Using Assessments to Guide Instruction
USING ASSESSMENT TO GUIDE INSTRUCTION 2
Order Instructions:
Using the ideas in chapter 5 in your text (Van de Walle et al., 2013), respond to the following
questions:
What types of assessments do you use currently? Give specific examples and explain how, when,
and why you use them.
How do you currently utilize the information assessments provide?
After reading the text, what assessments would you like to use that you have not used before and
why?
How will you incorporate them into your classroom?
When and how will you grade your assessments?
How will you use the data collected from these assessments?
Using Assessments to Guide Instruction
There are three main assessment techniques teachers should use to assess and instruct
their students. They are categorized as pre-assessment, formative, and summative
assessments (Van de Walle, Karp & Bay-Williams, 2013). Pre-assessment techniques allow
teachers to gain an in-depth understanding of the course content. Formative assessments are
used to improve teaching and continuously monitor the student’s performances throughout
the entire course. Summative assessment, on the other hand, is used at the end of the course
to evaluate student’s understanding of the course’s concepts by comparing it to a standard
benchmark (Van de Walle, Karp & Bay-Williams, 2013).
I currently assess my student’s understanding of geometrical skills using formative
techniques. I utilize these techniques to assess my student’s ability to grasp the course’s
content and identify those who need additional help. I assess their level of understanding of
the course via observations, discussions, and through short quizzes. I use each of the
assessment to gauge their mastery of the course’s content during and after each lesson. These
assessments have helped me in generating other lesson’s content as well.
USING ASSESSMENT TO GUIDE INSTRUCTION 3
Another assessment that I will incorporate in my teaching technique is encouraging
them to contribute to class activities and actively participate in the discussion to equip them
with geometrical skills. After the discussions, I will encourage them to work independently
and use observation skills to monitor their progress when they are working alone and when
they are in their group discussions. At the end of the lesson, I will give each student time to
ask and answer questions and make their final contributions. I will also gather various
geometrical shapes and ask them to name them to engage and help them recall prior
knowledge of the shapes.
USING ASSESSMENT TO GUIDE INSTRUCTION 4
Reference
Van de Walle, J. A., Karp, K. S., & Bay-Williams, J. M. (2013).Elementary and middle
school mathematics: Teaching developmentally (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson Education.
