Assessment in Special Education - Essay
Final Paper
“What Do Good Assessments Look Like?”
Bernice M. De Jesus
EDU 490: Interdisciplinary Capstone Instructor: Gary West August 15, 2011
“The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 is arguably the most far-reaching education policy initiative in the United States over the last four decades. The hallmark features of this legislation compelled states to conduct annual student assessments linked to state standards, to identify schools that are failing to make “adequate yearly progress” (AYP), and to institute sanctions and rewards based on each school’s AYP status. A fundamental motivation for this reform is the notion that publicizing detailed information on school-specific test performance and linking that performance to the possibility of meaningful sanctions can improve the focus and productivity of public schools”(Dee, Jacob, Hoxby, & Ladd, 2010). In order to ensure that all students are engaged in all aspects of learning, we as educators need to balance both summative and formative classroom assessment practices and information about student learning. Assessments take everything into account from statewide accountability tests to district benchmark or interim tests to everyday classroom tests. Many educators feel that there is an overuse of testing. However, they should learn to use testing as assessments, and that assessment is information. The more information we have about students, the clearer the picture we have about achievement or where gaps may occur. Assessments that are given periodically to determine at a particular point in time what students know and do not know are called summative assessments. These are used at the district and classroom level as an accountability measure that is usually part of the grading
“What Do Good Assessments Look Like?”
Bernice M. De Jesus
EDU 490: Interdisciplinary Capstone Instructor: Gary West August 15, 2011
“The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 is arguably the most far-reaching education policy initiative in the United States over the last four decades. The hallmark features of this legislation compelled states to conduct annual student assessments linked to state standards, to identify schools that are failing to make “adequate yearly progress” (AYP), and to institute sanctions and rewards based on each school’s AYP status. A fundamental motivation for this reform is the notion that publicizing detailed information on school-specific test performance and linking that performance to the possibility of meaningful sanctions can improve the focus and productivity of public schools”(Dee, Jacob, Hoxby, & Ladd, 2010). In order to ensure that all students are engaged in all aspects of learning, we as educators need to balance both summative and formative classroom assessment practices and information about student learning. Assessments take everything into account from statewide accountability tests to district benchmark or interim tests to everyday classroom tests. Many educators feel that there is an overuse of testing. However, they should learn to use testing as assessments, and that assessment is information. The more information we have about students, the clearer the picture we have about achievement or where gaps may occur. Assessments that are given periodically to determine at a particular point in time what students know and do not know are called summative assessments. These are used at the district and classroom level as an accountability measure that is usually part of the grading
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