SAMPLE ASSESSMENT IN READING FOR GRADE 3

Link to sample assessment http://www.mdk12.org/instruction/assessment/sample_grade3_reading.html (Assessment Resources 2008) This is an example of a grade 3 reading assessment. There are selected response multiple choice questions and brief constructed response samples. There is also information on the question's scoring evaluation. It summarizes score, ojective of the question, what the answer should be, topic, and what type of assessment the question is. This is a great example of an effective assessment. This site has answers for any question that you may have with data analysis, user guides, instruction, and school improvement(Assessment Resources 2008).

WHERE DID GRADES COME FROM?

William Farish, a tutor at Cambridge University in England in 1792, came up with a method of teaching which would allow him to process more students in a shorter period of time. He invented grades (Hartmann, 2005). This grading system had originated earlier in the factories as a way of determining if the shoes made on the assembly line were "up to grade." It was used as a benchmark to determine if the workers should be paid and if the shoes could be sold (Hartmann, 2005). This grading method increased the salary of William Farish, while at the same time, lessened his workload and reduced the hours he needed to spend in the classroom(Hartmann, 2005). He no longer needed to burrow into his students' minds to know if they understood a topic, his grading system would do it for him. And, it would do it just as efficiently for twenty children as it would for two hundred. Farish brought grades to the classroom, and the transformation was both sudden and startling. Within a generation, the lecture-hall/classroom shifted from a place where one heard the occasional speech by a famous thinker to the place of ordinary daily instruction (Hartmann, 2005).

HOW DO GRADES BENEFIT STUDENTS?

Grades benefit students in many ways. Upon entering a new grade each year, teachers distribute their expectations and grading procedures to each student. These guidelines let students know upfront what is expected of them academically and behaviorally. Most teachers also post bad behavior consequences in their classrooms and how repeated offenses can effect their grades. This information equipts the students with the knowledge to excel or to fail. There is also an understood grading scale that is in place that remains the same from kindergarten through highschool. Assessments of skill and learning are promoted through quizzes, tests, projects, and verbal communication.

HOW DO GRADES BENEFIT PARENTS?

Grades benefit parents because it gives them an opportunity to evaluate their children's behavior and performance at school. This gives parents an opportunity to intervene if necessary to support their children and make sure that they are given every available resource if needed to succeed. A child may have learning disabilities that need to be addressed or may need extra tutoring in a subject that doesn't come as easy to them as another. Parent involvement is key to their child's success rate in school. If a child does not get the proper support from home, they will have a very hard time excelling in their education.