Serene Stephens

Assignment 2 ePortfolio

17305103

Task 4:
Professional Teacher Assessment Identity
As a pre-service teacher my philosophy is still developing. However, I believe it is important that
students are given fair and equal opportunities to develop their understanding with constant
support and constructive feedback. I will ensure that all students needs are catered for and are
given the opportunity to display their understanding and skills in various forms.
It is crucial that children are given opportunities to develop their understanding as individuals
through personal and authentic experiences. According to constructivist theorists such as Dewey,
Piaget, Vygotsky and Montessori the focus is on learning through experience and connecting prior
knowledge to those developed in the classroom (Lake, 2000: Learning Theories, 2016). In this way
my assessment philosophy is influenced by very constructivist concepts. Constructivist theories
encourage making learning meaningful by drawing on prior knowledge which I consider an
important aspect of learning (Lake, 2000: Learning Theories, 2016). I believe assessment plays a very
important role in teaching and students learning. It is needed in order to determine how students
understand and develop. It provides the teacher with necessary information that will help the
teacher guide students learning by allowing them to perceive students strengths, weaknesses and
misconceptions. Assessment not only assists students outcomes but also provides the teacher with
valuable information on how to improve further teaching. There are many reasons why assessment
is a needed process for learning. Essentially it is to develop students understanding to support them
in becoming successful learners that are confident and informed citizens which is the aim of the
Australian Curriculum (Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority, 2013).
Assessment can be a daunting experience for both the educator and students. In order for teachers
to create a positive attitude towards assessment, they can educate themselves to become
assessment literate. I feel that learning is a lifelong experience not only for the students but also for
the educator. It is my belief that the educator should be literate with assessment through reviewing
and planning personal assessment practices with the Australian Institute for Teaching and School
Leaderships standard 5 (AITSL, 2014). The standard states the necessity in doing assessment, giving
feedback and reporting students learning (AITSL, Std. 5, 2014). I also believe that it is important to
engage in networking practices with fellow educators to gain a variety of assessment tools, methods
and feedback to improve personal assessment strategies (Readman & Allen, 2015). I will strive to
curate examples of assessment practices and gather information and feedback on how to improve
assessment tasks from seasoned educators. This will also assist in improving my assessment journey
through applying the AITSL standard 5 (AITSL, Std. 5, 2014). Standard 5 requires the graduate to be
competent in demonstrating a variety of assessment strategies including diagnostic, formal and
summative before providing appropriate feedback to students. On my previous practicum one of the
tasks required was to plan and carry out a summative assessment as well as provide feedback to
students and report these findings to the mentor teacher. I achieved this through planning and
teaching a unit of work in mathematics that concluded with a summative assessment. I created the
assessment based on content descriptors and achievement standards of the Australian curriculum
(ACARA, 2013). I then formulated and designed a rubric with specific criteria of required outcomes. A
copy of the rubric was then presented to each student and the requirements discussed thoroughly
to the class. Students assessments were marked on completion before the assessment was
discussed, reflected on and constructive feedback provided. This is in conjunction with standard 5.2
which states that students should be provided with feedback on their learning (AITSL, Std. 5.2, 2014).
A checklist was created, as per mentors instruction in order to report on students learning and
provide rewards.

EDPR3005 Professional Studies and Evaluating Learning

Serene Stephens

Assignment 2 ePortfolio

17305103

Another task that I was required to complete was to tutor a group of students that needed extra
mathematics assistance, for which I needed to create anecdotal notes to provide the mentor with
information on the progress of each child. I found these experiences helpful in developing my
assessment practices. I constructed a diagnostic assessment at the start of the tutoring to determine
each students developmental level. At the end of each session I did a formative ongoing assessment
by writing notes for each students progress to provide the teacher with anecdotal notes on
information of their learning. I believe that diagnostic assessments is needed as it provides the
teacher with important data on students prior and current knowledge needed for the teacher to
develop strategies to further their learning. Formative on going assessments are essential as they
allow the teacher to see students progress and develop activities and learning experiences for
students to reach required outcomes.

