Running Head: ASSESSMENT OF LEARNERS

Planning, Preparation, Instruction, and Assessment of Learners

Jenny Leary
Regent University

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Introduction

Included in this competency is the articulation of implementations of one pre- and postassessment aligned with the Virginia SOLs and a data analysis sheet. The pre-assessment was
used to help drive my instructional planning and assess what students already knew about the
concept about to be taught. My second part of my first artifact is the post assessment, which
shows the overall effectiveness of my planning, preparation, and instruction. I have also included
a check point assessment that I gave midway through the unit to help me see what adaptations
and accommodations I needed to make in my planning for different learners
Rationale
My first artifact is a pre- and post assessment on money with a data analysis sheet. The
pre-assessment consisted of twelve questions on the characteristics, values, and equivalencies of
the US coins. This assessment aligns with Virginia SOLs and the results provided a good starting
point for me to begin my preparation for this unit. For example, I knew that some student would
need to start with the vary basics of coin identification, while other students were ready to move
on to counting coins. Many of the results from this pre-assessment were split down the middle,
so I placed students in three groups (low, middle, high) based on their scores.
The second part of my first artifact is the analysis of the post assessment. I put these two
artifacts together because it was helpful to see where students came from and where they were at
the end of the unit. Overall, students did very well on this assessment. Over half the students
received a perfect score and a few students received an eight or nine out of ten on the post
assessment. I chose this two-part artifact because I believe they both show how I used the pre
assessment results to both plan and prepare for the unit on money. It also shows how I assessed
students academic progress with a summative assessment.

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My second artifact is a checkpoint assessment I used to rearrange my groups based on

students progress. This assessment was simply counting a mixture of pennies, nickels, and
dimes. Based on the results of this checkpoint assessment, students were either put into centers
that served to reinforce the concepts taught to them or put in small group for more guided
practice with the teacher. I chose this artifact because it shows evidence of adaptations and
accommodation for different learner needs. It is also reflective of my belief that each student
learns in a different ways and it is the role of the teacher to know the best way to help each
student succeed.
Reflection
Planning a unit takes time and preparation. In my classes at Regent I have learned that
when teachers design units one of the first things they must know is how they will assess
students for understanding. There are a variety of assessment tools out there for teachers to use;
however, teachers must choose assessments that will best reflect the desired results. This may be
a test, an observation, or performance task. With this knowledge I wanted to plan and prepare
lessons and activities that will reinforce the learning objective and prepare students for the
chosen assessments.
Knowing my instructional planning would ultimately help students reach their learning
goals I wanted to address the different learning needs of each student. I didnt want to teach a
blanket lessons and hope that each students got the knowledge they were supposed to. When I
was planning for the money unit, I tended to focus on what kind of fun activities I could have
students do to reinforce the concepts. However, those activities were meaningless unless students
had the understanding necessary to complete the tasks.

ASSESSMENT OF LEARNERS

Like I mentioned earlier there are many ways to assess student learning. In my
Curriculum Design class at Regent I learned that in order for assessments to be useful it must be
ongoing. In Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe (2009) , they state,
Effective assessment is more like a scrapbook of mementos and pictures than a single snapshot.
Rather than using a single test, of one type, at the end of teaching, effective teacher-assessors
gather lots of evidence along the way (p. 152). I believe that I was able to use not only the
assessments shown here, but also informal observations and discussions to drive my instruction.

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References

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2006). Understanding by design (Expanded 2nd ed.). Upper Saddle
River, New Jersey: Pearson Education.