Hi everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed the sun today – I can’t believe there was snow on the ground only a week ago!
This week we discussed instruction and assessment. I really enjoyed exploring how to select and analyze assessments, and I found the worksheet “Constructing and Evaluating Assessment Types” to be especially beneficial. I found it incredibly useful to see examples of poorly written assessment questions alongside improved versions, and I think this will be a useful tool when evaluating potential assessments in the future. One key takeaway I had from this activity was the importance of consistency. Consistency is key not only in the clarity of individual questions, but across the entire assessment from the format of the test to the balance of true vs. false statements. One of my favorite insights from this discussion was the idea of questioning why we would ever feel the need to “trick” students on an assessment, and to consider what the true purpose of an assessment is – to measure student understanding, not to catch them off guard or make them feel inadequate.
I think my biggest takeaway from this week’s class is that as educators, we are not just responsible for ensuring the assessments that we use are well-constructed, but also for carefully examining the materials we inherit or adopt from other sources. It is easy to assume that a lesson or assessment is effective simply because it has been used before, but educational standards and best practices evolve, and it is crucial to ensure that instructional materials remain relevant and high quality. Some lessons may contain outdated perspectives, assessment methods that do not align with objectives, or instructional approaches that do not engage students in meaningful learning. Using tools like the Virginia Quality Criteria Review Tool can help determine whether a lesson/assessment should be modified, replaced, or used as-is. This process ensures that both formative and summative assessments truly measure student understanding rather than just checking for memorization.
I found the Virginia Quality Criteria Review Tool to be a useful jumping off point when evaluating previously made lessons/assessments. Have you come across any challenges when revising or replacing inherited lesson plans and assessments? Is there a way to ensure that we’re using high-quality instructional materials without constantly having to reinvent the wheel? Are there small modifications that could make a big impact?
Thanks for reading! Let’s continue the conversation in the comments!
-Emily
Hey Emily!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on analyzing assessment types! I agree that my biggest takeaway from the week was how many instructional materials from trusted sources are actually poorly constructed, low quality, and simply ineffective for teaching students crucial objectives. When analyzing all of the example assessments in class, I was most shocked by the amount of simple grammatical and vocabulary mistakes. I can better grasp my head around inconsistencies with content and execution, but to have issues with the foundations of education and language is crazy! I have not had much experience with revising/replacing lesson plans/assessments however, I feel like the biggest challenge for me will just be the fact that they are inherited and possibly unable to be changed. I’m very big on constant reevaluation and revision, and if I was in a school environment that limited me from taking the opportunity to update and reinvent some of the plans/assessments, I think that would be hard to swallow. I understand there are standards, expectations, and guidelines that must be followed; however, I think there is a level of agency that teachers should be allowed to exercise to continue to provide high-quality instruction to students and effective feedback to institutions that provide instructional materials. I think some modifications to the approval process of these inherited resources to ensure the best level of instruction and content.
Once again, thank you!
Hi Emily! Thank you for this great blog post!
I definitely completely agree that seeing examples of poorly written questions alongside improved versions can be very useful, and honestly for me it opened my eyes to several different ways in which questions can be changed to be much clearer. It also made me realize how easy it is to overlook small wording issues that can make a question confusing, and having clear examples makes it easier to develop a critical eye for assessment design.
I also liked your point that assessments should have a consistent format and balance in question types. This makes a lot of sense to me as I agree that students should be able to focus on demonstrating their knowledge, instead of not getting tricked by poorly worded or formatted questions. Assessments should always be about measuring understanding, not about catching students off guard, and I feel as though in my experience with tests and many teachers growing up, and even into college, that was not always the case, which has always really frustrated me.
As I have not had as much experience in creating lesson plans, I have not come across many challenges when revising or replacing inherited lesson plans, but I could definitely see that being an issue. I also wonder about teachers re-using their own materials from previous years, if as time goes on, they realize that that strategy was not the best way to teach something, or an assessment was not the best it could be. Have any of you had to edit your own lesson plans later on down the road?
Thanks again for this great post Emily! I hope you have a great weekend!!
Hi Emily!
I also agree with you; I feel like I have a whole new outlook on what to look for in assignments and assessments. Sometimes, when assignments look visually appealing, they do not always contain the best content and instructions. I feel like before class and learning about evaluating assignments. I would just skim the assignment or look at the visuals and call it good. As you said, consistency is very important. I find this to be true with teaching as well as assignments and assessments. Having a worksheet that has consistency in how it is asking the questions allows the student to focus more on the content and what they are being asked than how to understand the question format.
I will definitely use the Virginia Quality Criteria Review Tool in my own classroom one day to find good materials for my students that will benefit their learning. Using this tool will allow me to make sure my work is meeting the criteria and benefitting my students’ learning, not just giving them a worksheet to pass the time.
