Assessment is an integral component that all schools should embrace. On most occasions, assessments entail gathering data from your students with the aim of understanding their strengths and weaknesses for the purpose of learning (Tobin et al., 2016). Subsequently, assessment in schools primarily focuses on the opportunities that can be used to develop a learner’s ability to make evaluations and judgments about their performance and make adjustments where necessary. Using both formative and summative assessments lays a foundation for students to develop their skills in different subjects (Tobin et al., 2016). According to the 90/90/90 schools case study, assessment plays an integral role in helping students improve in their performance. Findings from the study indicate that many of the high poverty schools that took part in the study enrolled students whose skills were significantly below average. However, most of these schools emphasized the fact that the penalty of poor performance is not a low grade (Reeves, 2003). For students whose performance was below average, conducting weekly assessments provided multiple opportunities for most of them to improve their performance. Since teachers understand the strengths and weaknesses of each of their students, class teachers have the responsibility of administering these assessments to their learners and not the district or state (Reeves, 2003).
Assessments also play an important role since through written responses, and teachers can obtain better diagnostic data concerning their students. Additionally, assessment helps students demonstrate the thinking process they incorporated before getting the accurate solution to a given problem (Reeves, 2003). Assessments through written responses also help students process information in a much clearer way and get the opportunity to clarify theirs through the process. The 90.90/90 notes that it is only through written responses from students that can aid a teacher to craft the necessary strategies needed to enhance the performance of both the learners and teacher (Reeves, 2003). By carefully going through their students’ responses, teachers gain deeper and more complex diagnostic information regarding why students respond in a given way in a certain academic challenge. Through this strategy, teachers learn about their different students and areas that need improvement (Reeves, 2003). Thus schools should strive to employ different assessment processes throughout their teaching process.
Concepts and Strategies that are compared with the work I am currently doing?
While analyzing the 90/90/90 cases study, it was evident that some of the concepts and strategies used compare greatly with what I am currently doing in my school and district. One of the strategies that are evident is external scoring. My school relies on external scoring to learn what other schools are doing and areas that we can work better on. For instance, most teachers in my school exchange papers with other teachers. Through external assessment, teachers are able to evaluate their student’s work put in more effort in areas that are lagging. As a teacher, external scoring provided me with a basis by which I can evaluate the target areas that I am not performing well and institute different corrective strategies. The other concept that compares to what I am currently doing in my school is paying attention to key curriculum choices. I mainly emphasize the core skills of reading, writing, and mathematics since these curriculum choices offer an opportunity for students to excel in a wide range of academic endeavors.
2-3 Take away
Reading through the article has provided me with insights into the importance of assessments in schools. However, for an assessment to be successful, one point that should be embraced is feedback. Schools that provide constant feedback to their learners experience significant improvements. Learning how to properly manage time also helps schools to attain their specific targets (Reeves, 2003). Findings from this article indicate that schools that made large gains made remarkable adjustments to their schedules. Lastly, incorporating the value of every adult in the system is also an important aspect. Every adult is unique, and they can provide different insights that, when incorporated, can be used to improve student performance.
References
Reeves, D. B. (2003). High performance in high poverty schools: 90/90/90 and beyond. Center for performance assessment, 20, 1-20.
Tobin, M., Nugroho, D., & Lietz, P. (2016). Large-scale assessments of students’ learning and education policy: synthesizing evidence across world regions. Research Papers in Education, 31(5), 578-594.
