The most effective assessments are those that are aligned directly with curriculum and instruction and focus on students learning
Teachers should use a variety of assessments approaches
Assessments should reflect state standards. Assessments should reflect information presented in the classroom.
Teachers should provide feeback to inform students about what they are doing correctly and what they still need to work on
Reliability refers to the consistency of a measurement over time and repeated measures.
Example: if a teacher gives alternate forms of the same test periodically over several months and the students performance socres remain relatively the same, the test has reliability.
Validity refers to whether the assessment instrument measures what it is suppose to measure.
If a teacher wants to measure math skills, the test must measure math skills, not reading skills.
Unbiased test is one that does not unfairly favor a particular group
Example: a test that uses references that are unfamiliar to minority cultural groups might give an unfair advantage for the dominant group. Thus such test would be Biased.
Norm-referenced test is one that assesses students by comparing their performance to that of a norm group.
The norm group is representative of students of the same age or grade level as the test takers.
Criterion-referenced test assesses a student by comparing their performance to a predetermined level of mastery.
Criterion-referenced test over norm-referenced test is their diagnostic, placement, and remediation used.
Florida teachers are expected to analyze FCAT performance data to address remediation needs of individual students
Disaggregation of the data (that is, separating it) by subject, gender, race and so on must be used by schools and teachers to identify groups of students needing remediation.
Mean is determined by adding up all the scores and dividing the sum by the total number of scores that were added.
Example: 30+60+20+90+80+80= 360 360/7 = 51.4
Median is the midpoint in a distribution of scores from the highest to lowest
Example: 4, 12, 32, 45, 98 As there are five numbers in this series, the third number will be considered the median,32
Mode is the score in a distribution that appears most frequent.
Exmple: 3, 3, 8, 9, 15, 15, 15, 17, 17, 27, 40, 44, 44 15 is the mode because it occurs "3" times
Twenty-five percent of data values at or below 1st quartile (25 percentile); fifty percentile at or below the 2nd quartile (50 percentile); seventy-five percentile at or below the 3rd quartile (75 percentile)
A medians score of 75 on a history test in class of 21 means that 11 students scored at or below 75. True or False? TRUE
A grade-equivalent score of 7.6 obtained by a 4th grader on a standardized test means the 4th grader can do 7th grade math. True or False? FALSE
The score does not mean that the 4th grader can do 7th grade material, the scores match the estimated performance of an average student in 6th month of 7th grade on the same assessment
Formative assessment occurs before and during instruction. Formative assessment in the form of a diagnostic assessment can provide the desired information.
For example, a teacher might want to determine each student's reading ability, comprehension, and skill level
Diagnostic assessments are administered before instruction and are designed to identify students' strengths and weaknesses
Diagnostic assessment is a component of assessing school readiness.
Active listening is a way that indicates to the speaker that you are paying attention and hearing the speakers message
Active listening skills include, repetition, paraphrasing, summarizing, asking questions. Non-verbal behavior is another active listening skill
Probing is the technique of eliciting more information from students, often fo the purpose of purpose of clarifying students contributions or justify an answer.
When students make errors, probing is a device that teachers use to help students clarify their own understanding. Can also be used to help students self correct their mistakes
Redirecting is the posing of a question or prompt to students for a repsonse or to add new insights.
Used to invite the class to repond to a question addessed to the teacher. It can also involve extending a students partial contribution by asking another student to ad additonal insight
Teachers who exhibit high expectations towards their students have students who actually perform better. This phenomenon is referred to as self-fulfilling prophecy.
Self-fulfillinf prophecy simply means teachers get what they expect from students.
A teacher's praise would be more effective if she specifically stated what the student has done that is praiseworthy, instead of just stating "Nice Work" or " Terrific".
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Critical thinkers identify and challenge assumptions. They also can distinguish fact from opinion. T
To promote critical thinking, teachers should require students to clarify and defend their solutions or conclusion
Creative thinkers can look at a situation from multiple perspectives. As students get older they are expected to generate creative ideas in a variety of situations
To promote creative thinking, teachers should provide an atmosphere that repects and values personal expression.
Teachers are aware that thinking is best promoted by the use of divergent questions, or open-ended questions
Open-ended questions allow many correct reponses.
Instead of convergent questions or closed ended questions that have limite the number of correct reponses.
Closed-ended questions tend to make questioning overly teacher-centered and stifles critical and creative thing on the part of the students.
