NYSTCE ATAS Assessment Skills 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A teaching assistant notices a student consistently struggles with reading comprehension but performs well on oral questions. What is the BEST way to document this observation for the teacher?
- Tell the student's parents immediately
- Write a brief anecdotal note describing the specific pattern observed (Correct answer)
- Change the student's reading group without consulting the teacher
- Ignore it since oral performance is more important
Correct answer: Write a brief anecdotal note describing the specific pattern observed
Anecdotal notes provide the teacher with specific, objective evidence of a learning pattern that can inform instructional decisions.
Question 2: Which type of assessment measures a student's knowledge and skills at a specific point in time and is often used to assign grades?
- Formative assessment
- Diagnostic assessment
- Summative assessment (Correct answer)
- Portfolio assessment
Correct answer: Summative assessment
Summative assessments evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional period and are typically used for grading and accountability.
Question 3: When a teaching assistant is helping score a student's written response using a rubric, which practice BEST ensures consistency?
- Score based on personal impression of the student's effort
- Apply the rubric criteria the same way to every student's response (Correct answer)
- Give extra points to students who completed the task neatly
- Compare each student's response to the best student's response
Correct answer: Apply the rubric criteria the same way to every student's response
Applying rubric criteria consistently to every response ensures inter-rater reliability and fair scoring.
Question 4: A teacher asks the TA to administer a timed reading fluency assessment. The student asks for extra time. What should the TA do?
- Grant extra time to be supportive
- Consult the teacher before making any accommodation (Correct answer)
- Refuse and proceed strictly as directed
- End the assessment and report the student's request
Correct answer: Consult the teacher before making any accommodation
The TA should check with the teacher before making any accommodation changes to ensure the assessment remains valid and follows any IEP or 504 directives.
Question 5: Which of the following BEST describes the purpose of a diagnostic assessment?
- To evaluate student performance at the end of a grading period
- To identify a student's strengths and areas of need before instruction begins (Correct answer)
- To motivate students by showing their progress over time
- To compare student performance against national norms
Correct answer: To identify a student's strengths and areas of need before instruction begins
Diagnostic assessments are administered before instruction to identify what students already know and where gaps exist.
Question 6: A TA observes that several students in a small group are making the same math error repeatedly. The MOST appropriate action is to:
- Correct each student individually without telling the teacher
- Note the pattern and report it to the teacher to inform instruction (Correct answer)
- Move on so students don't feel embarrassed
- Reteach the entire lesson independently
Correct answer: Note the pattern and report it to the teacher to inform instruction
Reporting patterns of error to the teacher allows the instructional team to address the misconception systematically.
Question 7: A checklist used to track whether specific skills have been demonstrated by a student is BEST described as which type of assessment tool?
- Norm-referenced test
- Criterion-referenced checklist (Correct answer)
- Portfolio
- Standardized test
Correct answer: Criterion-referenced checklist
A criterion-referenced checklist measures whether a student has met specific, predefined skill benchmarks rather than comparing students to each other.
NYSTCE ATAS Assessment Skills 2
A teaching assistant notices a student consistently struggles with reading comprehension but performs well on oral questions.
What is the BEST way to document this observation for the teacher?