From my perspective as a substitute teacher, I have found that sometimes the worksheets that are left cause the students a lot of confusion and are just busy work. I feel like the worksheets are not always checked to make sure they are accurate and aligned with what the students are learning. I have found that in many classes across different grades. I think that without having to reinvent the wheel, all that instructors have to do is pay more attention to what they are giving their students. Just because it looks good from the outside does not mean it is great. So just taking the extra couple minutes to make sure it is up to par before giving it to them would do the job. I think small modifications could include font, color, and text size. I think these would all tie back into consistency and make it more beneficial to the learner.
Thank you for sharing.
Ryleigh
Hi Emily! Thanks for providing some thought provoking questions on assessment.
I also enjoyed analyzing assessments, and found the worksheet “Constructing and Evaluating Assessment Types” to be a good tool, along with the examples of not so good assessments. Thoughtful formatting, including blanks of the same length, alphabetic or numeric organization, and making sure the question asks for a specific answer- these are things we valued as students, but I never thought too much about what went into the preparation of the assessments. As educators, we must carefully examine materials from other sources. Dr. Stohr’s Science class interactive notebook project allowed for a lot of review of premade assessments and plans as we worked to make our own. I think it would be an interesting exercise to make an assessment and then have it reviewed against the worksheet to see how many best practices we can utilize, and how much time it takes to be intentional with format and design.
The Virginia Quality Criteria Review Tool was also a solid tool to review a lesson against, to allow it to be modified, replaced, or used as-is. I did run into a few challenges when I was doing the science project, which incorporated lesson plans, but they were challenges that made me think harder about what was doable for students and how to provide clear directions. I’m looking forward to building on Dr. Stohr’s online resources for lesson planning, and other educator and organization provided high-quality instructional materials.
This lesson was a good reminder to review and verify each assessment before giving it to students- especially if we are reusing one created by others. Thanks again for the post, and I look forward to getting more practice in assessment creation!
Hi Emily,
Thanks for the blog post, and I’m glad you also enjoyed the beautiful weather the past few days!
Looking at the materials, it’s really interesting to see the different assessments and think about how they could help or hinder students. I personally think assessments are always super helpful when students are able to work with their knowledge rather than just be encouraged to memorize the content. The Virginia Quality Criteria Review would be a great tool for this!
I haven’t had too much experience revising lesson plans or assessments, but I think one has to be careful when doing so, and make sure they are looking over all the details provided. This will allow them to catch and tweak any parts of the lesson plan they may want to change. Using lesson plans can be so helpful at saving time for busy teachers, but I do think it is important to make sure your lessons still reflect previous ways your students have learned from you!
Thanks again for the great post, and have a great rest of your week!
Hi Emily!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this past lesson. I also found this class to be a great reminder on how diligently we have to craft our assessments in order to not create confusion. The portion of this class that most stood out to me was when we looked at different tests that are regularly administered at schools in Chesterfield. It was very problematic to me how easily we were able to find issues with these assessments, even though most of us have not yet begun working in a classroom. While lessons created by another teacher might be helpful as a starting point, I think that it is important to first take the test yourself and then compare to a standard for assessments, such as the Virginia Quality Review Tool. I believe that if you are not confident in the quality and means in which you are assessing your students, you are disrespecting the profession.
While I have never assigned a formal assessment, I have created worksheets for students based off of other content I have found online. I always like to edit them so that they relate more directly to the content we are learning and the students’ style of learning. Although this process can be tedious, I believe that it is essential. Additionally, if you stay organized, you should be able to keep this content for future years.
Thank you again for the post and have a great weekend!
Hi Emily,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and reflection with us. I really enjoyed the class on Monday. It tapped into many topics that even though us teachers sometimes can’t change how assessment was designed, but having a critical view over what is handed to us can give teachers more opportunities to improve the learning and assessing what students have learnt. I particularly resonated with your critique of assessments designed to “trick” students. It raises a critical question about the ethics of assessment design. When we shift our perspective to view assessments as tools for understanding rather than as barriers or obstacles, we create a more supportive learning environment. Instead of focusing on catching mistakes, assessments should empower students to demonstrate their knowledge and think critically. Transparent assessments that clearly communicate expectations can also foster trust between educators and students.
Additionally, I think it’s valuable to consider the role of formative assessments in this conversation. Regular, low-stakes assessments provide opportunities for ongoing feedback and allow students to track their progress over time. This approach not only reduces the pressure of high-stakes testing but also encourages a growth mindset by emphasizing learning as a continuous process. Also, how valuable it is to have proper, regular formative assessment in different forms to cater to students’ diverse needs—especially, this would be extra help for classes that have a majority of ESL students.
I also really enjoyed looking closely at different lesson plans and learning about the various effective approaches within each plan. Having a clear timeframe and maintaining consistency between objectives and student activities are some of the key elements that make a lesson effective. Overall, given the diverse sources we can find on the Internet to teach a certain topic, it’s critical to analyze the quality and alignment of these resources with our learning goals to ensure they truly support student understanding and engagement.
Thank you once again Emily! Have a beautiful weekend!
Hi Emily! Thank you for your post!
