Karen Ostrowski's Thoughts on Education

               In the post COVID-19 classroom environment, it is more important than ever for teachers to recognize the time and energy required of students to complete assignments and perform on assessments.  There are many different ways that student progress can be measured, depending on learning modality.  Standardized tests help schools assess overall progress at the completion of a course of study  Behavior assessments help parents and teachers evaluate behaviors that are seen in the classroom.  This type of assessment can help identify learning disabilities, behavior disorders, or otherwise identify socio-emotional needs of students.  Parent-teacher conferences are wonderful ways to include parents in the educational journey, although convincing parents to attend is sometimes challenging.  Overall, it is incredibly important that teachers use every tool in their arsenal  to strengthen the learning env...

                 Figures and tables and charts can be incredibly useful as aids in the assessment process in terms of showing assessment data to help people visualize performance results.  Assessment data helps students visualize how they compare with their peers.  Assessment data helps parents understand expectations for their children related to end of course exams and state expectations.  Assessment data helps teachers understand strengths of an entire class or even weaknesses of a particular assessment if 50% of the students missed the same question.  It is incredibly useful to look at assessment data visually to understand how to use evaluation data to help guide further instruction or whether to recommend tutoring or reteaching in a particular area.   Figure 1 Sample Test Scores

                                     A student growth portfolio is a compilation of student work that provides a framework for the whole-person concept of learning for individual students.   The student growth portfolio is a living document that should be added to throughout the year to show how the student’s learning has evolved over the dedicated course of time studied.                  A benefit of a student growth portfolio is that the student, teacher, and families/school personnel can all see evolution over time.   Both progress and regression can be clearly demonstrated and goals assessed or reevaluated easily based upon the information present.   A shortcoming of a student growth portfolio is it is only as good as the individual creating it.   If the teacher that creates student portfolios does not f...

             S tudent self-assessment is when students participate in the overall rating of their performance on an activity.   This can be conducted in many different ways.   Student self-assessment can relate to a participation grade in a course.   It can be part of an overall grade In assessing group work.   It can also be a way for students to grade their entire performance on an activity and the grade the student gives themselves is the grade that is entered in the grade book.           A good way to incorporate student assessments is to have students fill out a rubric AND provide a reflection to justify the grade they give themselves for their work, using the rubric as a guide.   I feel it is important that students be provided a voice regarding how they feel about assignments and their own effort involved.           My personal view as a teacher on stud...

             Effort based grades consider how hard someone works or how much of an attempt has been made to complete work.   Participation based grades instead consider whether an action was completed.   Some similarities between effort grades and participation grades are the fact that the work does not have to be perfect in order to be worthy of earning credit. A difference between the two systems is how each grade is used to measure quality.   If an assignment required a group project building a PowerPoint presentation, a participation based grade might consider whether the PowerPoint was completed and if all group members were physically present for each step of the process.   Alternatively, an effort based grade might consider the quality of the effort expended by each individual member.   If a member was a hard-worker, even if the project result was not perfect, an effort based grade could score that effort accordingl...

An open-ended assessment requires students to provide their own answers to an assessment question.  This type of assessment is best suited to ensuring students can use their own words to explain their knowledge on a subject. Selected-response assessments require a student to select the correct answer from provided answer choices.  There is a possibility that students can guess and receive a correct answer, thus making the test slightly less reliable than other assessment options. A  performance assessment challenges students to show their knowledge in a non-standard way.  The assessment itself (when designed correctly) allows students to demonstrate knowledge by performing or creating something.  A student can successfully perform a dramatic monologue to showcase knowledge on reading stage directions.  A student can participate in a debate to showcase knowledge on creating an effective argument.   Which is best?  The answer to which as...

                T he term assessment, when used in education, refers to a variety of methods or tools that can be used by educators to evaluate, measure, and document student achievement.  This can be a measure of academic readiness, learning progress, skill acquisition, or educational needs of students.                           There are many different types of assessments.  Depending on the assessment, teachers must prepare or tailor lessons for students that will ultimately make them properly prepared to successfully complete the assessments.  It is important that a teacher take the time to design materials based on needs of the curriculum.  Teachers must consider how they intend to design lessons, units, and assessments so the needs of students are ultimately met. Teachers should be familiar with the requirements of their schools , ...