I still need to improve on these skills but I believe in keeping students informed throughout the
process. Another aspect of assessment that I found to be effective during the practical placement
when carried out correctly was peer marking and marking of own work. This procedure allowed the
students to reflect and learn from the assessment process to focus their future efforts on
improvement. I learnt during the practical placement that the students attitude towards assessment
is greatly influenced by the educator. Whether students feel pressured depends on the teachers
assessment practice, approach and preparation to the assessment. The mentors assessment
method shaped students attitudes so that the rewarding of achievement was seen as a personal
challenge and acknowledgement of efforts. I believe this method might not be very prudent in some
aspects as students may feel uncomfortable with failure and become competitive for the wrong
reasons. However, with the proper approach this method could create an environment where

EDPR3005 Professional Studies and Evaluating Learning

Serene Stephens

Assignment 2 ePortfolio

17305103

students do not feel intimidated when approached with assessment, as in the professional
practicum. Overall I learned valuable assessment practices during the practicum which I will apply
when teaching.
I believe that as an educator I am responsible for planning assessments to challenge students
knowledge. I will encourage higher order thinking as well as reflective practices while making sure
that the motive is clear and related to what students know, to avoid confusion. I will make
assessments worthwhile by constructively aligning learning and assessment together. It is also
critical that assessment relates to real-life situations, this can be applied through authentic
assessment principles. I believe that a range of assessment tasks should be used as everyone has a
different learning style. This should include both formative and summative forms of assessment as
students learn in various ways. Formative assessments are ongoing and allow the educator to gain
vital information on students prior knowledge while providing constant feedback. On the other
hand, summative assessments help the teacher to improve teaching and further students future
needs by targeting students strengths and weaknesses. Hence both forms of assessment are
beneficial for improving students learning. The choice on the form of assessment also depends on
the subject area and what is being taught. I feel that this also includes the style of assessment such
as informal and formal assessments as both are critical for different reasons. Informal assessment
focuses on content and is performance driven rather than data driven, for example running records.
Conversely formal assessment has data to support test conclusions such as tests that base current
results with past percentages or scores. I believe that as everyone has a different way of learning it is
important to incorporate different techniques when teaching and assessing students.
There are many different assessment methods depending on the educators approach to assessment
that align with the AITSL standards (AITSL, 2014). As stated previously I think that it is the educators
responsibility to personally collaborate and improve on their assessment practices. Providing
students with a range of assessment strategies that are meaningful and valid as defined by standard
5.1 is also an area that I value (AITSL, Std. 5.1, 2014). I also believe in the importance of providing
students with clear precise criteria on the assessment requirements; this may include giving each
student a copy of the rubric to follow (for upper primary). As a teacher I will take responsibility by
ensuring that students have a positive approach to assessment and are motivated to be assessed.
Students should be given constructive and informative feedback in order for them to reflect and
improve on their learning (Readman & Allen, 2015). This process should include room for
improvement and learning on the educators part in order to modify teaching practice as well as
evaluate student learning so that it can be reported to the appropriate party using diverse strategies
(AITSL, Std. 5.4, 5.5, 2014). I strongly believe that these qualities are the foundation of a solid
effective teaching assessment philosophy.
I strive to align my assessment practices to ethical considerations as outlined by the Australian
standards 7.1 where educators need to meet professional ethics and have certain responsibilities to
fulfil (AITSL, Std. 7.1, 2014). I believe that students should be treated with equal and fair principles.
The Australian Curriculum enforces the equity for all students regardless of circumstance,
background, location, race or gender (ACARA, 2013). I aim to implement the values stated in the
code of conduct provided by the Department of education (Department of education, 2011). I will
achieve this through practices that are positive, encouraging and challenging. As the educator I will
also align with a flexible approach to assessment strategies to accommodate for differences such as
learning difficulties, disabilities or speakers of another language (TESOL). Confidentiality of students
work is another important aspect of assessment as well as student well-being. I will always put the
students well-being first as a students mindset and experiences can affect learning and assessment
outcomes.

EDPR3005 Professional Studies and Evaluating Learning

Serene Stephens

Assignment 2 ePortfolio

17305103

There are many attributes that make an effective assessment teaching philosophy. As I am a preservice teacher I still have a lot of developing and growing to do in this area. However, I believe that
students need to learn and grow through real life experiences where they can apply and develop
prior knowledge. I align with the belief that teaching should be student centred where the teacher is
the facilitator as defined by constructivist theories. As an educator about to teach 21st century
learners I believe that I am fortunate to be in an era where I can learn, curate, use and collect
information from such rich sources and seasoned professionals that are in the field. An asset that I
will also apply to assist me on my assessment practice journey is technology, as I believe that it will
be a great source for finding, curating and recording data and assessments. To conclude, I will strive
to be an effective teacher that considers students differences and motivates them to grow and
mature into successful and independent 21st century learners.

EDPR3005 Professional Studies and Evaluating Learning