What is the role of formative and summative assessments when it comes to curriculum development? Do you believe that these assessments help those who are charged with developing new curriculum to enhance curriculum development? In essence, What should we be doing with these assessments and how should we do it?
Kathryn Osborne:
ReplyDeleteDepending on your view, assessments are necessary in some form. If the teacher is doing the job then formative assessments can give her the information that she needs to assess the students. Most state educational departments do not think that formative assessments alone can paint the picture of student success. Standardized testing is not appropriate for all curriculums, especially the arts. Other content areas rely heavily on standardized and written assessments, such as math. Is there one way that should work for all and should that way effect curriculum? I think it is a complicated question with no real "one" answer. I do believe that some summative assessments can inform curriculum. I do believe that more formative assessments could and should inform how curriculum is devised and implemented. One thing for sure is that it should never be static. Curriculum should continue to be updated and should flow from emerging ideas and philosophies on how to teach a radically changing landscape of learners and educators.
Nicole Loder
ReplyDeleteBoth formative and summative assessments are used to help evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum and student growth. Formative assessments I believe provide a better view into the effectiveness of the curriculum because it is used daily. Meanwhile, summative assessments have a longer time span between data collection points, and might not provide a full picture of student growth. I believe there could be more errors in the data collected from summative assessments because students might have more anxiety over these types of assessments which could skew results. Thus, I believe more summative assessments should be given like quizzes and projects, instead of just one end-of-unit test, as this may help prevent skewed results from occurring. These types of data collection are just one way to assess the effectiveness of the curriculum. Essentially, I believe that having a more diverse assessment system can provide a better understanding of student growth, and where improvements can be made, not just in the classroom, but in the curriculum itself.