Assessment and Learning

           I think looking at this statement from a general point of view it may be true however, I feel that a good teacher knows if their students are actually learning or getting something out of a lesson.  Administrators and people in the State Education department determine if students are learning based on their standardized Regents test scores.  If a student gets below a 65% on a Regents exam, administrators see this as this student is not learning but a score 65% or above means the student is learning.  As teachers we know that this is definitely not true.  There are so many factors that can affect why a student passes or fails a test.  Some students are just naturally poor test takers.  With so much importance placed on one test, the anxiety level of all students goes up.  This can cause a student to completely forget everything they studied for to pass the test.  I know that if I have students asking questions, having discussions, and participating in the class that these students are learning something.

            Another big factor related to students’ learning is that teachers are so focused on teaching to the test.  This takes away from teachers being able to create authentic teaching moments in the classroom.  In “No Kinda Sense”, Delpit states that “students rarely get to talk in classrooms” (pg. 40).  I think this is because teachers are so focused on delivering all the material that students need to know for their Regents exam.  Unfortunately I have experienced this in my own classroom.  Last year I taught an upper level Regents class which also happened to be the first year of this course’s curriculum.  Almost every day we were doing a new topic so that left little time to review skills that students struggled with or major issues that students were facing.  I offer extra help but many students are working or hate the idea of spending more time in school than they have to so they don’t take advantage of this extra time. 

            Like I stated in my discussion board post, I like to try to incorporate effort into my grading.  Something that I have thought of using is participation points.  Students can be given 20 points per day and lose points if they are not prepared, are talking in class, or are not working.  On the flip side, students can gain points by going up to the board or going above and beyond in the classroom.  I also have collected sheets that we do together to give points to students that are following along and doing what they are supposed to be doing.