Determine Student Outcomes in the Content Areas

           Chapter five is about the mapping of instructional practices and techniques for designing assessment tasks with multiple purposes, both of which are necessary to determine student outcomes in the content areas.  Mapping instructional practices is when an educator evaluates the elements of instruction or any combination of resources, and whether those practices work best for the students.  This is can be seen as reflective practice, which encourages educators to critically examine what did and did not go well in the lesson and what can be changed when the lesson is re-taught.  Educators must use standards to develop and standardize curriculum, establish benchmarks for student performance, provide the basis for formative and summative assessment and guide instructional practices.

            Standards are very important for educators.  There are content standards, performance standards, curriculum standards, and delivery standards.  NBEA standards are used by school administrators, curriculum writers, and teacher who seek to develop or improve their business education curricula.  There are also state standards made to be used which are developed by each state.  With No Child Left Behind, states are required to set clear and high standards for what students should know and educators are required to measure the student’s progress toward each standard.

            There is also standards-based assessment, which makes the content of lessons more meaningful to students.  Assessment is fundamental and can help determine the effectiveness of education and training.  There is process and outcome-oriented assessment which provides students with instruction that is thematically focused around big issues and real-world problems.  Teachers can use an integrative approach with their lessons, and two approaches mentioned in the book include High Schools That Work (HSTW) and Integrating Computer Technology into the Classroom (NTeQ).  Both of these can be used in building integrated learning activities with a primary goal of providing students with a streamline model of how disciplines fit together in reaching goals for workplace readiness and academic success.

            This chapter also provides a sample lesson plan which goes into great detail of the different sections that are included in a lesson plan.  This lesson plan is very detailed and definitely makes me re-evaluate how I make my lesson plans.  The lesson plan uses the NTeQ model which is a ten-step lesson plan.

            Integration is a very important part of teaching and learning.  Teachers should create interesting and stimulating lesson content to keep students motivated to learn and do well in the classroom.  I hope that when I am a teacher I can be creative in the classroom and my students will really enjoy the class and enjoy learning the subject being taught.  I know that I will need to be reflective when I am teaching and also get student input to help my lessons even better.  When I was interning, I would always get student feedback and they would let me know what style of teaching they preferred.  I would try to make each lesson presentation different to meet different student needs and I think the students enjoyed that.

Moore, W. & Woytowish, S. J. (2007). Determine Student Outcomes in the Content Areas. In M.L. Bush (Ed.), Assessment for an Evolving Business Education Curriculum (pp. 57-73). Reston, VA: National Business Education Association

Assessment to Support and Reinforce Academics

            Chapter four is about assessment to support and reinforce academics.  Business educators have to validate the importance of business education in the school’s curriculum.  Business educators must collaborate with other teachers in other content areas to incorporate the other curriculum into business education.  This chapter focuses on ways teachers can successfully incorporate many curriculums with business education.

            Business educators have to work with other teachers to show that business classes include and strengthen core academic content.  Business educators have to prove that business classes are just as important as the core classes.  There are strategies for collaboration that teacher can use.  These strategies benefit all teachers and students in that there can be higher test scores, higher student retention rates, increased communication among teachers, fewer discipline problems in classrooms, and more engage students due to real world activities.  Teachers need to start off by mapping the business education and academic standards, identifying where learning objectives are being taught or reinforced.  Teachers can then determine the learning opportunities that should be included in an individual class or program.  Teachers then can align business courses with core content courses which is essential for continued business and technical education growth and vitality.

            Business teachers must work collaboratively with core content teachers to promote the reality that basic entry-level skills are the same in all industries.  Business education classes enhance English, mathematics, social studies, and science.  Students have many assignments and activities that really focus on English and mathematics.  In many of the classes students are creating memos, business letters, PowerPoint presentations, etc.  Students are also able to take finance and accounting classes which will help their math skills.

