Evaluating Skills

The American public school system is doing a lot to make sure we are evaluating the skills of our students equally across the nation. While the CCSS are making the material that should be taught the same across the nation, there is little as to how this will effect students that fall within Special Education.

I think this also raises the question for how the material is being covered. While the standard for what is being taught has been raised to a higher level, the method of teaching has not. Despite some of these flaws, this week I learned the importance of helping my students to succeed while I measure their skill level, not their disability.

Evaluating skills is separate from evaluating their disability because I should already be aware of the disability- this is not the same as evaluation for services. Because I should already know where my students are at, I can help them succeed by clearly writing my test (making sure there is enough space in between questions), remind students of the option of getting help from a tutor, and give the students either a practice test or a study guide. 

My accommodations, such as no time limit, shouldn't lower my expectations and should be available so that again, I am measuring skill, not the disability. I can also grade out of the number tried, not the total number of questions. This would allow my students to work on the questions they have time for and would end up giving me a more accurate idea of what they really know.

This past week, I was given a zero on an assignment that I had put effort into and had taken my time to complete. While I may have total botched the point of the assignment, I could see how distorting it was for my overall grade to have that zero. For one thing, someone who hadn't attempted the assignment at all would have gotten the same grade as me and for another, it doesn't accurately show what a student does know. 

Grades do have their place and assessments need to be made. But again, when it comes to the CCSS and evaluating skills, I want to assess my students throughout the semester in ways other than formal tests. What if the evaluation is to have the students make real life application? If there is a math problem that says to try and find the three sides of a triangle made with the shadow, flag pole, and the line connecting the two, why not actually find out instead of sitting inside and doing a worksheet? This week's material reminded me of the importance of doing hands on assessments as well as instruction throughout the semester.