Chapter 14

Being a student myself I have experienced many if not all of these teaching assessments first hand. I found it interesting how the chapter pointed out that there are many times that students are being assessed and are unaware of it. Informal assessments are being done constantly on a daily basis just by observing the students. What was interesting to me was thinking how each of these assessments would play out in a deaf residential school working with deaf students. These assessments may vary but are often used for similar things as in the mainstream school (ex. plan for the future, assessing teaching skills, assessing performance) Informal Assessments are constantly being made with deaf students regarding their use of language, and social skills because each student it different. These students may come from hearing families with hearing parents and not know any sign language, or they may come from deaf families and not know any English. These are things that are noticed simply by observing the child in their natural environment using their comfortable language. Formal Assessments are usually altered based on the student and what is observed through the informal assessments. If students have no English skills the tests will have to be given in ASL, using an interpreter, or deaf teacher. These alterations make the line between the next two types of assessments (paper-pencil assessment vs performance assessment) very blurry. Paper and Pencil Assessment ASL actually does have a written form and the students are taught reading and writting so written tests and hypothetical situations are possible for them to be assessed. Performance Tests these are used often with deaf students. They do not have nearly as much experience with the hearing world as mainstreamed students so teachers and volunteer students (like myself) try to set up many "mock situations" in which they would be out in the world and need to use an interpreter and make sure they have the information on how to do so after graduation. Performance tests are extremely important for deaf students. Traditional vs. Authentic Assessment when deaf students reach high school, the amount of traditional assessment is very minimal. The focus is on authentic assessment. The sad truth is that everyone knows the deaf students are going to have a harder time finding employment than any of their hearing peers. To hopefully aid them in ensuring employment, the high school education is extremely authentic. It is always related to real world experiences, and applied to real situations that they can use later in the workplace. Standardized Tests deaf students in mainstream schools do participate in the same standardized tests that we have all endured. As I mentioned before, some students may have slightly differing language skills therefore deaf students are often allowed extra time, or an interpreter. This in no way makes the tests comprehensible to all deaf individuals, therefore bringing average deaf schools scores extremely low. Teacher-Developed Assessments these usually work much better in all settings involving deaf students. In residential schools, the teachers know each of the students language skills and can communicate with the directly and know how to communicate the assessment to the students. In a mainstream school the interpreter is with the student in the classroom and the language is somewhat familiar and can be understood more easily. When the language is familiar, it is much easier whether it be ASL, signed English, spoken English, etc. and that is the main problem with any kind of assessment given to deaf students, not the information. Criterion-Referenced vs. Norm-Referenced Assessments because of all of the challenges and barriers I have listed and the lack of resources for not only teachers of deaf students but even families of deaf children, it is clear that deaf students are extremely behind in criterion-referenced assessments. Most high school deaf children are assessed to be at a fourth grade reading level, but if you have a conversation with them in ASL they are extremely intelligent, they can have a full, intellectual, conversation with you. There are norm-referenced assessments within residential schools comparing deaf individuals to the other deaf students which are beneficial but when there is one deaf student in a mainstream hearing school, these assessments are not going to truly represent the students intelligence because of language barriers.