¶ … Special Education Assessment Options

There were a number of eminent points and observations regarding the methodology of assessment utilized within Maryellen Weimer's article, "Making exams more about learning," which initially appeared in The Teaching Professor in 2011. This article essentially functions as a case study in which an undergraduate instructor, Thomas Smith, employed a number of unusual methods to assist his students with the process of assessment. Among the measures that Smith adopted was grading the examinations students took individually with each student, as well as allowing them access to previous examinations on the same topic. While analyzing Smith's methodology, the author makes note of both positive and negative points that can aid additional instructors who want to incorporate some of Smith's techniques in the future. The overall effect is that readers and pedagogues are able to get a practical, compressive overview of alternate assessment methods that can easily be incorporated into virtually any classroom setting -- even for assessing special education students.

The principle thematic element that Weimer's article is based on is the fact that traditionally, the assessment process involves students concerning themselves with the resultant grade, and whatever steps they must take to earn such a grade. However, the obtaining of a particular grade is not always the objective of learning -- which is more commonly associated with edification purposes. The author poses that "the process of preparing for, taking, and getting feedback about an exam can also be a learning experience" (Weimer, 2011). There appears to be a good amount of relevance and accuracy in this statement -- particularly the part of it that references the feedback incurred once an assessment is given. With the answers presented to students in this setting (after they have already given a considerable amount of children is part science and part art." (1998, p. 9).
One of the most salient aspects of the assessment process detailed within the case study of Weimer's article is the fact that students were required to offer justification for their answers on exams, and it was the justification -- not the actual answer itself -- that was graded and that students received credit for. From a pedagogical perspective, this method actually helps to enhance learning by allowing students to focus less on the correct answer and more on why such an answer is in fact correct. The examination administered in the case study was multiple-choice. Students could actually receive some credit for incorrect answers if there was a definite logic evinced within their justification that related to their answers, while students who may have inadvertently guessed correctly and could not justify their responses would not receive credit. The focus of such a method is extremely conducive to the didactic process because it allows for an instructor to gain a broader understanding of what students have actually learned about a subject. Some students may have understood a concept but merely miscalculated or misinterpreted a question -- and subsequently are still deserving of some acknowledgement for that which they do know.

One of the most useful aspects of Smith's case study pertains to how the pedagogue was able to systematically reduce the negative symptoms often associated with assessment. All too often, "For students, assessment often is perceived as a means of competing with classmates for the highest grade" (The Center, 2008).Testing anxiety, nervousness, and a host of other symptoms that have…