What stood out the most to me with this article was how the
majority of the information that is collected on each child this way is
subjective. I know that often I get so caught up in test scores and numerical
data that at times I forget about the importance of taking note of students’
tendencies and habits. The way that she records everything from students’
comments, ideas and attitudes, to more detailed information about punctuation,
spelling and capitalization, I can see how it would provide teachers with a
template for coming up with lessons based on students’ needs. This could also
provide a reference point to refer back to in order to get an idea of student
progress throughout the year similar to how we have used the prominent features
analysis with the fall and spring writing prompts.
I agree with you Mark. The habits and unique personalities of our students get lost in the mountains of data and unfortunately cause us to narrow our vision of the potential of each child which is not revealed by a test score.
ReplyDeleteMark and Paula, I completely agree. I've always found that the most valuable data is the information I get from actually interacting with students. Numbers on a test have never been the whole picture.
ReplyDeleteIn thinking more on this, moving past test scores and using formative assessment data along with anecdotal notes better equips teachers to meet with parents. Sometimes those numbers on tests don't resonate with parents. Seeing student work and how we interact with students is a powerful way to supplement those standardized scores.
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