Summative Assessments
InTASC Standard 6: The teacher understands and uses multiple methods of assessment to engage learners in their own growth, to monitor learner progress, and to guide the teacher’s and learner’s decision making.
I use summative assessments, such as unit quizzes, mid-terms, and final exams, as a way to assess my students' progress over the course of a unit, semester or year. The unit assessments — along with unit projects — work as a way for the class to showcase what they have learned throughout the unit. The mid-term works as a way to close out the first semester, while the final exam closes out the whole year. It is difficult for students to show a full unit, semester or year's worth of new knowledge in one assessment, and that is why I have many formative assessments and projects throughout. However, summative assessments give a snapshot of what students have learned over the course of the unit, semester and year.
Summative assessments can also be beneficial in showing growth and investing students in their own learning. As Gina Harpham (2012) mentions, "assessment is essential to effective teaching and learning. In addition to pre-assessing students' current readiness, another important assessment practice that occurs at the start of the unit, is to help students see the learning target they'll be expected to reach and to demonstrate, at the end of the unit. This involves introducing learning goals to the students and previewing the summative assessments" (Laureate Education, 2012). By prefacing the unit, semester and year with a diagnostic assessment that aligns with a summative assessment at the end of the unit, semester and year, I can see the students' prior knowledge and adjust my instruction based on their specific needs. The students and I can then track their progress by noting the improvement in their grades between the diagnostic and summative assessments. This improvement can work as a motivator for students, as in many of my students' cases, where they get excited when they physically see how much they have improved. As Larry Bell (2012) mentions, regarding using assessments to fuel student investment, "[A] benefit of using assessment to guide instruction is that it shows the students the relevancy of what's being taught in school. Very often, underachievers do not feel that what they are being taught and what they're being assessed come together. But when assessment is driving instruction, the students see the relationship and they're more likely to focus in a manner that we, as instructors, want them to focus" (Laureate Education, 2012).
Unit Assessments
In the course of a unit, I assess my students dozens of times before a summative, unit assessment. They complete writing and speaking check-ins, exit tickets, vocabulary quizzes, and projects before completing a unit assessment. As a result, I usually know what to expect during a unit assessment, and I can target misunderstood topics and assist weaker students before taking the assessment. As mentioned in my learning in Effective Practices of Teaching and Learning (2012),"assessment at every step of the way has to tell us what the person knows, how they're doing, give feedback to the learner, and show them where they're going" (Laureate Education, 2012). On occasions this works extremely well, and students who performed weak throughout the unit improve their score dramatically. On other occasions, I am unable to prevent a weaker student from performing poorly on the assessment. As I continue to improve as an educator, I take and reuse what is successful and change what is not, so that no student gets left behind.
Comprehension of Vocabulary
Section in Unit 2 Assessment that involves recalling family vocabulary
1. Dolores is the wife of Rolando. 2. Ana is the daughter of Rolando. 3. David is the son of Osvaldo.4. David is the grandson of Rolando. 5. Rolando is the father of Miguel.
Section in Unit 2 Assessment that involves recalling pet vocabulary
1. The bird 2. The fish 3. The horse 4. The cat 5. The dog
In order to demonstrate mastery of the family and pet vocabulary (seen in the photos above), the students spend the unit learning and reviewing vocabulary flashcards, practicing through many different activities, and checking for understanding through formative assessments. By the time they reach the Unit 2 Assessment, they will have seen the vocabulary for weeks. This is beneficial to students, as they will be able to describe different members/pets of their family to Spanish speakers.
Listening Skills
Listening Section in Unit 2 Assessment
1. I have 36 chairs. 2. My father is tall and intelligent. 3. My uncle studies and works. 4. We have 14 cousins. 5. My siblings use computers.
In the photos above, the students have to listen to different sentences (that are spoken in Spanish) and write them down. This is a good way to check student comprehension and listening skills. This is an important skill to assess, as students will be able to understand when listening to Spanish speakers, music, media, etc.
Writing Skills
Written Section in Unit 2 Assessment
Translation: I have a sister and a brother. My sister is 7 years old, and my brother is 12. My mom is 37 years old, and my father is 57 years old. My dad works, and my mom cooks. My brother plays the PS4. My sister plays with the dog that is 8 months old. My father is tall, and my mom is short. My brother is tall, skinny and wears glasses.
In the photos above, the students had to demonstrate their knowledge of the content by writing a paragraph about their family, using descriptions, actions/verbs, and their age. We practice writing throughout the unit, so students should be able to produce multiple sentences — even if they are basic/simple sentences. This student demonstrated an ability to write about her parents and siblings, using descriptions, age, and actions/verbs.
Mid-term and Final Exams
At the beginning of the year, I use the final exam as a diagnostic assessment for the year. The students that perform very well on it get moved up to a higher level, while the students that do not get a good grade will see their scores used as data. The mid-term takes place in January between the two semesters. Both tests include opportunities for students to demonstrate their listening, reading, writing and speaking abilities. Throughout the year, I work with my students through a variety of instructional practices, so that they can demonstrate a much higher level of Spanish than when they started the class. I monitor their progress throughout the year with a number of formative and unit assessments, but at the end of each semester, the students need to showcase what they learned in the form of a mid-term/final assessment.
