Assessment+That+Drives+Instruction

Linda Biggs TEP 547

The target population related to the article is special needs/IEP students in general education classrooms. I learned that both formal and informal assessment strategies must guide the teacher to deliver instruction that is appropriate. The strategies included T-charts, Checklists, and rubrics. Rubrics have the advantage of outlining the expectations of the assignment and how it will be assessed. Teachers must let the students know what the rubric standard is before the assignment is given. One of the purposes of a rubric is to give students a feedback loop. It also gives students and teachers a way to see where the student may need extra help. The article also discusses T-charts and checklists. It appears that both examples in the article are set up for younger students however; the idea can be modified for upper grades. Both of these assist not only special education students, but all students to understand what is expected of them. In the final thoughts section, Stanford and Reeves point out that “The assessment process must move to learner-centered methods.” They also mention that there are advantages to using authentic assessments that are clearly explained to the students.

I would use assessment data to determine if the students are meeting their IEP goals and also to see if they are showing that they understand the content. If the data shows that they did master the material, then I know as a class, we can move forward. But, if the data shows that my special education students did not master the material, then I know that I either need to work with them to catch them up, re-teach to the whole class (depending on how the general education students did as well), or I can work with the special education teachers that oversee these students to develop a plan to help the student(s) master the content that was covered.

Link: http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/jumpstart.jhtml?recid=0bc05f7a67b1790ef0efa208c5678ce78595ac9fb07545f1d5854ba6f856fb81dcc2677e1c479e88&fmt=H Stanford, P., et. al., Assessment That Drives Instruction. Teaching Exceptional Children v. 37 no. 4 (March/April 2005) p. 18-22


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