RSLA Assessment

The assessment that I will be looking at is the Kindergarten Reading assessment we use at my school. It is an 18 page assessment that we give to each kindergartener 3 times throughout the year. The assessment is given like a test to the students. Sections of the assessment are given as a whole group, while other parts are given one on one with a teacher or para. The purpose of this assessment is to see the growth of the students throughout the year. It is also to see what the child needs to be retaught or what the teacher should work on.

    The assessment aligns with the common core reading standards that are covered throughout the year. The standards are even written into the assessment above each question. The information that the assessment gives about each student is what they have learned about letter sounds, letter recognition, punctuation, rhyming words, phonemic awareness, and beginning reading skills. It shows the teacher what concepts the students grasp and what concepts they may need to continue to work on. The first time that this assessment is given, it does give the teacher a previous knowledge spectrum to see where their students are coming from.  I intend to use the information to see what areas I need to continue teaching in and what areas I can move on from teaching.

    I assume that this assessment will show me the knowledge that my students have retained. I also assume that the students will be able to understand the wording of the assessment and what they are being asked to do. If the student does not answer the question correctly, if at all, I assume that the student does not know the answer. The skills I assume that the student will have to answer the questions is to be able to write with a pencil on a piece of paper. I also assume that they will have the verbal skills to answer questions.

    The length of this assessment would provide difficulty to all students. It is not an assessment that can be completed all at once due to the students being 5 and not being able to sit for a 45 minute assessment. The assessment would also be difficult for students who are lacking verbal and/or writing skills. They may be able to demonstrate the skill in one way, but not in both in the beginning of the school year.

    One way to make this assessment easier to give to students is to break it up into parts. I feel that if you were to give the parts as a pre and post test to each unit I was teaching, it would make for a shorter test that would allow for students to complete in a different manor. I also believe that giving the full assessment at once to a student can be overwhelming to them. It could lead to them having anxiety about taking said assessment, and not knowing the answers to the questions all at once. Breaking down of the assessment would lead to being able to see throughout the year what students have learned. At the end of the year, you could go over what the student has missed on previous questions to see if they have gained the knowledge at a different pace than the other students. 

 RSLA Assessment