Personal Code of Ethics for Assessment
1. Accommodating Students with Disabilities: assessment modifications/ accommodations
In order to present an effective inclusive classroom, I as the instructor will have to craft assessments that touch on all forms of intelligences while at the same time being fair for all students. So often we hear the phrase: “Inclusion can work, when it’s done right”… It’s done right when time and care are taken to ensure that all students are being offered an opportunity to succeed and display their true intelligence.
2. To interpret students’ performance on one assessment by considering the results from other assessments (pg.92)
If I were to be judged to be worthy for qualification into the Teacher Education Program at SUNY Brockport based on my performance on a test that I took on my worst day, I would be washing dishes for a living (although, having said that, who would have known that a 2-year old could create so many dishes). Everyone has a bad day and there are times where it is necessary to consider a students’ track record when considering their score on an assessment.
3. To interpret a students’ performance as a way of evaluating his attainment of learning targets rather than as a weapon for punishing or controlling students’ behavior (pg.92)
Using the fear of passing an assessment as a form of motivation plays on a dangerous double edged sword. Getting students motivated to pay attention, or to study by inspiring fear may be effective at times, with certain students. However, that effectiveness is often overshadowed by the anxiety that it will inspire in students who we are looking to teach, not scare.
4. To score student responses accurately (pg. 90)
This is basically self-explanatory. If we are going to give assessments, no matter the form, we owe it to ourselves and our students to score their responses correctly. This can range from using an answer key for multiple choice questions to applying a rubric to short answer or essay responses.
5. To take my students culture, upbringing, family history and environment into account when creating and administering an assessment
There is more to education than simply teaching tests, gaining knowledge and passing standardized assessments. To Teach is to know both ourselves and those who we are trying to influence. We cannot do this if we do not know who our students are, what they can bring to the proverbial table from their own lives and how what they have experienced through the lens of their lives has shaped who and what they are. If we teach only to get people from point A to point B as quickly and cheaply as possibly, we fall flat on our faces in terms of solving the very real, and very tragic problems that face our education system and our students. We are teachers. We do what we are.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
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4 comments:
I was very intrigued by your #3....It is very true! We as educators will sometimes try to create something good but then see ad adverse affect from it. Too many students have anxiety regarding their grade! We need to make it sound important but also in a way that will make them feel motivated and not so scared to the point where they perform badly because of anxiety!
Hey Terry. I particulary liked your number one. I feel that all students learn in different ways and nothing short of hard work and planning will address these needs. There is always more than one way fo something to be done and we as teachers have to be open to that. Good post.
This post is in 100% fulfillment of the assignment. I usually don't dive into these depths, but because I know how amenable you are to such discussions, here goes.
Your last point is important, but I feel it's brought up more than is necessary. I'm not passing judgment on its place in this post - I cannot dictate what is important to you - but in our field, the moral justification for teaching has been used to excuse a lot of, shall I quote Arne Duncan, "mediocrity."
Even a court of law cannot judge who someone *is*, they can only judge what they do. But if we teachers do what we *are*, how are we supposed to determine who is an adequate teacher? And how do we know if teacher prep programs are adequately changing who the teaching candidates *are*?
It's not a problem to believe in a moral justification for one's pursuits, but relying on them is a problem. It is my opinion that we, as a field, are unprepared to counter the government's calls for accountability because we have focused so much on the moral aspects of teaching.
Jeremy,
I agree with a lot of what you said. There is no question that it is imperative that we are able, as professionals to determine who is and who is not doing an adequate job. There has to be a level of accountability in what we do. No moral justification for teaching excuses poor teaching. My heart can be totally in it, but that does not make me an exceptional teacher.
That being said, having worked the past year in urban education. And having two sibling who work in an urban environment, I know first hand that student results on formal assessments are in no way a reflection of a teacher's ability.
There is no way to compare a student from Hilton, or Brockport, or god forbit Pittsford, to a student from East High, or Freddie Thomas.
I was looking through my student's first marking period report cards the other day and found myself being content with students who had gotten a 2.0 or above. I stopped myself and realized that a 2.0 at Freddie Thomas is not going to prepare that student for life after high school.
Having said that, how then do you rate teacher ability on test results from student's who come from such different backgrounds and have such different advantages and disadvantages before they ever step foot in a school.
The system we have is broken. I don't have any idea where to begin to fix it.
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