The positives and negatives of Formal and Informal Assessments

The positives and negatives of Formal and Informal Assessments Formal and informal assessments are two specific procedures that teachers use to evaluate and grade their students. Both formal and informal formative assessments involve gathering, interpreting, and acting on information (Ruiz-Primo Furtak,2004, p. 4). Formal assessments are standardized exams used by a state to reflect on particular grade level to measure a students academic abilities. These exams are administered in the same way every time with a time restriction and instructions to how the exam should be graded. In contrast, informal assessments are exams or activities designed to specially review or test students knowledge on a certain academic subject taught by their teacher. I will be discussing the advantage and disadvantage for two different forms of formal assessment and four types of informal assessments methods. The two formal assessments are norm-referenced and criterion-referenced. Norm-referenced are standardized tests and are linked to inter individual differences (Gargiulo, 2008, p.65). This test compares the students skill to other students in the similar age group. Statistical method is used to determine how the student did. For example first grade students were tested and the outcome is used in a statistical method. You would be able to see how each student ranked. For example, Jon scored at the 50th percentile among his class. There are advantages and disadvantages in using norm referenced testing. One advantage to this method is it can determine whether a student may need special services. For example, if the student scores less than standard norm for reading, they will receive special services to aid them in this subject. Another advantage to this method is it allows parents to see how their childs academic results are compared to their peers. For example, Julie performs at 86 percentile in her class. This means that Julie performed better than 86% from her classmates. As there are advantages, there are disadvantages. One disadvantage to this method is it consists of broad academic information and may not consist of current classroom content. Another disadvantage is it does not fully capture a students academic abilities on problem solving, decision making, social skills, nor their ability elaborate on certain topic. In contrast, Criterion-referenced tests are associated with intra individual differences and can provide data that is useful for instructional planning (Gargiulo, 2008, p.66). For example, a math problem is given to a student to see if the student is able to add two digit numbers. The outcome is strictly based on whether the student did or did not answer the problem correctly. The first advantage to this test is it can compare a students individual performance from their previous one. For example, Aprils current test indicated her reading skills have improved from last quarter. Aprils results are not compared to how well she did among her classmates instead it compares to her individual progress. Another advantage to this test it can assist a teacher to figure out each students academic strengths and weakness. A teacher can guide and assign additional help in the areas where students need improvement. The downfall to this method is it cannot compare student academic performance to ot her schools or districts. For example, a teacher will not be able to compare her students success to other classes nor to other schools. Another disadvantage is creating a valid exam for students. Designing an exam needs to meet specific standards plus its time consuming for teachers to work around their daily responsibilities. The following are the four types of informal assessments that can be used in a classroom which are an essay exam, a classroom game, walk around method, and a multiple choice exam. The first informal assessment is an essay exam. Essay exams are questions based on a certain lesson or topic where a student needs to provide a written answer. Depending on the exam instructions students may only need to write a couple of paragraphs or several pages in length. The following are two advantages in using an essay exam to test students. First, students have the opportunity to express their thoughts and demonstrate their level of comprehension on a certain question. The second advantage, students begin to construct and analyze how to answer each question. For example, the instruction on the essay says to please explain the difference between a mammal and an amphibian. The student first needs to analyze the differences between the two species and then construct examples to elaborate on the question. An issue does represent itself; this type of method is time consuming for both the student and teacher. The students need plenty of time to answer and write an essay and the te acher needs time to evaluate and grade each paper. The second disadvantage, teachers must be aware of their biases when writing a question where students need to agree or disagree on a certain topic. This disadvantage may get in the way of grading papers accurately. A teacher needs to be aware of their bias and base their grading on the students response not if they agree or disagree with their student. Another informal way to evaluate a students progress is a classroom game. A Classroom game creates an opportunity for students to apply their knowledge and encourages them to learn. For example, the class is divided into four groups to play a game of Jeopardy. The game of Jeopardy consists of questions on a certain academic subject. An advantage to this method is it promotes cooperative learning. Students are learning how to interact, collaborate, and work together with their peers to answer questions. Working together provides positive reinforcements for students to develop social skills and trust among their team members. Another advantage it motivates students to apply their own knowledge and retain new information as they play the game. A game will keep students alert and encourages participation which will lead to learning. Since students are divided into groups not every student is participating or collaborating on every question and this is downfall to this method. Even though each student has an opportunity to answer a question, the group is judged as a whole not the individual knowledge to every question but the ones they answer. Another disadvantage to this method does not provide enough feedback to a teacher to determine which students needs additional assistance in comprehending the current subject. The third informal assessment is the walk-around. This assessment requires the teacher to interact with each student as they work together as a group or individually. The teacher is actively observing and assisting students to stay on task. The advantage to this method it allows the teacher to interact with students individually or as a group to answer any concerns or assist them in understanding their assignment. The second advantage is the one on one conference. The teacher uses the one on one conference to talk to the students for five or ten minutes. This conference offers attention, and additional help in instructions for students(Cole,1999,p.4). This type of interaction builds trust and improves the communication between teacher and student. A downside to walk around assessment is giving each student or groups the same amount of time to answer questions or concerns. Since every student or groups have different questions, some may need additional assistance than others. This may cause some behavior issues or delay some students in completing their assignment. Another issue is making sure every student understands the material or contributing their work to their group. The teacher needs to give every student an opportunity to talk and demonstrate they understand the assignment. Lastly, the multiple-choice test is another assessment used in a classroom. Multiple choice tests consist of questions and a list of possible answers for each question. An upside to this method students begin to access their knowledge and apply it to every question by eliminating misleading choices. This method is also an advantage for teachers as well. The grading is less time consuming than other methods and easier to narrow down where the students are having difficulties. A disadvantage for students is it may cause them some confusion or frustration when the exams are poorly written. Poor written exams consist of tricky options to choose from, for instance having two possible answers. The second disadvantage for students is not being able to understand a question. This may lead the students to guess on answers they are not able to comprehend due to reading difficulties or a poor written exam. This may lead to inappropriate score on the students progress or knowledge. In conclusion, both formal and informal assessments consist of advantages and disadvantages that a teacher should consider and understand before administrating these assessments. Assessments are necessary to pinpoint students academic strengths and weaknesses. This allows a teacher to provide additional assistance to students that are struggling. Without assessments teachers will not be able to properly evaluate and assist students.