I have definitely encountered challenges when revising lesson plans. The most challenging part is editing lesson plans for the students you are teaching. You have to make sure that all students are receiving the best standards for them. Using the Virginia Quality Criteria Review Tool is beneficial for helping teachers, especially new teachers, evaluate the materials they are using. I am excited to learn more about how I can improve lessons.
There are ways to use high-quality instructional materials without reinventing the wheel. Even though all public materials are not good, that doesn’t mean many things out there are not. Some minor modifications that will help improve lessons are simplifying language, using pictures when they fit the assignment, and making sure they are not purposefully tricky. High instruction is easy to find, but you need to know where to look and how to double-check the materials.
Thank you again, Emily, for your post! Have a great rest of your weekend!
Mackenzie Woody
Thank you for sharing Emily,
My favorite source given to us during class was Bloom’s Taxonomy to Align Assignments. It helps align the goals and objectives of the lesson with how best to evaluate students’ understanding and capabilities. Starting with what is the best way to test understanding, and then finding or creating assessments that do that is a key step in the process. Once you’ve found the best way to evaluate understanding, you can use the Virginia Quality Criteria Review Tool to review the assessments you’ve found or created.
The activity where we got to review a test and discuss its shortcomings and successes was helpful and a confidence boost, I was able to point out what I thought was a problem and articulate the ways I would want to improve the test for my students.
I am undergraduate student and so I have not had to revise anyone elses lesson plans and assessments, but I can imagine it could be challenging to improve lessons that don’t exactly align with the information you’re teaching or needs extensive revising to be better suited for students (clarity, no tricky questions, etc). I think it’s difficult to ensure that we’re using high-quality instructional materials when there aren’t national standards or criteria. For example if you are using a teacher’s material from another state, learning standards may be different and would involve extensive editing to be suitable for your students. Small modifications that I could see having a big impact is the resource “Conducting and Evaluating Assessment Types”, it gives lots of helpful ways to avoid making mistakes that are detrimental to our students success.
Hi Emily! Thanks so much for your post. I have been enjoying the sunny weekend! I agree that the “Constructing and Evaluating Assesment Types” was very beneficial to compare to well and poorly-written assessments, and resources like these will continue to be helpful in my own practice, especially when I am a new teacher and creating assessments for my students. I also completely agree that “tricking” students is unnecessary and does not align with the true purpose of an evaluation, not to mention the hit these types of questions can have on students’ self-esteem/how they view themselves as a student. I also agree that teachers must ensure that the material they use is high quality and relevant to their students. Especially in an age where it is easy to find materials online, teachers may believe that because other teachers have used a lesson or assessment and posted it, it is effective, but this is not always the case. Although I haven’t gotten much experience with revising assessments or lesson plans, I imagine that it is challenging to update these assessments so they are the best fit for your classroom while also keeping relevant information. To ensure that high-quality materials are used, one slight modification that can be made is using materials like the Boom’s Taxonomy sheet we looked at in class to help evaluate and refine previous assessments without creating entirely new ones. Thanks again for a great post!
Hi Emily! Thank you for your post! I love the warmer weather this week and hope you are, too! I also really enjoyed learning more about how assessments are made and thinking deeper about what makes an assessment good. Like you, the handout, “Constructing and Evaluating Assessment Types,” was very helpful in seeing how a good assessment is made. My favorite part of the handout was the section on multiple-choice questions. I can think back to my time in school and recall many times when I took a multiple-choice test or quiz and felt that the answers were either confusing or trying to trick me into thinking the correct answer was not right, so I related to your post and our discussion on this. There is no need to make a test so tricky that it causes students to fail. Assessments should be a tool for measuring understanding of the material, not a way of causing unnecessary stress and confusion.
Your insight about inherited instructional materials is also very important. It’s easy to assume that because something has been used before, it’s effective, but as you said, educational standards and best practices evolve. Using tools like the Virginia Quality Criteria Review Tool is a great way to make sure materials stay relevant. It was very interesting looking at materials put out by surrounding districts and credible websites during our last class because so many did not fit the criteria from the Virginia Quality Criteria Review Tool. I was surprised how many questions and assignments seemed hastily through together without much thought into how to make each question straightforward.
As for ensuring high-quality instructional materials without constantly reinventing the wheel, I think collaboration is key. Sharing resources and best practices with other educators can help us refine and improve lessons without starting from scratch each time. Have you found any specific strategies or small modifications that have made a big difference in your experience? Thank you again for your post! Have a great week!
Hi Emily,
Thank you for your post. I agree that class was beneficial because I never thought about a bad assessment or assessments that want to trick students. Our kindergarten team has definitely revised assessments that were handed down to us. Some were outdated and some had too many answers that may be right. I would rather make sure the student had a firm grasp on the material instead of stressing them out.
Virginia Quality Criteria Review Tool is a great resource that I will share with the teachers I work with. We have 7 first and second year teachers who can use all the support they can get.
I hope you enjoyed your week. Thanks for your post.