Describe at least 3 types of assessment practices that you as a student/learner have experienced throughout your own schooling and explain the benefits or limitations of each type of assessment.

During the chapter readings for Education 400 I was introduced to three primary assessment strategies for teachers. As a child, I thought of assessments as only tools for grading for the teacher and ways to stress me out as a student. The chapter on assessments made me realize that I have experienced, first hand, all three of the different assessments. I realized that assessments are used very often and that they have a greater purpose than I ever imagined as a child.
The form of assessment that I remember being more prevalent in the primary grades was diagnostic assessment. This type of assessment is used primarily for the teacher to determine the students' prior knowledge before beginning a lesson. I can remember in Kindergarten being asked to count as high as I could and I believe this is a form of diagnostic assessment. This type of assessment is very beneficial for the teacher, but can also have limitations. If a teacher were to produce a diagnostic assessment and the students' abilities varied greatly, it may be difficult for the teacher to know where to begin with the instruction.
The second form of assessment, formative assessment, was used very often throughout all years of school. For me, these tests usually consisted of quizzes or spelling tests. Sometimes these tests had a large impact on my life, but most of the time they did not. This type of assessment is used for both the student and the teacher. It provides the student with an idea of what needs to be worked on and provides the teacher with an idea of how he/she can continue with the instruction. This form of assessment is very beneficial for that reason alone, but also because it provides more grades for the students. One large limitation of this form of assessment is that these assessments may sometimes be too difficult for the students and if graded too often, can hinder a students grade.
The last type of assessment that I remember the most is summative assessment. These assessments were usually unit tests or tests on books and stories. I can remember these tests the most because I studied for them often and most of my grade was dependent on these assessments. This type of assessment is more about the students and with early feedback, can be very beneficial in a student's learning. The limitations on this assessment would have the most to do with the information on the assessment. I believe it would be difficult as a teacher to decide how much information to put on a test.
I'm very glad I spent a lot of time on this chapter because I would not have realized that all of the tests I took as a child were also beneficial to my teacher. As a teacher, I will now be more prepared and understand how to grade each different assessment. I will make my students feel comfortable when testing and will use the tests often to determine what I need to do as a teacher.


Peer:
What are some examples of assessments you can remember as a child and how, as a teacher, will your grading depend on each type of assessment?