There are many great educational blogs that speak to assessment as well as using technology for assessment. Kelly Goodrich writes a blog for the NWEA and in her article Make Assessment Matter: A New Report from NWEA she analyzes a survey of administrators, teachers, and children to discover why assessment matters and what students want from tests. Goodrich discovered several important findings: First, “students want a voice on assessments and on their education”. Second, “students and educators value assessments—when they support learning”. Third, “collaboration empowers educators to interpret and use assessment results”. Fourth, “students and educators see silver linings in technology-based testing including increased student engagement”. Finally, “major gaps persist in assessment literacy” (2014). This blog post emphasizes the importance of several aspects of my inquiry project. It is important that all parties are involved in meaningful assessment that connects to learning outcomes. Teachers need to be well educated on how to assess students in order to help their students become a meaningful part of assessment. Not only should their collaboration between students and teachers, other educators and administrators must collaborate and learn together about assessment. Finally, more time and energy must be put towards having useful technology that will actually work properly to help teachers with assessment. This article supports the importance of well-organized assessment that can become even more meaningful with the integration of technology. In order to meet the needs of students, teachers, and administrators when it comes to assessment then steps must be taken towards more collaboration, education, and a close examination of existing assessment practices.
Goodrich, K. (2014, May 6). Make Assessment Matter: A New Report from NWEA. Retrieved from https://www.nwea.org/blog/2014/make-assessment-matter-new-report-nwea/