Taking this class has really made me think about how unnecessary grades are. When I think back over my education, I realize that most of the time I haven't been striving to learn more, but I've been striving for a good grade. In this class, however, I feel myself trying hard not to earn an A, but instead to learn how to become the best teacher I can be in the future.
Because of this, I feel that the best type of assessment is one that actually assesses exactly what the students have learned and understand about the concepts being taught, which means not assigning grades or points to assignments. I have realized that grades are technically an extrinsic reward that teachers tend to use to motivate their students. While motivation is key to education, I feel that if students have to intrinsically motivate themselves they will have better results in the end.
Even though tests aren't always the best way to judge a students understanding of the material I still think they are important because test taking is a skill that is very useful in life. I think that selected response assessments can be useful if they are done in a way that doesn't give the answer away. As long as the student has to know the material to answer the question and can't guess by process of elimination I consider that a good assessment of the student's learning. Constructed response is a better type of assessment, especially since I plan on being an English teacher, but sometimes it is impractical to assign all constructed response questions because of the amount of time it consumes to grade all of the questions fairly and accurately.
I definitely feel that the best way to test a students understanding of material is through performance assessment, whether it be a paper, acting out a skit, or drawing a picture that shows their understanding of the topic. I think that it is important to assess students in the way that they learn the best, meaning if a student is very creative and can draw a story or collage describing the material then it is best to let them do that rather than forcing them to write an essay which may be very difficult for them even though they fully understand the material.
The only problem that I have with allowing students to chose the way they are assessed is that other teachers may not give them this option so I feel that in that way I might not be teaching them the skills that they need to be taught in order to be successful in other classes. Because of this I may assign a few essays that everyone must do to be sure that my students are proficient in the areas that are important for the rest of the education.
Some other problems that I will definitely face with the type of assessment I would like to implement is resistance from the students. Just like most of us were, my students will be reluctant to the idea of not being assigned grades because grades are something that are so engrained in their schemas that it will be hard to convince them that they will still be rewarded for their learning, just not by the grade they will be receiving. Parents will also be slow to warm up to this idea because they also aren't used to it. To ensure parents that their students are still learning I will send out a narrative report to all parents sporadically during the semester. This report will include what the student is doing well on, what they need help with, and how the parents can assist their child with their learning.
