Week 3 Assignment

Teacher Designated Assessment

Sharon A. Mitchell

ECE: 657 Assessment to Support Young Children

Dr. Latisha Shipley

September 17, 2020

Step 1

The teacher-designed assessment 1 ‘Even and Odd Assessment’ was chosen.

Step 2

The test is correlated with learning outcomes because it assesses the ability of students to count numbers up to 20. It also tests the knowledge of students on odd and even numbers and various shapes. The cognitive skills of students are tested adequately in the test. They are tested on the ability to think logically and problem-solve. Each section of the test has clear directions. The questions are also arranged from the simplest to the complex as the first one involves counting stars that are arranged in a way that is easy to determine whether they are odd or even. The last question asks students to determine odd and even numbers from shapes that do not have a pattern.

Point values for every question have clearly been stated. Various types of questions were not included because all the questions seemed to test the same concept of counting odd and even numbers. Questions types have been grouped because all of them have shapes that require the students to count. The questions were typed clearly and there was ample room for answers. There were multiple choices in all the questions for the students to choose from. The appropriate reading level for students was used because those in the 6th grade are supposed to know how to count up to 20.

Step 3

The objective of the assessment was guiding teacher planning because it identified the skills and competencies that should have been acquired by the students. The instructor could notice that some of the students would not differentiate even and odd numbers. This would guide his/her planning as a focus on the teaching of odd and even numbers would be increased. The assessment would assess the problem-solving skills of students and their ability to count numbers and various shapes.

The teacher-designed assessment meets the characteristics of a quality teacher-designed assessment because it is content valid. The assessment matches the intended content closely. “An assessment should measure what it has been intended to measure” (Duman, 2017). The focus is only on math skills because there are short sentences for the questions. The assessment is also reliable because the assessment results of the students would be consistent. The student results in the assessment will be the same because there are multiple choices already provided. Students can tick the correct answer from the provided ones. Closed-ended questions are provided to ensure that standard answers are given by the students.

The assessment is appropriate for preschoolers because it tests the recognition of odd and even numbers and the counting of numbers. Preschoolers are supposed to have mastered the number system and should be able to count numbers correctly (McWilliam et al, 2020). They should also be able to recognize patterns such as shapes and numbers and problem-solve. The assessment consists of shapes arranged in a pattern that makes it easy for students to identify it. It also enhances their problem-solving skills because they are asked to count shapes.

There is alignment with the purposes of teacher-designed assessments because the odd and even assessment can be used to support the teacher’s decisions on the instruction of each student. The teacher can collect objective data on student learning from the assessment. “Teacher designed assessments provide additional information to make instructional decisions” (Buzzelli, 2018). The teacher can change his/her instruction on a student based on performance on the test.

The two ways in which the assessment could be used to inform instruction are determining the areas of focus from the assessment results and the topics that the instructor should not focus on. If all the students perform poorly on the differentiation between odd and even numbers, the teacher could be forced to repeat the topic. If they perform well, the teacher can look for more advanced topics to teach because it shows that students have grasped the concepts that have previously been taught.

REFERENCES

Buzzelli, C. A. (2018). The moral dimensions of assessment in early childhood education. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 19(2), 154-166.

Duman, G. (2017). Using performance-based assessment in early childhood education. Educational Research and Practice, 225.

McWilliam, R. A., Morales-Murillo, C. P., & Stevenson, C. M. (2020). Assessment of Early Childhood School and Classroom Environments. Psychoeducational Assessment of Preschool Children.