Informal Assessment

Checklists - A list of items with a place ot check whether or not each behavior is present and perhaps to what degree. These are used to help organize observations as well as to plan instruction. Teachers can use the checklists to compare evidence of behavior over time.

Observations - Observation involves teachers watching closely a particular student's behavior while the student is engaged in a specific activity; it takes place in an authentic setting. Methods for recording observations include:

sticky notes
• gummed address labels
• index cards
• computer
• your own method

 

Interest Inventories - Instruments designed to reveal a student's interests, not only about school subjects, but also in outside activities; use the information gained from the inventories to build your classroom library and to help children select books

Attitude/self-concept checks - This type of informal assessment checks a child's self-concept, his/her attitudes towards school and learning, and are used to inform instruction.

Work samples - Provide evidence of a student's actual work. Before collecting, you should determine a purpose for collecting the samples and determine which pieces you want to collect to meet your goals.

Conferences - This informal assessment tool is a meeting between you, the teacher, and the student. During this short meeting, you can discuss some aspect of the student's work. This meaningful conversation with the teacher will allow your student to develop a risk-taking frame of mind. The steps of a conference include:

1. Explain the purpose and procedure to the students
2. Use a timer
3. Have a chart of reminders for students
4. Post a schedule each day
5. Have a record sheet for each child
6. Monitor yourself as you begin assessment conferences
7. End each conference on a positive note

Self-reflections - Students have the opportunity to think about htemselves as readers and writers. When students self-reflect they provide you with valuable information about how they perceive themselves. Ideas to keep in mind for self-reflection include:

• Model the process - share your own ideas about yourself as a reader
• Begin with one simple form - simply ask children to rate themselves in two or three areas
• Encourage oral self-reflection as part of literature discussions and conferences
• Ask children to file self-evauations in their folders and bring them along to conferences

Performance assessments - Involves authentic tasks, ones they might do in the real world. This type of assessment helps you see how students apply their knowledge. Steps for this type of assessment include:

1. Identify the strategies, skills, and knoweldge the task will require
2. Devise a task that requires these skills, strategies, and knoweldge
3. Develop a rubric to evaluate the performance task
4. Share the rubric with all students as the task begins
5. Invite students to use the rubric to evaluate themselves independently