EDP 303 Portfolio

1. EDP 303 Portfolio Ronda Nisbet – Spring 2005

2. Rationale The following presentation is an overview of the work generated from EDP303 an Assessment and Evaluation Devices course at Miami University Oxford, Ohio. This presentation will take you through a variety of documents and websites that were explored during the semester and explain how they deepened my understanding of assessing students in the middle grades.

3. Index • Syllabus • Weekly Calendar • APA Code of Ethics • Reflections and Reactions • Handouts • Field Assignments • Test Analysis Paper • Conclusion

4. Syllabus The professor, Dr. Sherman, created a detailed syllabus to use during the semester. It was a valuable tool for understanding the objectives of the course. The assessment for the grading system was outlined and resources were available to aid us throughout the semester in creating professional and complete assignments. I referred to this page on a regular basis when I had questions about the course or assignments.

5. Weekly Calendar • An online weekly calendar was available as a link from the course syllabus. This method of communication allowed changes in the syllabus to made as necessary and inform each student along the way. • The calendar also included links to different web pages. Review of the web pages were beneficial for discussions during lecture each week. • This tool was valuable. I enjoy knowing what is expected and this eliminated any doubts that I might have had.

6. APA Code of Ethics • The APA Code of Ethics should be on every teachers computer desktop. The information in this document describes different standards and ethics that are taken into consideration when test are generated. • There are other Web Sites that help explain the ethics behind fair testing. This is important because all teachers should be considerate of all students when they are being assessed with testing. • PDF Files & Word Documents\apaFinalCode.pdf • Websites\National Survey Fair and Open Test.html

7. Reflections and Reactions • Throughout the sixteen weeks of this course, students reacted to prompts on a class discussion website. In all, there were ten reflections and reactions. • This was a creative tool to keep communications and class discussions going. The class time in this course was very limited and class discussion during class time was not possible.

8. Reflections and Reactions • Reflection and Reaction #1 • Reflection and Reaction #2 • Reflection and Reaction #3 • Reflection and Reaction #4 • Reflection and Reaction #5 • Reflection and Reaction #6 • Reflection and Reaction #7 • Reflection and Reaction #8 • Reflection and Reaction #9 • Reflection and Reaction #10

9. Handouts • Various handouts were available on line from the weekly class schedule. • Bloom’s Taxonomy was discussed in many of our classes throughout the semester. This guided us to in writing objectives for lesson plans using action verbs. • Scoring Rubrics were discussed with connections to Eric’s Digest by explaining the rationale behind the rubric system. • Standardized testing was a major discussion throughout this course. An article about SAT testing was presented for our review and the impacts this test has on students. • Domain standards and Ohio State Standards were discussed and websites were provided to link us to additional information to use when creating lesson plans. • When we were assigned to different schools for our field assignments, we could link to the Ohio Report Card and find information about the school district and the make-up of the school. • These are just some of the resources gained from this course.

10. Field Assignments During the two field placements during this methods block, we were asked to interview our cooperating teachers about their assessment strategies. This was informative and interesting. I believe that these four assignments provided some of the most valuable information during this course. It provided us with an opportunity to see how assessment works instead of being told how it works. This assignment supports the idea of Social Constructivism.

11. Field Assignments • Field Assignment #1 - Ohio Proficiency Testing • Field Assignment #2 - Assessment Strategies • Field Assignment #3 - Preparing Test and Managing Time • Field Assignment #4 - Assigning Grades to Students

12. Test Analysis Paper • This assignment provided us with an opportunity to explore the program ExamPro, a test bank and test generating program. • I enjoyed getting to explore this program and discovering how beneficial it will be in the future. • We were also asked to analyze the reliability of our test and its validity using the Tap Program.

13. Conclusion Understanding assessment has become an important part of my philosophy for teaching. This is a pivotal tool in knowing if our students understand what is being taught and if the objectives of the lessons are being met. Through this course, I have discovered that assessment is not just providing the students with summative test at the end of a unit. It is a collaboration of various tools that aid in understanding students. When assessment is done properly, each student will given an opportunity to exhibit his/her knowledge in a unique way. Keeping this information well organized will provide ways of connecting with our students and their families. This can be easily done with programs such as Tucows grading book.