Due to the serious developmental delays experienced by my students, traditional assessment procedures are not appropriate. I do not use teacher-generated written tests, research reports, or letter-grade systems. Rather, I use cooperative learning techniques that revolve around manipulatives and class projects. Through observation and monitoring student participation, I can determine the student’s level of understanding. By reteaching concepts using varied learning experiences, I can provide more opportunities for students to acquire knowledge. Often, it is difficult to ascertain the extent of a student’s understanding due to expressive and receptive language processing problems. However, as long as a child participates in class to the best of his or her ability, I feel that the student has met the requirements of the class and is able to “pass”.
An interesting form of assessment could take the form of a school science fair. The students could work on a culminating class project that would reflect on the genetics theme. This could broaden into a school-wide science fair that included other classroom sciences units. This would provide another opportunity for parents to meet together and observe the progress being made by their students in the field of science. A science fair would generate increased excitement with science and encourage active student and teacher involvement in order to be successful.