Major Project EPSY 590ASA: Lee Wilkinson
Grade 8 Math
In
preparation for testing and
assessment requirements for NCLB, my district assembled a committee of
math
teachers whose goal was to write authentic assessments for different
grade
levels and different standards as outlined by the Ohio Academic Content
Standards. A
booklet of these authentic
assessments was distributed to every math teacher in grades 8
– 12. Teacher
received in-service and were
encouraged to use these authentic assessments in place of, imbedded
into, or in
addition to, classroom assessments.
Teachers
in the district have also
been encouraged to model various types of test questions after the type
of
question appearing on the Ohio Achievement Test.
This is an effort to help the students become
more familiar with types of questions and response expectations that
are on the
Ohio Achievement Tests.
My question: “Although these strategies may have led to higher test scores, have these strategies led to more effective learning and better understanding for students?”
The curriculum calls for a broad base of knowledge. Time constraints caused by the need to cover many topics may lead some teachers to cover the surface knowledge of those topics, but the depth of knowledge and understanding is lacking. For example: many 8th grade math students can find the percent of a number by using a simple procedure, but the simple concept of percent becomes difficult for students when a problem is stated in a way that the procedure is not recognized. Those students who only memorized a procedure and do not have a deeper understanding of the concept, will not be able to solve the problem.
Major Project Objectives:
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KWL
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What I Know |
What I Want to learn. |
What I have Learned |
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I currently do not use a pre-test as a general practice when beginning a new unit. |
· Would a pre-test change the way I approach instruction to make it more effective and benefit my students? |
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I usually give one or two smaller quizzes as the class progresses through a unit. The smaller quizzes are more formative, helping me to identify areas that need clarification. A chapter test or unit test is given at the end of each unit. It is more summative. |
· Is what I am doing, small formative assessments followed by a summative assessment, the most effective method for improving learning and instruction? |
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I spend a lot of time grading tests, looking at each student’s work for each problem. Multiple choice tests would be easier to grade. Hence, using multiple-choice tests would save me a lot of time. |
· Can multiple-choice tests be effective assessments of student skill, knowledge, understanding, and application? |
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The “authentic assessments” which were developed by a committee of math teachers appear to me to be simply multi-step word problems. |
· What is an authentic assessment, and what does an authentic assessment of mathematical concepts look like? · Are authentic assessments effective ways to measure student learning? · Are authentic assessments helpful in preparing students to take the type of achievement tests required by the NCLB Act? |
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Some of my 8th grade math students have the preconceived idea that they are not good at math. This idea causes some students to give up or just be less motivated. I feel that I am not getting the maximum performance from my students during lessons or during assessments. |
· How can I motivate students to put forth their best effort on the lessons and on the assessments? · Is there a way of designing assessments that could help to motivate a student to do their best? |
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