04 : 706 (NET)
Dr. Alexa Okrainec
Spring 2021 (Term 1)
Theory and Practice of Standardized Assessment
Course Outline
Course Overview
04:706, Theory and Practice of Standardized Assessment, was the first elective course I took in the Master of Education program in the spring of 2021. It was an accelerated, asynchronous course that was completed in only 17 days. The focus of the course was on various styles of student assessment used in the classroom, as well as standardized forms of assessment used as diagnostic tools. Emphasis was placed on how to use assessment and universal design in inclusive classrooms. The course textbook had a particular focus on assessing students with special needs (Venn, 2014). Course assignments included quizzes for each chapter of the textbook, discussion posts on an online student forum, a glossary creation, and an annotated bibliography.
A particular area of focus in my graduate journey thus far had been on inclusive education and how to best support students with additional needs. While I had some familiarity with a variety of assessment practices to use in the general classroom, I was less familiar with the names of, and use cases for, standardized assessments. Up until this point in my career, I had not held a formal position as a student services teacher. I felt it was important to have at least a working knowledge of the various standardized assessments being used in our schools and for the students in my classroom. Knowing that I planned to begin studying educational leadership in the coming years, I also felt it was crucial to have a deeper understanding of the work our resource and student services teachers were doing every day. The learning in this course was swift and intense. In many ways, it felt like I only scratched the surface on this topic. As someone who believes strongly in the importance of inclusive education and ensuring we have space in our schools for all students, I know that this is a topic I want to explore further – whether through additional professional development seminars or a future graduate program.
Venn, J. J. (2014).Assessing Students with Special Needs(5th ed). Pearson.
Artifact 1
GLOSSARY OF MAJOR CURRICULUM-BASED PROCEDURES RELATED TO ASSESSING STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
This assignment asked us to create a list of twenty curriculum-based procedures or assessment practices used in today’s classrooms. It was expected that we would research each of the listed procedures or practices, include a summary of what it was, and provide an example of its use. The purpose of the assignment was to gain a deeper understanding of the tools discussed in our course textbook and find real word examples of their use. In doing so, we would be better equipped to implement these strategies in our work.
This assignment proved incredibly beneficial to me. As I stated earlier, I was quite familiar with many general assessment practices, but less so with specialized forms of assessment that may be used by student services teachers. It was helpful to not only name the assessments I was familiar with, but also learn more about practices I had never used personally. Examples of these tools include clinical observation forms, diagnostic checklists, and performance measurements (often completed by school psychologists). When I asked about these various assessment tools with my resource teacher colleagues, they were able to explain what they were, when each tool might be used, and how teachers would go about using them. As someone that is looking into educational leadership at some point in my career, having a better understanding of these tools will be incredibly beneficial. Further to this, the assignment reinforced many of the in-class assessment practices that can be used to triangulate data and better understand a student’s abilities, such as using portfolios, cloze procedures, observations, rubrics, and running records.
Artifact 2
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY RELATED TO ASSESSMENT CONSIDERATIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER IN K-12 EDUCATION
Due to the accelerated nature of this course, the amount of time needed to research and write a true academic paper was challenging. Therefore, I elected to prepare an annotated bibliography connecting the assessment concepts discussed in this course to how they can support students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This annotated bibliography highlights ten academic sources, summarizes each of the sources in a brief paragraph, and then identifies how this information can be used within a teacher’s classroom. The brief summary provides enough information for the reader to determine if the article might meet their needs and if it should be read in full.
This is another assignment that I found incredibly helpful for a few different reasons. First, one of my biggest professional goals during the 2020-2021 school year was to find ways to better support students with special needs in my classroom. This has probably been made evident by the topic choices for earlier assignments completed in the program up until this point. The information gleaned from exploring a variety of sources had a profound impact on my classroom teaching. A simple, but wholly effective strategy that I continue to use is the explicit teaching of comprehension strategies for students with ASD (El Zein et al., Knight et al.). Admittedly, it did not seem obvious at first that comprehension strategies would have to be taught so clearly in some cases. Second, this felt like a resource that I could share with other teachers as a quick “reference” to articles that might be useful when they work with students diagnosed with ASD as well. Not only have I referred back to this assignment for my own needs in the years since writing it, I have also shared it with other classroom and resource teachers looking for further insight into how they can better support students in their care. It is by no means a complete, comprehensive overview of all the strategies available to support students with ASD, but it has proven to be an excellent guide for new teachers and reminder for seasoned teachers.