The Doctrine Of Fascism :: essays research papers

The Doctrine of Fascism Some General Ideological Features "Reactionary concepts plus revolutionary emotion result in Fascist mentality." -Wilhelm Reich Is nationalism inherently evil? Would a one-world government be more preferable? Are appreciating and defending one's own culture and cultural values somehow primitive instincts that must be overcome by the educational efforts of the enlightened? We have all heard of Fascism, but our image is usually of a brutal soldier wearing a uniform emblazoned with a swastika. Most people in the U.S. are aware that the U.S. and its allies fought a war against the Nazis, but there is much more to know if one is to learn the important lessons of our recent history. Adolph Hitler's Nazis were certainly the most prolific of the Fascist states. The seeds of Fascism, however, were planted in Italy. "Fascism is reaction," said Benito Mussolini, author of The Doctrine of Fascism, but reaction to what? Mussolini forged Fascism in post-World War I in Europe. The national aspirations of many European peoples nations without states, peoples arbitrarily assigned to political entities with little regard for custom or culture had been crushed after World War I. The humiliation imposed by the victors in the Great War, coupled with the hardship of the economic Depression, created bitterness and anger. That anger frequently found its outlet in an ideology that asserted not just the importance of the nation, but its unquestionable superiority and predestined role in history. Italy was the birthplace of Fascist ideology. Mussolini, ironically a former socialist journalist, organized the first Fascist movement in 1919 at Milan. In 1922 Mussolini led a march on Rome, he was given a government post by the king, and began transforming the Italian government into a Fascist state. In 1938 he forced the last remains of democracy, the Council of Deputies, to vote themselves out of existence, leaving Mussolini dictator of Fascist Italy. Fascism and the Doctrine of Fascism is more complex than popular belief. What, then, is the nature of Fascism? Fundamental Ideas The doctrine tells of a world where the instinctiveness of man to live a life of selfish and momentary pleasure are subjugated by a moral law. A law which binds together individuals into a mission in which through the denial of themselves and sacrifice of private interests realizes complete spiritual existence. In essence, Fascism attempts to create a state where the citizens do not exist individually, it creates instruments for the state to manipulate. It achieves this under the guise of spirituality. The hopeless, cheerless, and forgotten are the most susceptible to the Fascism virus. By putting them into uniforms and incorporating them into organized movement, Fascism makes them feel as if

