Student Assessment

I believe that the testing of the student's achievements in order to see if he meets some criterion held by the teacher, is directly contrary to the implications of therapy for significant learning.

~Carl Rogers

• • Assessment of student achievement is important so that academic growth can be documented and reflected upon. It should be used to plan the next course of lessons that the student will need.

  • The selection of which type of assessment that will be used should be at the teachers discretion. The results should however, be reported in a way that can be presented to other people such as parents, administrators and the community to show adequate growth between assessment periods.

  • Many students demonstrate what they have learned better through alternative assessments such as special projects, multi-media presentations, portfolios and reports.

• Standardized testing is what the Michigan Department of Education has chosen to use as a basis for progress. This is a poor choice of assessment tools to show progress. Children gain understanding in many different ways, yet we test them all in the same way. There are many students who are not good standardized test takers that have gained the proper knowledge and skills to be successful. It is unfortunate that the state government has tied school funding to successful standardized test score improvements. This forces schools to "teach to the test" which is restricting the learning process that the students will need in the future.

Education is what survives when what was learned has been forgotten.

~B.F. Skinner