Bloom's taxonomy of higher order of thinking skills
Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation
Knowledge level thinking involves recalling or remembering information
Ex.: remembering, summarizing, recalling -"Who is the current President" Typical words: who, what, when, where, define
Comprehension level thinking makes interpertations of previosly learned material
Ex.: grasping the meaning, explaining - "In your own words, explain" Typical words: summirise, outline, rephrase, estimate, illustrate
Application level thinking involves applying knowledge ot produce a result
Ex.: applying information to produce some results, problem solving - Classify animals in a list as herbivores, carnivores Typical words: apply, constuct, develop, solve, model
Analysis level thinking involves subdividing knowledge to show how it fits together
Ex.: identify motives, make inferences, comparing - "Write the steps you would use to test your theory" Typical words: analyze, compare, contrast, examine, diagram, infer, predict, break apart
Synthesis lvel thinking involves putting together ideas or elements to form a whole
Ex.: creating something new, writing proofs, make perdictions, recognize patterns - "Write an alternate ending for the story" Typical words: compile, construct, design, propose, invent
Evaluative level thinkin involves judging the quality of an idea or solution
Ex.: stating an opinion, making value judgement, drawing conclusion - : Tell what you like best about the learning activity and why" Typical words: evaluate, judge, assess, conclude, prove, prioritize
During brainstorming, the teacher or student writes down the ideasor keypoints.
Teachers should monitorand facilitate the process without imposing their own ideas on students
Metacognition is the process of thinking about and monitoring one's own thinking
Successful learners know how to learn. in contrast, struggling learners seldom demonstrate metacognitive abilities on their own.
Inductive reasoning is the process of drawing a general conclusion based on one or more examples
When using inductive reasoning, a person looks at specific examples and tries to identify a pattern or trend that fits the given examples in order to determine a general rule
Deductive reasoning is the process of using an accepted rule to draw a conclusion about a specfic example
When using deductive reasoning, a person applies a general rule to a specific case
When inductive reasoning is used in an argument, inferences are used to support the position of the person making the argument
When deductive argument are used, accepted truths or generalizations are applied to support the favored position.
Scientific method is the process used by scientist to obtain reliable and valid information about the world we live in
5 main steps: 1. Define the problem, 2. research the topic, 3. formulate a hypothesis, 4. gather evidence, 5. draw conclusions
Cognitive complexity refers to the level of cognitive demand associated with test items
Three levels given in Cognitive complexity classification: Low complexity, Moderate complexity, High complexity
Low complexity recall, locate or recognize facts, demonstrate simple skills or abilities
Ex. In reading, locate details in a passage In writing, identify incorrect punctuation In math, idenfity a number as prime In science, retrieve information from a chart
Moderate complexity demonstrate comprehension and processing of information
Ex. In reading, indentify cause and effect relationship In writing, write a summary of a passage In math, solve a multi-step, but routine problem In science, give examples and non examples of a concept
High complexity demonstrate the use of highter order thinking skills including abstract reasoning
Ex. In reading, analyze a poem In writing, develop a constructed reponses to a prompt In math, determine a formula for the general term of a sequenced numerical pattern In science, draw a conclusion based on data
Right brain dominant, global and inductive
Learner characteristics Think from part to whole depend on words and language for meaning is independent prefers quiet, bright lighting approaches problem solving systematically
Left brain dominant, analytic and deductive Public schools has traditionally favored left brain dominant students
Learner characteristics Think from whole to part prefers to see the big picture before exploring small details can work on several parts of a task at the same time likes music/sounds, dim lights, and relaxed seating
Witkin, Goodenough and Cox worked on Field independence and Field-dependence, their work closley parallels brain hemisphericity
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Field indendent is having the ability to perceive objects without being influenced by the background
Characteristics Process information in parts Passive in social situations Tend to be less influenced by peers Likes working alone Like math, science, and engineering
Field dependent is having the ability to perceive objects as a whole rather than as individual parts
Characteristics Able to see rational concepts Active in social situations Likes to work in groups Choose fields that require interpersonal, nonscientific, like history, art, or social work
Gregorc mind styles look at the predominant ways learners prefer to process and organize information for learning
Type of learner Concrete-Sequential Concrete-Random Abstract-Sequential Abstract-Random
Concrete-Sequential learners prefer, hands-on, linearly sequenced learning
Concrete-Random learners prefer, hands on, exploritory learning
Abstract-Sequential learners prefer abstract, logically sequenced, analytical learning
Abstract-Random learners prefer mentally chanllenging activites in an informal environment
Howard Gardner theory of multiple intelligences
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Verbal/linguistice intelligene Ability to use and produce words
Logical-mathematical intelligene Ability to do math, recognize patterns, and problem solve
Visual/spatial intelligene Ability to form images and pictures in the mind
Body/kinesthetic intelligene Ability to use the body in physical activities
Musical/rhythmic intelligence Ability to recognize musical and rhythmic patterns and sounds
Intrapersonal intelligene Ability to know oneself
Interpersonal intelligene Ability to work cooperatively with other people
Naturalistic intelligene Ability to understand and work in the natual word
Educator values the worth and dignity of every person the pursuit of truth devotion to excellence acqusitions of knowledge nurture of democratic cizitenship
The educators primary professional concerns will always be : For the student For the development of the student's potential Educator will strive for professional growth and will seek to exercise the best professional judgement and integrity
Piaget states that learning involves three basic processes: assimilation, accommodationand equilibration
According to Piaget, cognition or thinking is an active and interactive process that develops in stages
Assimilation involves fitting new information into existing mental structures, which Piaget called schema
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Accommodation requires modifying current schema or creating new schema in order to take the new data or information into account
When student encounter new information, they experience disequilibrium, a cognitive conflict, until they can either assimilate or accommodate it and thus acheive equilibrium
The first stage, Sensorimotor, begins at birth and continues until about age two
Children learn through the sense and motor development and through trial and error
The second stage, Preoperational, from age two to six
Children see the world from their own point of view, they focus on aspects of a situation, and rapidly developing language and are beginning to acquire some reasoning ability. Have a difficult time distinguishing from reality
The third stage, Concrete operations, ages seven to eleven
Children develop the ability to take anothers point of view and no longer have problems with centration, conservation, reversibility and distinguishing appearances from reality
The fourth and last stage, Formal operations, age eleven and into adulthood
Adolescents in this stage begin to think more easily about abstract concepts, things they cannot touch or see. They bod deductively and inductively make generalizations and critically ananlyze the thinking of others
Piaget first moral development stage Heteronomous morality, children see rules as unbreakable and unchangeable, even if everyone agrees to change them. They fear punishment
Piaget second development stage Autonomous morality, children develop autonomy and are willing to challenge rules.