My Ideal Teacher Essay

In my college thise are many teachiss. Each one teaches us different subjects. Although all of them are fairly good, thise is one teachis whom I love and admire the most. his name is MR. ali. he is the most pleasing personality that I have ever come across. he is an ideal teachis. he has all those qualities which a good teachis is expected to have. Mrs. Ali is a science teachis. he loves the subject that he teaches and has an in-depth knowledge of it too. he teaches science almost as though it were a hobby class. he does not adopt the old methods of teaching. In fact we even forget at times that he is teaching us from our text books. Science comes alive in MR. ali’s class. When he teaches, no one talks about anything but the topic that he discusses. he has the ability to draw out attention to the subject and also to sustain it. he conducts various experiments in the class and demonstrates them thus making it much easier for us to understand what he teaches. he does not merely read from the book but gives us a concrete picture of everything, so that we see them before us. Although his subject is science, MR. ali has a good knowledge of othis subjects also. he is well versed with all the current affairs of the world and he often links what we are studying to something that may have been taught somewhise else in the world. he encourages us to ask questions so that we may be able to understand the subject well. he never loses patience with those students who take long to grasp the subject. MR. ali gives personal attention to all the students. If, by chance, any student tries to play the fool in his class, he is firm and does not allow that to happen. he is a great combination of kindness and strictness. he encourages the students to ask each othis and his anything with regard to the subject so that a healthy discussion generates new ideas and increases our curiosity about the subject.- he is very popular, but he is not conceited. he is courteous to his colleagues and the principal of the college. I have never seen his frown or lose his temper. he remains calm even when thise is a crisis of any kind. he makes me love going to college. I always look forward to my science period. he is an ideal teachis and provides the students with a good role model. I love his the most and hope to be like his one day

The Benefits of Independent Finanical Audit Stakeholders

What are the benefits of an independent financial statement audit stakeholders? To understand and answer that question, the word audit has to be defined. Based on the IRS, an audit is a review or examination of an organization or individuals accounts and financial information to ensure information is being reported correctly to verify the amount of tax reported is accurate. From Wikipedia, the audit of financial statements is the verification of the financial statements of a legal entity, with a view to express an audit opinion. There are many types and components to an audit. To understand the question that was first stated at the beginning of the introduction, the role of an audit and auditor has to be explained. As well as the beneficiaries of audit must be known, who the stakeholders of an audit are and how they benefit, the stakeholders expectations, the consequences of not having an audit, the auditing process, and auditor’s independence. The sole of this paper is to un derstand what the benefits of independent financial audit stakeholders are. To start off, the definition of an audit was explained in the introduction, but there also are different types of audits and many components to an audit. One type of audit is an external audit, which can be known as a financial audit and statutory audit. It involves the examination of the truth and fairness of the financial statements of an entity by an external auditor who is independent of the organization in accordanceShow MoreRelatedThe Role Of Auditing Standards On The Agency Theory And Review Common Benefits1291 Words   |  6 Pagesabout the collapse of HIH insurance from five articles. Secondly, it discusses and highlights some ethical issues, stakeholders including the relationships between HIH directors and its auditing team, and outlines their financial and non-financial problems around HIH’s stakeholders. This report also analyze HIH’s auditing issues applying on the agency theory and review common benefits with the role of an auditing firm – Arthur Anderson in HIH’S collapse. HIH was the second largest insurance company