CLASSROOM ASSESSMENTS, TOOLS FOR THE ENHANCEMENT OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

ANGELITA N. CUDIA

Classroom assessment is a collection of information that shows what students know and able to do and the data yielded from it show how well the student mastered what the teacher has taught or what lesson is needed to be reteach or give more focus. The two common types of assessments are the Formative and Summative assessments.

Formative assessment is more relaxed because its focus is on feedback for the student and teacher. This showed how well the students grasped the lesson. It is use to support the learning process and not to measure the outcome. A good example for this is the quiz and written reflection which can be graded but doesn’t need to be. This type of assessment is given to know what the students know and what they still need to know; how can teacher improve the lesson to make it more effective and, if necessary what other lessons to be offered as a better alternative.

Summative assessments are always graded and not frequently administered like the formative assessment. Summative assessments are given after a unit of study or at the end of an academic term. It is the snapshot that allows teachers and parents to glance with if the student completed a learning task and activities or not. It provides useful reporting information but often, it has little effect on teaching. It compares the students learning either from other students learning (norm – referenced) or the standard for a grade level (criterion – referenced).

There are also other types of assessments that we teachers encountered and these are Diagnostic, Norm –referenced and the Criterion – referenced. Diagnostic assessment is given at the start of a lesson or unit and with a purpose of providing the teacher an insight about how well a student mastered the lesson before the teaching. The information gathered will give the teacher the idea on how to tailor the lessons to the students need.

Norm – reference assessment is not a part of the daily classroom routine but it’s helpful to know how they work. This assessment compares students of similar ages and grade level to a hypothetical average student.

Criterion – reference measure students against standards or specific goals. It does not measure whether a student knows better than the other, it only measures whether a student knows the information being tested.

Understanding classroom assessment is a key part of a successful teacher. The insights we gain from assessment enable us to meet the needs of the students who are eager for more challenges and to provide interventions for those who are struggling.

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The author is Teacher III at Pitabacan Elementary School, Magalang North District, Magalang, Pampanga