they types of assessment items they will see on official AP exams. 


References

Fives, H., Barnes, N., Dacey, C., & Gillis, A. (2016). Assessing Assessment Texts: Where Is Planning? The Teacher Educator, 51(1), 70–89. https://doi.org/10.1080/08878730.2015.1107442

Florida Department of Education. (2012). Biology 1 end-of-course assessment test item specifications version 2. https://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/5662/urlt/0077547-biologyfl11sp.pdf

Strobel Education (2023) Assessing student learning: 6 types of assessment and how to use them. https://strobeleducation.com/blog/assessing-student-learning-6-types-of-assessment-and-how-to-use-them/ under fair usage guidelines 

Watson, E. (2019). Defining assessment. University of Alberta Centre for Teaching and Learning.

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