Rosa Galindo

EDUC 462
Reflective Journal #3: Assessment

Before the reading, I was extremely ignorant towards assessment and all that it entails. I
knew that assessments come in the form of papers, tests, and quizzes, but I never knew that these
are only one type of assessment, summative. Nor did I know what goes into creating
assessments, or how to measure their reliability, validity, or face validity. What I learned, is that
there are numerous angles at which to approach assessment, but for me, it is most important to
asses and grade in such a way that reflects how and what I teach in a relatable and authentic
manner.
For example, if I am a teacher who practices interpersonal communication, and I place
emphasis on students creating and compiling their own stories and dialogues, then I should be
absolutely certain to assess my students in a familiar manner. I can assess their use of target
vocabulary and grammar, by asking them to write a few sentences or paragraphs, depending on
their level, about an authentic and relatable topic. This would be a fitting assessment since the
students are familiar with composing their own stories, and they are comfortable with being
creative with the language. It would be invalid and inappropriate of me to test my students by
having them complete a set of drill practices since that is neither how I teach or with what they
are familiar. Further, my approach to grading is equally as important.
In the given scenario, I would have to grade my students more holistically and not
decrease their grades when they create grammar or spelling errors outside of my target unit since
I would be reprimanding them for something outside of my target lessons, and thus discouraging
them to play with the language.
In addition to summative assessments, I learned that formative assessments are equally if
not more important that summative assessments. The reason being that formative assessments
allow me to assess student comprehension levels. Formative assessments such as simple
comprehension checks with a thumbs up, or answer-response opportunities, inform me of
whether or not I need to review a section in further detail, or if the students are ready for me to
build upon the lesson and dive deeper into the unit.