My Worst Assessment

(Botsula, M. 2021)

When working with 18 - 26 year old adults with various disabilities, teaching them life skills can be challenging. Adult Living skills are taught within the classroom and must be transferred to the community or job site with the expectation of the individual transferring the skills independently. The problem is that these individuals have difficulty transferring the skills taught. One skill in particular is the transfer of money skills. In the classroom, the students can count how much money is needed to make a transaction.  However, when we go shopping at Walmart, the money skills do not transfer to the point-of-service.

After going to Walmart several times with the students, it was apparent that there were deeper issues to the problem than just being able to transfer money skills to the retail environment. The students had to navigate the store, choose items that were the correct size and dollar amount, and determine whether they were able to navigate the process of self-checkout. When given a specific list with the exact item and amount it will cost, they did not have to guess which size to get. Also, after navigating Walmart several times, they now understood the layout of the store and had an easier time focusing on finding the correct items. This helped alleviate some of the stressors that occurred prior to making the money transaction itself.

Learning objectives, sometimes referred to as learning outcomes, are the statements that clearly describe what students are expected to achieve as a result of instruction. (CTE Resources. n.d.) The learning objective was for a given student to make a money translation independently with 100% accuracy. The learning objective will focus on the specific task of making the money transaction alone. The extenuating factors that contribute to the problem need to be minimized. The solutions may vary according to the needs of students.

Many of my learning objectives for my program are based on money skills. However, I needed to determine the background knowledge of the students prior to shopping.  First, I had to perform a pre-assessment. A pre-assessment, also known as a diagnostic assessment or pretest, is an evaluation conducted at the beginning of an instructional period to assess students' prior knowledge, skills, and understanding of the subject matter. The purpose of pre-assessment is to provide educators with insights into students' baseline knowledge and identify any learning gaps or misconceptions. This information helps educators tailor their instruction to address individual learning needs and build upon students' existing knowledge. (ProctorEdu. n.d.)

Therefore, I created a pre-assessment called the parent questionnaire. This questionnaire is in google forms. The content area is money. The questions are based on the adult learners knowledge and practical application about money. The questions are multiple choice. The intention for this questionnaire was to give me clarifying information about each adult learner. This questionnaire was for parents/guardians to complete at home with their adult learner. The assessment that I used ended up being one of my worst assessments. If assessments are to be holistic in their goal of improving student learning, then incorporating a culturally responsive approach to assessment is a priority. (Montenegro, E., & Jankowski, N. A. 2017) I do not think that my pre-assessment was a culturally responsive approach to assessment. The parent’s are from very different socio-economic backgrounds. Some parents thought the questionnaire was too easy and did not pertain to their learner.  While there were others that did not know how to navigate the form due to their lack of use of technology because they could not afford a computer.

To conclude, teaching life skills and money management to young adults with disabilities has to have a multifaceted approach that extends beyond the classroom. Assessments also need to be authentic and individualized. The parent questionnaire needs to be individualized for different students and parents.

References 

Botsula, M. (2021, December 16). A Good Test vs a Bad Test, or How NOT to Make a Knowledge Assessment Test. Medium. https://medium.com/@botsula/a-good-test-vs-a-bad-test-or-how-not-to-make-a-knowledge-assessment-test-1bdb63c8ff31 

CTE Resources. (n.d.). Learning Objectives https://cteresources.bc.edu/documentation/learning-objectives/ 

Montenegro, E., & Jankowski, N. A. (2017). Equity and assessment: Moving towards culturally responsive assessment. (Occasional Paper No. 29). University of Illinois and Indiana University, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA).

ProctorEdu. (n.d.). Pre-Assessment - Definition & Meaning. https://proctoredu.com/glossary/pre-assessment