assessing the classroom environment of grade 7 students

In Ms. K's class, the journal writing was regular enough that the teacher's comments and questions posed in response to the entries could guide the students as they revisit previous work and move on to related activities and reflections. The seventh-grade students in Ms. K's science class are working on long-term research projects investigating their local watershed. They make curricular decisions and decide on experiences they think can help further students' understandings. Informal assessments can help teachers pinpoint students’ strengths and weaknesses and guide planning for upcoming lessons. There is well-researched evidence that grades on student work do not help learning in the way that specific comments do. If content understanding is the goal, it is necessary to design an appropriate assessment that would tap into that dimension of their understanding. However, she does not control variables in her next experiment, when she combines calcium chloride and water. Thus there has to be a conceptual analysis of the subject goals, which also is complemented by analysis of the cognitive capacities of the learners. To plan teaching and to meet their students' needs, they need to recognize if a student understands a particular concept but demonstrates difficulty in applying it in a personal investigation or if a student does not comprehend fundamental ideas underlying the concept. For example, both vocabulary and oral style differ among children so the teacher may communicate far more effectively with students from one socioeconomic or ethnic background than with those from another background. One of her responsibilities is to help the students understand and share the goals, which will become progressively clearer to them as the inquiry progresses. It is not unusual for the goals to change somewhat as the students and teachers get more involved in the study. In a class discussion, for example, remarks by some of the students may lead the teacher to believe that they do not understand the concept of energy conservation. When teachers ask salient open-ended questions and allow for an appropriate window or wait time (Rowe, 1974)—they can spur student thinking and be privy to valuable information gained from the response. Validity is not, then, an inherent property of an individual assessment; rather, the interpretations drawn from the data and the subsequent actions that ensue are either valid or invalid. + B.S. Another group was making drums of various sizes using some thick cardboard tubes and pieces of thin rubber roofing material. Technically, she should conduct another experiment so all variables are controlled. Use experiment results and reasoning skills to draw conclusions about what causes heat. (For additional information on these theoretical underpinnings, see NRC, 1999a.). Students should not have to guess what ‘success’ in a highly-effective classroom looks like. In pairs, students can be placed in … Only if assessments in science classrooms can more closely approximate the vision of science education teaching and learning can they inform the teacher's work in trying to implement the emphasis in the Standards on students actively doing science. All participants—teachers, students, administrators, curriculum developers, parents—are called upon to share the belief that all students can learn, and this premise needs to infuse all aspects of classroom life. Ms. R. knew that planning was a challenge for these third graders. Since teachers are primarily responsible for evaluating instruction and student learning, there is a widespread concern about the quality of classroom assessment. For example, students … Setting up a classroom is a daunting challenge - make the most of it with these suggestionsToo much stuff, too many students, not enough space - the challenges of setting up a classroom are many. When probed, they could identify deoxyribose and the phosphate group by color, but they were not able to discuss what roles these subunits played in a DNA helix. Assessments • Classroom Sensory Environment Assessment (CSEA) – Reason: Promotes teacher–therapist collaboration, provides a means of understanding the impact of a classroom’s sensory environment on student behavior. Unfortunately, there are often competing needs and demands on teachers. Thus assessment data can be used immediately, as Ms. K does when she alters upcoming plans, and Ms. R does when she decides her students are ready to move on to the next stage of activity. They, too, stress that different forms of assessment are better suited for different aspects of knowledge. inequitable treatment. What tools and materials did you use to make your instrument? The chapter offers a guiding framework to use when considering everyday assessments and then discusses the roles and responsibilities of teachers and students in improving assessment. By trying to identify their sources of evidence, the teacher better understands where their difficulties arise and can alter their teaching accordingly and lead the students toward better understanding of the concept. The anonymity of students is an advantage in … So the first and hardest part of treating students equitably is to try to treat all students with the same respect and seriousness. An emphasis on formative assessment—assessment that informs teaching and learning and occurs throughout an activity or unit—is incorporated into regular practice. With the knowledge gained from assessment data, a teacher can make choices. Although any classroom activity can be modified to also serve as an assessment, the data must be fed. 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