Educational Assessment Methods and Standards
Participants
Scoring Key
Letter to Principal
Principal's Questionnaire
Teacher's Questionnaire
Raw Data
It is widely known that testing and assessment have become critical components and indicators for success in today's educational system. This process is widely considered as a feasible means to improve student success and achievement as well as educational outcomes and future potential in educational pursuits and the workforce for millions of students with widely varying levels of skill and ability. Therefore, standardized assessment does not often reflect the true talents and abilities of the existing student population. Furthermore, assessment standards and testing procedures are often scrutinized for their ineffectiveness in accurately evaluating student promotion and skill development, which lead to future educational pursuits and workforce placement. The primary argument against the current methods of testing and assessment is that the established standards do not accurately reflect the true talent, skills, potential, and problems within the student pool at any given period of time. Therefore, alternative methods of assessment are a popular topic for debate in today's public schools across the United States and beyond. Specifically, alternative methods of assessment in mathematics will serve as the focal point for the remainder of this study.
Statement of the Problem
Today's assessment methods and standards are not living up to the expectations that were established when they began to be used as measures of student performance in schools across the country and in U.S.-owned territories. As school environments continuously change as a result of both external and internal conditions, their students also continue to evolve in terms of skill development and abilities. Therefore, some students may not fit the mold that is generally assumed through typical assessment standards. As student performance for many individuals continues to decline or remain stagnant at the average level of achievement, it is time to reevaluate current assessment and testing methods to identify ways in which they can be improved to better reflect how students are truly performing in their academic endeavors. As the debate rages on, a number of alternative methods have been proposed, which will be discussed in detail later on in this research study. In particular, the researcher anticipates the identification and evaluation of alternative assessment standards in mathematics at the secondary school level. Furthermore, an additional component will identify the difficulties and behavioral outcomes that are encountered when alternative assessment methods are introduced into schools where teachers are accustomed to traditional instruments and may not be tolerant of such substitute methods, perhaps as a result of tradition as well as indolence to new techniques that may ultimately make a significant difference in student learning and performance.
Purpose of the Study
The proposed independent study will identify the primary methods that are currently under consideration in today's public schools as alternative means of assessment and testing, particularly in the subject of mathematics, an often difficult subject for many students to comprehend and master. Mathematics will be evaluated because in general, it is probably one of the most difficult concepts of all for students to sustain. Specifically, the proposed research will be performed in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, where only a handful of secondary public schools exist. Several of these schools are currently in a state of transition and turmoil, as they have recently lost their accreditation and are attempting to identify ways to regain this status. The study will discuss the new methods of assessment in detail and will evaluate their potential effectiveness against the current methods already in place. Furthermore, the study will isolate the potential repercussions and reactions from teachers in these schools to such alternative assessments, as many of these professionals are acclimatized to the traditional methods of assessment and testing, and may not consider these new methods as effective indicators of student performance, regardless of the transition to a new student paradigm in today's public secondary schools. These issues will be evaluated in order for teachers and administrative staff at these unaccredited schools to identify ways to regain accreditation as well as to improve student learning and performance as well as future outcomes.
Research Question
The primary research question that will be evaluated in this study is how the identification of the most effective methods of alternative mathematics assessment that will accurately reflect the talents, skills, and potential of the student population in two secondary schools located in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Background information regarding the primary methods of alternative assessment will be collected and identified in the Review of Literature section. Then, various methods of alternative assessment will be presented to the faculty and administrative staff at the two participant schools through a survey design method. All responses will be collected and evaluated, and judgments regarding teacher attitudes towards alternative assessment will...
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