INTASC+Standard+08

__INTASC Standard 08__

The teacher understands and uses formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure the continuous itellectual, social and physical development of the learner.

__Specific Category of Standard 08__

INTASC.8.A The teacher understands the characteristics, uses, advantages, and limitations of different types of assessments (e.g. criterion-referenced and norm-referenced instruments, traditional standardized and performance-based tests, observation systems, and assessments of student work) for evaluating how students learn, what they know, and are able to do, and what kinds of experiences will support their further growth and development.

__Understanding Sentence__

The teacher knows how to use different types of assessment strategies to measure and increase the progress the student is making in all areas of development.

__Artifacts__
 * Assessment Reports: Cristina (6th Grade)

__Reflect__

For this assignment, I was required to work with a student between the ages of 9 and 14 and administer 3 formal assessments: The Slosson Intelligence Test-Revised, KeyMath-Revised, and Woodcock Reading Master Test. I was also required to administer the Scales of Independent Behavior-Revised Test to someone who knew my student well. I administered the test to my student’s mother. After each test, I was expected to turn in a formal report as if I were an educational diagnostician reporting back to the IEP team. At the end of the semester, I turned in one long, formal report that summarized and analyzed the results of all four tests.  This directly relates to INTASC.8.A. in that I learned a lot about assessment administration, benefits, downfalls, score analysis, and the meaning behind formal reports than I ever anticipated. I learned how misleading age and grade equivalents could be and how to look at the whole picture (the student) to analyze and separate the results from what I could truly see in the student’s capabilities. I was aware of how my student’s energy level would affect her scores and how the computerized scores took these circumstances into consideration by listing a confidence interval and a score range. This would tell us how on any given day my student might score on the assessment with a specific percentage of confidence (anywhere from 68 to 99% confidence interval). __Project__ As an elementary and high school student, I had taken standardized tests and others like that, but it was a much different perspective to actually prepare to and directly administer an assessment on a one-on-one basis. It was mind-boggling just how much preparation was required, how careful one had to be when calculating scores, and determining just how accurate the score reflected my student’s abilities. As a learner, I acquired a lot of new information and this has helped prepare me as I become a teacher. To understand exactly what educational diagnosticians do, how students are referred for testing, and how these scores determine the eligibility of students to receive special education services is truly great preparation for me as a special education teacher. I can begin to know how to prepare my students, observe student’s abilities and compare to test scores to determine the accuracy of the scores, and communicate with other professionals and parents exactly what the process is can help me build great relationships among students and parents, as well as make me a more effective teacher.