Brad Gritters EDT 626 Blog

A Pattern of Change The way we do assessments is changing. In the past, traditional paper assessments were the only way to determine whether or not students have achieved mastery of content, but in the past couple of year, many schools have been moving towards computer based assessments.  Currently, computer-based assessments are also evolving toward computer-adaptive testing, with the goal to better access/capture students' true ability. In summary, just like the educational field as a whole, assessments are always evolving. With this constant change, it is important that we address the positives and negatives that these changes bring to the educational field.  Negatives Computer based adaptive tests have many shortcomings that ought to be addressed as we continue to use them more and more. First, questions and items on CBA are usually only presented one time to the learner. This does NOT allow for the students to the opportunity to review and modify their test when they fini...

The purpose of assessments is to prepare students for their lives during the 21st century. Are we as teachers doing that as we create our assessments? At times teachers view assessments only as a tool to determine "have students learn what I have taught them?" or "Do they know the facts that I have presented to them?". Assessments are so much more than that. Assessments should support the learning of the students. In fact, "Assessments and instruction in the classroom should go hand in hand in service to promote student learning!" (BK) When we create assessments, the goal of the teacher ought to be that he creates a meaningful learning opportunity for their students to learn and grow. We are preparing students for their lives in the 21st century and we ought to be using assessments to help equip our students with the skills necessary for their future lives. What skills should assessments be preparing students with? Students should learn to be self reflecti...