Conley- Ch. 4: Ongoing Assessment

Conley stresses the importance of ongoing assessments, meaning that the students should constantly be assessed throughout the school year. He states that "an important guideline is to use multiple assessments and look for patterns in students' performance. Do not overrely on results from any single test." I totally agree; but my question is: Isn't this exactly what high-stakes/standardized tests do? They take the results from one assessment and gauge a student's comprehension of a subject from that one test score. There are too many factors that influence the outcome of standardized tests, and I believe that these tests rarely reflect the full understanding of each student. How can teachers prepare their students for these tests and still have time to personalize lessons to engage and motivate students?

I loved the section about personal assessments. They seem as though they would be time-consuming, but so much valuable information can be obtained from these experiences with students. By making personal connections with the students, a teacher can create instant engagement in a lesson and motivate students' future learning once the students realize how learning can be applicable to their own lives and interests. We are going to use the reading attitude and an interest survey to get to know the students we will be tutoring in clinicals this semester. I am so glad that we have the opportunity to get to know our students on a personal level so that we can do as much as possible to motivate them. I only wish that when I have my own classroom, I could create individualized lessons based on every one of my students' interests!