Assessment

One thing I really liked that Cunningham addressed in her chapter about assessment is that assessment is part of daily life. Working with kids for several years I think the worst parts of assessment are the stigma surrounding it and it's political connotation. I've seen eight year olds in tears over studying for a state regulated test that the school puts a ton of emphasis on. These tests are seen as a way to see who is dumb and who is smart and not to ways to improve instruction and gauge comprehension. As teachers, not politicians, it is our responsibility to utilize assessment to better ourselves as educators and our students through understanding of strengths and weaknesses. As discussed in the reading this is when we are actually assessing students and not just giving tests.  I really like that she points out that even things like reading level help teacher's see how successful they are being as instructors. I also like that she talks about what to do after assessment, not just label students but use the information for effective instruction like guided reading. In my ELL class we've talked a lot about doing full reading profiles on students rather than just one assessment and labeling them:

Link: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/58828338855453613/
 How helpful would something like this be?! You could make one at the beginning of the year and the end. You would include all the information so you can see where there is improvement and struggles. Also, this would be super helpful as the child moves up in grades. Especially if they need special instructions like ESL or TPI's. It helps with knowing the student and making sure they are progressing.

Do you think you could use something like this?
What would be the advantages vs. disadvantages of doing such a thorough profile?