Application of Skills-Education Evaluation
Type of assessment
The type of assessment to be administered is a formal assessment. This is a conventional type of assessment used to assess the general progress of students and compare their performance with their peers (Weaver para 2). It is also used to measure the strengths and weaknesses of students. This report seeks to conduct an assessment based on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) for fifth grade (Florida Department of Education 1-40).
Assessment on Reading
Purpose of assessment
The objective of the reading assessment is to test and evaluate the reading ability of fifth-grade children. For example, students can be asked to read the story ‘Betsy Brandon meets the President’ aloud on page 4 of FCAT. This will assist the teacher in assessing whether the students are keen on word endings and other features of grammar when reading.
Specific administration considerations
A criterion-referenced test is administered in this test. This measures the student’s performance and compares them to standards that have been set. In this case, the test will not be used for comparison against other students. This specific test will enable teachers to essentially track the reading skills of students and give them scores. For instance, students are supposed to answer at least three out of six questions from the story “Betsy Brandon meets the president.”
Skills measured
The reading skills of the students are to be assessed and measured. The expected outcome is that the students should be able to read well the stories in FCAT and meet or exceed the teacher’s expected standards.
Strengths of the assessment
This assessment enables the teacher to know whether students can read a story and comprehend it. The use of criterion reference testing is advantageous to teachers because they can be able to assess students based on what has been fully covered in class, unlike standardized assessments. Through this type of assessment, students are assured of being subjected to the same test, and hence nobody is disadvantaged.
Weaknesses
This type of assessment tends to instill fear in students. Also, the assessment is difficult to administer.
Assessment of written language
Purpose of assessment
This assessment is meant to test and gauge the ability of students to write. It is conducted before and during teaching and learning to determine existing knowledge and skills students have and what programs are required to address the needs of the students. The students should construct and write well flowing sentences without making grammatical errors.
Specific administration consideration
In this case, a diagnostic assessment will be used to test the students. This type of assessment occurs at the beginning of the teaching cycle and it provides the assessor with an understanding of prior knowledge and skills that students have about a particular unit.
Skills measured
The skills measured in the assessment are written language. Assessors should expect the students to hand in scripts that have been well written. For instance, the teacher expects students to apply writing skills learned from previous grades.
Strength of assessment
This method of assessment enables teachers to determine whether the students had previous knowledge regarding what they are going to be taught. Therefore, no comprehensive introduction will be required.
Weaknesses
This technique is not effective because the teacher assesses students assuming that they have prior knowledge. However, the teachers need to establish if students have been exposed to written language before administering tests.
Works Cited
Florida Department of Education. Florida comprehension assessment Test. 2007. Web.
Weaver, Brenda. Formal versus informal assessments. 2010. Web.