Purposeful assessments help educators understand where students are academically and where they may go next (Guiding Principle 3: Purposeful assessment drives instruction and affects learning, 2019). Educators need to remember that assessments are an integral part of teaching and learning (Guiding Principle 3: Purposeful assessment drives instruction and affects learning, 2019). There is no one assessment that is correct or appropriate. As educators we need to remember that all students learn differently and develop at different times, therefore, there is no one assessment that is developmentally appropriate for every student in one class.
As an educator, I have witnessed this scenario many times with children in elementary school. Both scenarios provide real life situations where one assessment may not work for all students and alternative assessments need to be provided for students in order to find where they are being challenged and where educators need to provide more support.
Scenario One:
Samantha is five years old. She is attending Pre-Kindergarten for the first time. Samantha is an only child. She has not attended preschool because she lives with mom who is a single mom and was under the care of her maternal grandmother since birth. Since she has been cared for by her grandmother, she has had no interaction with other children. Because she has not attended any formal educational setting when she was assessed for the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment, Samantha was not ablet to complete the assessment and therefore, she was redirected to pre-k to prepare for kindergarten.
At school Samantha is quiet, she does not talk with anybody, she plays by herself and become nervous if someone comes near her. If other children try to play with her she runs away from them. She does not want to participate in the group and has a difficult because she is easily distracted. The teacher is concern because there have been incidences when she turns around and Samantha is nowhere to be found. The first time the teacher aid found her playing by herself in the playground. The teacher explained that she cannot leave the classroom by herself. Another concern the teacher has is that when anybody asks Samantha questions, she only replies by nodding or moving her head back and forth. When Samantha does speak, it is difficult for anybody to understands what she is saying.
Samantha’s teacher is concerned about her not following directions, social-emotional development, and her language development.
Scenario Two:
Monique is a seven-year-old first grade student. Monique is supposed to be in the second grade, but missed the kindergarten cutoff date by one week and was placed in prekindergarten class. Monique is extremely intelligent an completes her work before all students and the teacher does not know what to do after Monique completes her work. However, Monique is struggling with mathematics. Monique becomes easily frustrated when she does not understand math assignments and classwork and gives up easily. When Monique becomes frustrated with math assignments, she throws herself on the floor and begins to cry. When Monique has to work on math assignments in class, she becomes upset, she yells and screams and tells the teacher she hates being in her class.
Her parents are very involved and her mother volunteers every other Wednesday in the classroom. Monique’s mother is frustrated because she does not know what else to do.
At this point the teacher does not know what to do or where to go from here with Monique. How does she support Monique with her issues in not understanding mathematics and lessening her frustration?
Resources:
Guiding Principle 3: Purposeful assessment drives instruction and affects learning. (2019). Retrieved October 25, 2020, from https://dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/cal/pdf/guiding-principles3.pdf
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