Listening Skills
In the photo above is one part of the listening section of my Spanish 1 Summative Assessment.
Translation:
Listening: Choose the correct person.
1. Jose is a very professional doctor. He likes to help people.
2. Miriam likes children and works as a first-grade teacher.
3. Laura is an excellent pilot and likes to fly enormous planes.
4. Marcelo is studying to be an architect and currently works at a construction company.
5. Eduardo is a scientist and works for a company in Mexico.
In the photo above are two student listening samples from Spanish 1 Summative Assessment. Both students received 10 points out of 10 on the listening section.
Last year my students showed growth in their listening abilities. Many were unable to understand the listening sections in the beginning of the year. However, as the year progressed, they began to become more responsive to words that I spoke in Spanish. This has much to do with exposure to the language. As the Common European Framework (CEFR) estimates, more than 1,000 learning hours are needed to become proficient in a language depending on many factors, such as the similarity to the learner's language (Cambridge, 2018). Their improvement correlates with hundreds of hours spent learning Spanish throughout the year. To continue on the path to proficiency, the students will need to continue practicing Spanish and immersing themselves in the language.
Reading Skills
In the photo above is one part of the reading section of my Spanish 1 Summative Assessment.
Translation:
Reading 1: A day in School
My name is Carolina. I go to the school "Los Rosales" in Barcelona. We have 6 classes each day. My favorite day is Friday. In the morning, we have science, math, and Spanish. I like science because it is interesting. After recess, we study history and French. I don't like French because it is difficult. After eating, we have the last class - gym class. I like gym because I like sports.
66. Carolina has 5 classes each day. True or False.
67. Carolina likes Friday. True or False.
68. Carolina does not like English. True or False.
69. Carolina studies at "Los Rosales" school. True or False.
70. The last class is history. True or False.
In the photo above are two student samples from the reading sections in the Summative Assessment. Both students scored 15 out of 15 on the reading sections.
Last year my students showed growth in their reading abilities. Many students were unable to read in the beginning of the year, but by the end of the year, they were reading paragraphs completely in Spanish. This has to do with numerous activities in class practicing reading. I made sure to include reading practice in every class. On top of the reading, the students would practice pronunciation, since they were expected to read the texts aloud. The students above scored perfectly on the reading sections in the end-of-year final assessment. They will continue to improve, as long as they make an effort to read in Spanish outside of the classroom. That can be through sub-titles in Spanish while they are watching movies, switching their phones to Spanish, reading the news in Spanish, etc.
Speaking Skills
In the photo above are the questions that students respond to in order to assess their speaking skills during the Spanish 1 Summative Assessment at the end of the year. Most students were unable to respond to a single prompt.
Last year my students showed growth in their speaking abilities. Many of my students were unable to speak at all in Spanish at the beginning of the year. By the end of the year, they were responding in full sentences on familiar topics. In order to continue to grow, they need to find ways to practice outside of the classroom. That can include language learning apps, such as Duolingo, finding a language exchange partner (there are many on the app iTalki), or vocalizing their thoughts on numerous topics.
Writing Skills
In the photo above are the questions that students respond to in order to assess their writing skills during the Spanish 1 Summative Assessment at the end of the year.
A student sample from the Spanish 1 Final, Summative Assessment
Translation: Hi, my name is (blurred name). I am from Antigua. I am short, nice, and intelligent. I am 14 years old. I have short, brown hair. I wear glasses. My family is big. I have 3 older sisters and 1 older brother. My brothers are very nice and intelligent and fun. In the summer, my mom and I are going on vacation to Antigua on June 18th. We visit our friends and cousins. In the summer, I wear a dress or shorts, a T-shirt, and sandals. I like to eat lettuce, fruit, rice, chicken, and strawberries. I like to drink water, tea, and juice.
Last year my students showed growth in their writing abilities. Many of my students were unable to write a single word in Spanish when we took the Diagnostic Assessment at the beginning of the year. By the end of the year, most students showed growth, writing paragraphs about familiar topics. To continue to grow, the students should practice typing/writing in Spanish through the numerous language-learning APPs or keeping journals that they write in Spanish.
References:
ACTFL. (2012). ACTFL PROFICIENCY GUIDELINES 2012. Retrieved October 5, 2019, from https://www.actfl.org/publications/guidelines-and-manuals/actfl-proficiency-guidelines-2012.
Cambridge University Press. (2018, January). HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO LEARN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE? Retrieved from https://www.cambridge.org/elt/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/How-long-does-it-take-to-learn-a-foreign-language.pdf
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2012). Diagnostic assessment. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2012). Preparation for assessment. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Ripley, A. (2014). The smartest kids in the world: And how they got that way. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, Inc.