            Teachers must also create a comprehensive, valid, and reliable assessment program that clearly defines desired student-learning outcomes and designs assessment tools to determine whether students achieve established outcomes.  Teachers can define dimensions of learning, create a learning outcomes matrix, use checklists, and build skills through assignments.  Teachers also must be accountable to the business community, which depends on educators to prepare highly trained employees.  Business teachers have to prepare students with workplace skills, which mean assessment is important to know how the student is progressing.

            This chapter mainly proves how important it is to collaborate with other core academic teachers.  Business teachers have to be willing to work with other teachers if they want their program to be successful.  Business education offers so many opportunities to students and it is vital that the business education teachers do everything to keep it still active.

Carnes, L. & Vice, J. P. (2007). Assessment to Support and Reinforce Academics. In M.L. Bush (Ed.), Assessment for an Evolving Business Education Curriculum (pp. 41-56). Reston, VA: National Business Education Association

Reflect on Effective Teaching

            Chapter three is about reflecting of effective teaching, which can provide valuable information to the teacher to improve their classroom effectiveness.  The chapter addresses six dimensions of effective teaching, which includes planning and preparation, managing the classroom environment, providing quality instruction, assessing student outcomes, pursuing professional responsibilities, and engaging in reflective practice.

            Planning and preparation is the first dimension and it directs the educator to take great care in aligning instruction with preset, effective pedagogical standards.  There are standards for instruction and for the teaching profession.  Standards instill a quality in both the teaching and learning process that may not be present or apparent.  One of the most important parts in the teaching process is planning for instruction.  There are also national standards for the teaching profession which provides the foundation for identifying excellent teaching.  These standards include INTASC standards and NABTE standards.

            The next step is managing the classroom environment.  Teachers must provide a classroom with an environment that is conducive to learning.  Effective classroom management occurs when a teacher consistently prepares well-planned lessons and materials; provides a positive supportive atmosphere for learning; establishes and reinforces classroom procedures and rules; and deals quickly and firmly with distractions and inappropriate student behaviors.

            Providing quality instruction is another important step.  This has an effect on student learning and warrants attention and exploration.  There are many different ways of instruction teachers can use.  The book describes many great strategies that teacher can use and that are effective.

            Assessing student outcomes is the next step in the process of developing optimal teaching strategies.  There are two methods that can be used which are peer evaluation and self-evaluation.  Teachers can also use rubrics or scoring guides to assess students.

            Professional responsibility is another way to improve teacher effectiveness.  This basically means that educators continue to learn and grow in every possible capacity to enhance their own lives as well as the lives of their students by improving their learning outcomes.

            Engaging in reflective practice is very important in improving effectiveness.  Teachers should reflect on their teaching that day and analyze how they did and what they can do differently.

            There is always ways for teachers to improve how they teach and being an effective teacher.  Reflection tells teachers what has been learned, what changes need to take place, and what improvements need to be made to ensure more effective teaching and learning.  This chapter definitely makes me realize how to be an effective teacher when I am in the classroom.  I know that it will take time and experience to be a great teacher, but this chapter helps me understand what I will be doing wrong and how I can improve my teaching.

Fisher, D., Rouse, S. E., Davis, L. (2007). Reflect on Effective Teaching. In M.L. Bush (Ed.), Assessment for an Evolving Business Education Curriculum (pp. 28-40). Reston, VA: National Business Education Association

Provide Student Feedback to Define Quality Work

            Chapter two focuses on feedback from teachers to the students.  Feedback is important because it provides the information students need to know how they are progressing.  Feedback should be continuous, constructive, relevant, timely, specific, and sincere; which will offer students a greater opportunity to successfully reach their learning goals.  By providing feedback, teachers make an impact on student learning.  Feedback can motivate and guide students through the learning process.

            There are different types of feedback which include continuous, constructive, relevant, timely, specific, and sincere.  Each one of these types of feedback is important.  Teachers should use all these types of feedback for their students because students respond differently to all of the types of feedback.  The book gives examples of each style of feedback which helps in understanding them better and how to approach students with feedback.  Teachers do need to be careful when they are providing feedback because some students can take things personally.