Bruner first mode : Enactive mode Involves interacting with objects in their environment
Bruner second mode: Iconic modfe Involves the use of images or graphic illustrations to convey concepts
Bruner third mode: Symbolic mode Involves using symbols and words to represent concepts
Teachers should structure the presentation of the concepts so that is proceeds from enactive to iconic to symbolic mode
Vygotsky first cognative development: Self-regulation The ability to learn and solve problems on one's own without assistance
Vygotsky second cognative development: Private speech The self-talk learners use to monitor and guide themselves as they work through a problem or complete
Vygotsky third cognative development: Zone of proximal development The distance between a students independent level of problem solving ability and the students potential level
When students are in their zone of proximal, scaffolding is the support and assistance provided for learning and problem solving. Scaffolding is more intense and frequent at first but should be diminished as learners become self-regulated
Kohlberg and Gilligan identified six stages of moral growth and grouped them into three levels
Preconventional level Conventional level Postconcventional level
Preconventional level Stage 1: Punishment-obedience - rules are obeyed to avoid punishment Stage 2: Instructional-relativist - whats right is whatever satisfies one's own needs and occasionally the needs of others
Conventional level Stage 3: Good boy-nice girl - accepts and repects authority. peer acceptance is needed Stage 4: Law-order - regardless of circumstances, it is wrong to break rules
Postconcventional level Stage 5: Social contract - obey rules, but might question them, respect rights of others Stage 6: Universal Ethical - ethical pricipels are abstract concepts such as justice, equality, and the dignity of all people
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Eriskon's life cycle of pesonality development
At each state there is a critical social crisis
trust v. mistrust (birth to 18 mo) infant who basic physical needs are met and who feels loved and secure will develop feelings of trust. Otherwise mistrust will be planted
autonomy v. doubt (18 mo to 3 years) children should be allowed to explore and make simple choices, otherwise feeling of doubt will previl
Initiation v. guilt (3 to 6 years) develop confident attitude about their own actions and abilities. develop comfortable sense of their gender identity.
idustry v. inferiority (6 to 12 years) Children acquire a number of skills. when success is experienced, they will feel good about them selves and develop a sense of industry rather than inferiority
identify v. role confusion (12 to 18 years) transition from childhood to adulthood. often stuggle with self-doubt and question "who they are".
intimacy v. isolation (young adulthood) period when young adults are able to make commitment to another person, a cause or career. they have a sense of direction otherwise they will be isolated from the rest of the world
generativity v. self-absorption (middle adulthood) concerned with future generations and child readring. become less selfish. or they grow to care of no one
integrity v. despair (late adulthood) look back on their lives and feel satisfied or either have a sense of despaie about how their life turned out
Behaviorism is a learning based on using immediate consequences to either weaken or strengthen a learners observable response
A consequence is a pleasent or unpleasent effect that follows a behaviorand influences whether it will occur again
Reinforcement which is a pleasant consequence that follows a behavior, is an essential strategy associated with a behavioristic approach to learning
The basic principel of reinforcement is that stuents will continue good behaviors that are reinforced and discontinue undesirable behavior when they ar not reinforced
Extrinsic reinforcers, are reinforcers that are external to a student such as tangible rewards or grades
Intrinsic reinforcers are reinforcers that come from within a student such as personal enjoyment of solving problems
Positive reinforcements in the form of things given to a student (like tangible rewards or special privileges). When using extrinsic reinforcement, most teachers prefer postive reinforcements
Negative reinforcements which is the removal from a situation precveived by the student to be unpleasant (like a night off doing homework)
Positive punishment involves giving and undesireable consequence (for example extra work) in order to deter undesirable behavior
Negative punishment involves taking away a desirable reward (free time) in order to deter undesireable behavior
Constructivism is a learner-centered approach to teaching that emphasizes teaching for understanding, predicted on the concept that students construct knowledge by making connections between present learning experiences and existing knowledge that learners already process
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