Assessment Readings

Open-Ended: This article talks about using open-ended problems to assess math students' work. I like this idea, because with the many possible solutions to the problem, students may think outside the box to find a strategy to solve the problem. Open-ended problems allow teachers to see the students thinking process and allows them to help the students where they struggle.

Options: This article talks about the different ways math can be assessed. This is often referred to as the menu choice. This article mentions how even though multiple choice may be an okay assessment, performance assessments with accurate rubrics are a much better tool to assess whether or not a student is able to apply the information in a real life situation.

Reasoning: This article is about students' ability to problem solve in mathematics. The teacher in the article had students explain what area was in their own words. This allowed the teacher to see what each student was thinking and how they were able to think or reason throughout the problem based on what the student wrote.

 Conversation: This article discusses the importance of assessing student conversations. In the example used in the article, a teacher was able to understand that the students didn't know the properties of rectangles. Then the teacher was able to do an impromptu lesson on what is considered a rectangle before moving on with the area lesson. I think assessing conversations is a great way to assess vocabulary terms. This way teachers will know if students know the correct terms and the teachers are able to clarify to make the topic more clear.

Portfolio: This article is about a teacher implementing the use of portfolios in her classroom. Portfolios are an important tool that allow teachers as well as students and parents to see the mathematical growth of the child. I love this idea of having a folder where the student can reflect back on their work. I also liked how this teacher used a certain criteria to assess the portfolio so that this was a project that encouraged the students in mathematics, instead of discouraging them.