Teacher-Designed Assessment

Along with using checklists, rating scales, and rubrics as informal assessment tools, teacher-designed assessments are a common choice for many early childhood educators. “Teacher-designed assessments support other evaluation measures, enabling the teacher to make more accurate decisions for the instruction of individual students” (Wortham & Hardin, 2015, p. 188). As a leader, you will likely be involved in helping your colleagues develop teacher-designed assessments that will provide them with the information they need to make informed decisions about how to meet the needs of the children they work with.

For your assignment this week, imagine that you have asked each member of your staff to develop a teacher-designed assessment to use with students. Before each member can use it, she needs to submit it to you so that you can ensure it meets the requirements of a quality teacher-designed assessment. After reviewing the assessment, you will provide each member with feedback about the assessment and how she can use it to inform her instruction.

Follow the steps below to complete your assignment:

Step 1: Choose a Teacher-Designed Assessment to Evaluate: Choose one assessment from the list below to evaluate for this assignment. You are encouraged to choose an assessment that is aligned with the age (infants/toddlers, preschoolers, school-aged) of children you are currently working with or plan on working with.

Step 2: Evaluate the Teacher-Designed Assessment: Evaluate the teacher-designed assessment you chose in Step 1 by using either the Teacher-Made Assessment Checklist (Links to an external site.) or the Teacher-Designed Assessment Rubric.

Step 3: Provide Feedback: After evaluating your chosen teacher-designed assessment in Step 3, provide written feedback for the teacher that includes the following:

• State the objective of the assessment. Use the guidelines on pages 196-201 of your course text, Assessment in Early Childhood Education, as a guide.
• Explain how the teacher-designed assessment does or does not meet the characteristics of a quality teacher-designed assessment. Make sure to include specific evidence from either the Teacher-Designed Assessment Checklist or the Teacher-Designed Assessment Rubric to support your decision. In addition, support your explanation with at least one scholarly or credible source.
• Describe how the assessment is appropriate for the intended age group
• Analyze how the assessment does or does not align with the purposes of teacher-designed assessments.
• Explain at least two ways the assessment could be used to inform instruction

When submitting your assignment, make sure to include either the completed Teacher-Designed Assessment Checklist or the completed Teacher-Designed Assessment Rubric you used in Step 2 with your written feedback as one document.

Research and Resource Expectations:

• Source Requirement:
  • At least two scholarly peer-reviewed or credible sources

Writing and Formatting Expectations:

• Title Page: Must include the following:
  • Title
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• Academic Voice: Academic voice is used (avoids casual language, limited use of “I”, it is declarative).
• Purpose and Organization: Demonstrates logical progression of ideas.
• Syntax and Mechanics: Writing displays meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
• APA Formatting: Papers are formatted properly and all sources are cited and referenced in APA style as outlined 
• Assignment Length: Your paper should be four pages in length (not including title and reference pages).