Mokhtari Assessment Article

Summary: Has the purpose of testing and assessment in the classroom become solely to give students a letter grade? One of the key intentions of an assessment, on the teacher's end, is it allows them to make more accurate and effective curriculum and instructional decisions. However, for many teachers this not only takes up a great deal of time but it is also overwhelming when they have no training on how to use the data for instructional planning. This article models a step-by-step process on how to organize and use data consistently and efficiently.

In my last practicum at Parkview HS, I was able to observe this process amongst the all the Math teachers.  I decided to still go on a day when the students did not have class and sit in and the teacher-planning day.  Mid-morning, all the teachers of each content got together and assessed the progress they were making, how each teacher’s students were doing, how all of the Geometry students were doing, what progress they were making toward MAP Test questions, etc. They all used the same tests and were therefore able to compare data.  For example, Mr. Cherry’s students were all doing really well on a question that Mrs. Smith’s were not; so Mr. Cherry demonstrated his teaching method on that particular topic, so Mrs. Smith retaught it this way the next time and her students understood it much better. Reading this article just reconfirmed everything that I had observed.  It was really helpful for me to see that demonstrated first – while reading the article, I was able to picture what this would look like in a real life setting. 

This article reminded me though, of how easy it would be just to test students and not do anything with the data. Teachers already spend enough time working on things after hours as it is, I can't imagine wanting to take the test scores, try to analyze them on my own, and then what do I do with that information? The Data Analysis Framework for Instructional Decision Making was very easy to understand! My favorite part about it was that it forced teachers to get together and analyze their data together. This aspect is a very hot topic right now (from what I have observed and heard from current teachers) and I think it is such a great idea. Connecting how your students are doing on a test with instructional decisions can only benefit the students, teachers, and school system as a whole.

Mokhtari, K., Rosemary, C., & Edwards, P. (2008). Making instructional decisions based on data: What, how, and why. The Reading Teacher, 61(4), 354-359.