Week 7 & 8 Reflection

On Week 7, we covered Concepts in Measurement: It is important to know that you do not need to be a statistician to be a teacher, but you do need to understand how standardized tests are evaluated and interpreted.

We learned more in depth of the foundational concepts of statistics. We covered terms like population, sample, norming, valid, reliable, mean, median, mode, normal curve, standard deviation, and standardization. Each of these terms serve their own important purpose in every statistics question/problem.

One thing I learned was norming and what it is. Norming is the performance of a group of individuals on an assessment. There are two different kinds of assessments that can be administered:

↳ Norm-Referenced Test - test results are compared to a similar group of people

↳ Criterion-Referenced Test - test results are compared to a standard

We had a chance to teach these terms to our peers, which helped ensure we understand how these are used and applied.

On Week 8, we learned how to use data to drive instruction. In class on Monday, we used Microsoft Excel to create representations of classroom scores in math. To represent the data scores, we created bar graphs and pie charts. Using these types of graphs/charts when representing information is important because it condenses large amounts of information into a format that is clear and easy to understand. 

When utilizing these in the classroom to store information, they allow us to keep knowledge of scores of students over time, as well as show the relationship of scores between each student.

In class on Wednesday, we continued learning how to use data to drive instruction. We completed the assignment we worked on last class by reflecting on what we learned/noticed. We had the chance to analyze the data and interpret the scores in our classroom. We then talked about the assignments we will be completing in field this semester. They are the field journal and assessment data project. 

↳  Field Journal - to make observations of the formal and informal assessments used in my cooperating teacher's classroom.

↳  Assessment Analysis Project - to collect, analyze, and interpret classroom data.