Learning Statement

POWELL MASTER’S PORTFOLIO 1
Learning Statement
Standard: A teacher facilitates, monitors and assesses student learning.
Assessments are necessary for many reasons. As teachers, assessments help us
know if our students are learning the information we are teaching. They also help us
develop future lessons or make changes in order to fully meet the goals we have for our
students. Using assessment data to drive instruction and track student learning outcomes,
I created this Teacher Work Sample.
Hockett and Doubet (2013), state that “pre-assessment is a way to gather evidence
of students’ readiness, interests, or learning profiles before beginning a lesson or unit and
then using that evidence to plan instruction that will meet learners’ needs.” In the Teacher
Work Sample that I created I used pre-assessment as a tool to help drive instruction for
my solar system unit during my student teaching semester. From the results of the pre-
assessment I was able to determine the prior knowledge of the students as well as what
areas they were weak in. I was then able to construct learning activities based off of this
knowledge. In addition to using pre and post assessments, I used formative assessments
such as how they did on the moon, sun and earth rotation activity as well as a compare
and contrast activity. From these assessments, I was able to determine that the students
seemed to understand how the rotation of the earth, moon and sun worked, but seemed to
be struggling with understanding how to compare and contrast two items. This was not
directly related to the science concept, but it did show me an area that they needed some
improvement in and highlighted the importance of formative assessments throughout a
unit. Tomlinson and McTighe (2006) suggest that teachers should gather multiple sources
of assessments in order to differentiate instruction with a more accurate picture of the

students’ needs. These assessments can come in various forms such as what I used in my
unit or other effective formative assessments could be used such as exit tickets, graphic
organizers, or reflection summaries. After reviewing the data that I collected from the pre
and post-test scores the class had an average learning gain of 50%. This showed me that
the unit did produce learning gains in the students so I feel that the unit was successful
overall. Being able to go through this process and know that the unit was successful is a
very valuable tool.
The idea of authentic assessments has come up in recent years. In science an
authentic assessment would mean asking students to perform a task in which a problem
needs to be solved, a task a real scientist would do (Accongio & Dorian, 1992) My pre-
test and post-test were both traditional multiple choice tests. I chose to use these for the
sake of gathering numerical data when looking at student learning outcomes. I did,
however include some authentic assessment tasks within my unit such as comparing two
planets and completing the Oreo moon phases activity. By doing this I feel I have a
balanced perspective of how my students did in the unit.
Reflecting upon the work I did in my Teacher Work Sample I feel that
assessments should be used in planning instruction, tracking how students are doing and
the overall effectiveness of the lesson or unit. Authentic assessment methods such as
problem based projects, writing, or presentations should be included as well as standard
testing practices in order to give them most genuine understanding of student learning
possible.
My work on the Teacher Work Sample not only gave me valuable information
about the importance of using assessments to drive instruction, but it also gave me insight
into how carefully planned instruction can result in greater student learning outcomes. It
also showed me the importance of reviewing data during and after a unit in order to make
changes that may be needed. Developing a Teacher Work Sample within the science
content area gave me experience developing an engaging science unit.
References
Accongio, J. L., & Doran, R. L. (1992, November 30). Classroom Assessment: Key to Reform in
Secondary Science Education. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED370774
Hockett, J.A. & Doubet, K.J. (2013). Turning on the Lights What Pre-Assessments Can Do.
Educational Leadership, 71(4), 50. Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=92606749&site=eds-
live
Tomlinson, C. A., & McTighe, J. (2006). Integrating differentiated instruction & understanding
by design: Connecting content and kids. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision
and Curriculum Development.

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POWELL MASTER’S PORTFOLIO 1

Standard: A teacher facilitates, monitors and assesses student learning.

Assessments are necessary for many reasons. As teachers, assessments help us

I created this Teacher Work Sample.

improvement in and highlighted the importance of formative assessments throughout a

of assessments in order to differentiate instruction with a more accurate picture of the

very valuable tool.

The idea of authentic assessments has come up in recent years. In science an

balanced perspective of how my students did in the unit.

problem based projects, writing, or presentations should be included as well as standard

content area gave me experience developing an engaging science unit.

Secondary Science Education. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED370774

Educational Leadership, 71(4), 50. Retrieved from

and Curriculum Development.

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