Purposeful Assessment

The following scenarios are proposed to help gain knowledge as to the most appropriate assessment and/or intervention for each child. Each child has their own issues and behaviors that limits his or her learning, but both would benefit from different assessments.

Purposeful assessments require frequent opportunities to examine student performance in a variety of formats (Cobb, 2003). Black and William (1998) stated that assessments that are frequent and short are more effective than assessments that are infrequent and lengthy.

Purposeful assessments are important to educators because if we are going to start making a difference, then we need to start doing things differently (International Reading Association, 2000).

Kalil is an 8-year old boy in third grade. His teacher has noticed Kalil's behavior has gotten worse as the year progresses. He is constantly out of his seat, yells out, interrupts the teacher's lessons, and talks back. His behavior in the cafeteria and specials classes is even worse. The teachers are constantly reporting his rude and disruptive behavior. He is also failing every subject and has a difficult time focusing on anything for more than a couple minutes. Although he seems to not care about his grades, his teacher knows better and has formed a great relationship with him over the course of the school year. She can tell that he wants to do better, but it appears he doesn't know how to correct his impulsive behavior. There isn't much support at home, as his mother responds to the teacher's request for meetings, but never shows. His teacher is oftentimes at a loss and feels helpless when it comes to helping Kalil. 

Suzie is a bright, observant, and likeable 7-year old child, but a terror in the classroom. Suzie will not sit down at carpet time and wanders around when she is not supposed to. When she is corrected, she will growl and/or make loud animal noises. She also has been known to bite and snarl. She has openly told the adults in her classroom that she enjoys when the adults chase her around the classroom. Suzie talks excessively and seems to always needs adult attention. She does well on her schoolwork, but cannot sit still and shouts out randomly and is a constant disruption to her classmates. At home, she does not display these actions. Teachers have tried time outs and breaks where she can leave the room, but as soon as she reenters, the behaviors begin again. Teachers are at a loss as to how they can help Suzie reach her full potential.

References

Black, P., & William, D. (1998). Inside the black box: Raising standards through classroom

assessment. Retrieved April 1, 2003, from http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kbla9810.htm

Cobb, C. (2003). Effective instruction begins with purposeful assessments. Reading Teacher,

57(4), 386-388.

International Reading Association. (2000). Making a difference means making it different:

Honoring children’s rights to excellent reading instruction. Newark, DE: Author.