11-24-08 - 5 Assessments Blog

According to the Assessments in Elementary and Middle School Science PowerPoint presentation created by Dr. Cathy Mariotti-Ezrailson (2008), five assessment types include pre-test, post-test, formative assessment, summative assessment, and alternative assessment. Here is how I might use these assessments when teaching science. I would use a pre-test at the start of a unit to evaluate my students’ prior knowledge, so that I know what things I need to cover and to what extent they need to be covered. I would then give the same test at the end of the unit as a post-test. This will allow me to assess whether or not I successfully taught the students what I wanted to teach them. I would not use this pre/post-test on every unit, but it would be very helpful with units that are usually difficult for students or that have a lot of misconceptions. I would use formative assessments in a number of ways in my classroom. I would have the students participate in oral questioning, completing homework assignments, and journaling about their learning. Each of these processes will provide me with information about my students’ progress and help me plan for future lessons. I also feel that a summative assessment will be necessary. I will most likely vary my summative assessments. Some may be traditional paper/pencil test, while others may be the fifth type of assessment that I am going to talk about, alternative assessments. The alternative assessment that I see myself implementing in my science class is performance-based assessment. I will find task for my students to create that will require them to use their knowledge on the subject to compete the task.

Mariotti-Ezrailson, C. (2008). Assessments in Elementary and Middle School Science. The University of South Dakota.