I think children should be assessed in every way. I think they should be assessed socially, cognitively, fine/gross motor, and subject based when they get into the school system.I think that it is important for parents to know how their children are doing in all parts of their education. We don’t send our children to learn about the information in books alone. The social aspect of school is important as well. When I have children I would want to know how they handle themselves with the other children in the classroom. I would like to know how they problem solve with others that are not their siblings. But at the same time I would also like to know how they are doing with their schoolwork. I would be very interested in how they are progressing in each subject matter. I would spend time working with them or getting help in areas that may need improvement.
Assessments are not only great for parents, but they are also great for educators too. I think that teachers need to assess their children in order to know how they are doing and what they can do to help students grow. I think teachers could look at ways to make shy students more social and to help bring forth leaders in the classroom who tend to step into the background. Again, I am an advocate for the social aspect of a child’s eduction and how it can help them progress when they get older. I also think that when teachers assess their students on subject matter, they are able to see areas that need work, and areas that they can improve on professionally. If an entire class is suffering in mathematics a teacher may want to work on their teaching style in the math area. If the teacher sees where some students are doing better than others they may want to suggest programs to parents that can help their students progress. Assessments are helpful in may ways to the parents, teachers, and students.
Assessment experts from Austria, the Flemish and French speaking communities of Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, the German Bundesländer, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom (England) and United Kingdom (Wales) participated in an assessment project. This project was designed to see how students could progress by implementing further assessment guides. These countries together established inclusive assessments. This type of assessment prevents students from being segregated based on ability. It also allows to students to continuously grow and not just show growth from assessment to assessment. Assessment information should be used to help with strategies and learning for teachers. Inclusive assessments allow for this to take place. All of these countries agreed that using assessments to segregate students did not help the students in the long run. They wanted to do something that would allow them to grow even more.
Reference: http://www.european-agency.org/agency-projects/assessment-in-inclusive-settings
Thanks for sharing you thoughts. I agree with you when you said that a teacher should look back on the way he or she teach or taought a lesson if the whole class is failing. Some teachers do not see it that way. They might take its the students. Thanks again for sharing and great point.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your stance that children should be assessed in every way. The key is that the information should be used to help them presently and not hinder them in the future. Good insights....
ReplyDeleteMonique, I related when you mentioned” “I think teachers could look at ways to make shy students more social and to help bring forth leaders in the classroom who tend to step into the background”. This was me as a child. In the second grade, the doctors said that I had “selective mutism”, meaning, I didn’t talk, but I did have speech, but I just refused to talk. I wasn’t being defiant. I was suffering from the effects of my parents’ divorce. I think, if I had a teacher to assist me and support me, I would be more social today. I think you would make a great parent because you want the same things that most parents want to see in the education of their children. I want to see that the teacher is not just giving my children test, but going over the material so that they understand the material based on their own development.
DeleteI definitely agree with you that children should be assessed in many ways and be measured in many different areas. I liked the areas you mentioned such as children being measured socially, cognitively, and fine/motor skills. I agree with you that parents and teachers should know what their student/child is learning, how much knowledge they gain throughout the year and what their strengths and weaknesses are. I really liked when you said "I think teachers could look at ways to make shy students more social and to help bring forth leaders in the classroom who tend to step into the background." This can be true for many people because when I was growing up I was always shy. I never struggled with language or speech problems or delays, I was just very shy and there was a reason for it. Do you think it's important for teachers to get to know their students on a more personal level and do you think they have the right to ask their students what is going on at home if they suspect anything is going on negativity to affect their personality, behavior, etc?
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