Chapter 14

Informal Assessment- As students verbally volunteer ideas for soil conservation teacher gives thumbs up signal for positive reinforcement. Formal Assessment- Students research soil conservation ideas and develop a top five list. Teacher grades the list as a homework assignment. Paper-Pencil- Student must list the appropriate steps to raise tomato plants from seed. Teachers grades as class participation. Performance- Students must raise tomato seed following the appropriate sequence. Teacher grades as a project. Traditional- Students must raise tomato plants from seed following the appropriate sequence. Teacher grades as part of a project. Authentic- Students must follow their plans and take stock to market or write articles for the school paper explaining their project. Teacher counts this as other half of project. Standardized- Teacher uses test that cones with small engine text as a pre-test. This would serve as formative assessment and the teacher would use the results to identify areas to be stressed in the small engine unit. Teacher Developed- Teacher uses her own test focusing on areas the pre-test revealed as weakness. Teacher grades as test. Criterion Referenced Assessment- Teacher uses own test to identify if students met objectives in a small animal care unit. Lets teacher know if students have a grasp of the material. Criterion referenced assessment lets teachers know if students have understanding of objectives as they were presented. However, it does not represent a performance based out come and does not always take into consideration the different types of learners. Results can be misleading. Norm Referenced Assessments- Teacher administers a system-wide test used by all agriculture teachers in the school system. The test covers general agriculture knowledge and is used to compare students in different agriculture classes throughout the school system. Norm referenced assessments tells the student, teacher, and parents how the students compared with a large to very large group of peers. It does let the student know where she or he stands in relation to others. Norm referenced assessments do not often take into consideration socioeconomic and ethic backgrounds. This alone can cause results to be misleading.