            The next topic mentioned is the styles of feedback in the assessment process.  Assessment can either be formative or summative.  The manner in which the feedback is provided can be either formal or informal.  Formative assessment is ongoing and determines student performance on a continuum.  Summative assessment is culminating and identifies what the student has learned.  Both of these types of assessments provide the opportunity for teachers to inform students of their progress.  Formal feedback is mainly scheduled activities and provides documentation.  Informal feedback is ongoing and mostly used by teachers.  This is usually when teachers interact with the students in discussions, groups, and is more spontaneous.  This type also lacks documentation or proof that a message was conveyed.

            There are many helpful tools teachers can use to document student performance and provide feedback.  By using a variety of tools, teachers are able to accommodate all learning styles of the students.  The different types of resources the book mentions includes observation forms, journals, quick-writes, snowball activity, ticket/passport and in/out the door, dear abby, reflections, checklists, rubrics, rating scales, review activities, portfolios, individual or group conferences, and student performances.  I think each of these resources is very useful.  I also think teachers should use many of the different types.  Students like to have some variety, but still have structure.

            I think this chapter gives some great ideas of how to provide great feedback to students.  Sometimes students can handle feedback well, but some take it the wrong way.  This chapter provides ways of how to be polite, but still authoritative when providing feedback.  I think if teachers are creative in the different ways they provide feedback, they will have better responses from students.  Feedback is very important in the classroom and should be used continuously.

Briggs, Dianna. (2007). Provide Student Feedback to Define Quality Work. In M.L. Bush (Ed.), Assessment for an Evolving Business Education Curriculum (pp. 13-27). Reston, VA: National Business Education Association

Assessment 101

            Chapter one focuses on evaluating student growth and achievement by using assessment.  There are three different types of domain which include cognitive, affective, and psychomotor.  This chapter discusses the different types of assessment, the importance of measurement, validity, reliability, and scoring guides, and also the purposes of assessment.  Assessment is important for any subject because it provides information on student growth and achievement to the students, teachers, parents, administrators, state and federal employees, and prospective employers.

Educators try to use varied means of assessment to best identity the skills and competencies students have achieved in all domain of learning.  There are many different types of assessment which includes traditional, alternative, performance, authentic, high-stakes testing, benchmark, formative, and summative.  The book goes into detail about each type of assessment and provides examples of the assessments.  This is very helpful when trying to understand which type of assessment teachers can use for various subjects and assignments.

The next topic discussed is measurement.  Measurement is the process of obtaining a numerical description of the degree to which an individual possesses a particular characteristic.  There are two types of measurement which include norm-referenced measurement and criterion-referenced measurement.  Norm-referenced measurement is where ratings or comparisons are made to other learners’ outcomes.  Criterion-referenced measurement is used to measure student outcomes when compared to standards and content of a given field or discipline.

Validity and reliability are the next topics mentioned.  Validity is the degree to which an assessment measures what is intended to be measured.  Reliability is the degree to which the assessment provides consistency in what it measures.  Scoring guides are also mentioned, which are rubrics that can help in assessing students. 

After reading this chapter, I now understand assessment and the ways to measure it more than what I did before.  I did not know that there were so many different types of assessment and now I am more aware of them.  The author provides great explanations of each topic and definitely helps me grasp the concepts easier.

I believe that this chapter will be able to help me when I am in the classroom in the future.  Each student responds differently to the various types of assessment and I think it is important to use as many of the different types as possible.  Business educators have the opportunity to use a variety of assignments and assessments in the classroom.  Students are able to benefit from this because they can excel in different areas.

Zeliff, Nancy, D. (2007). Assessment 101. In M.L. Bush (Ed.), Assessment for an Evolving Business Education Curriculum (pp. 1-12). Reston, VA: National Business Education Association