What is your definition of assessment? What assessment do you do on a daily basis in your classroom?

An assessment is a tool used to measure a student’s knowledge in a subject area at the particular point in time that the assessment is administered.  There are multiple ways to measure the acquisition of knowledge. These range from simple behavior observation to the administering of validated assessment tools. Assessment should be used to inform instruction as to which direction to go in order to meet the educational objective.

On a daily basis, I use verbal questions and oral responses to assess if students are engaged in the subject and if they can apply the concepts being taught. This is usually followed by paper based assessment such as end of lesson quiz, or check what you know. Following a unit of instruction I administer the curriculum based assessment that is provided by the publisher of the curriculum and enter the scores into the district database. I also do supplementary assessments that I use to report progress on the IEP goals.

I believe in a formative assessment approach. I am consistently assessing as I teach.  Assessment and teaching are cycles that inform each other. I assess so that I know how to differentiate instruction for each student. A good balance of assessment includes both formative, which is test as you go, and summative, that is test for the outcome of the objective.