Ideas for the classroom

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Formative assessment ideas for the classroom and program

Contributions from:
Mary Field, Virginia Tardaewether, Tina Luffman, Marie Cora, Jeanette Schandelmeier, Katrina Hinson, Susan Reid, Bryan Woerner, David Rosen, Jo Pamment and Karisa Tashjian.

From NIFL Assessment Discussion List, January 23 – 29, 2007
(View archives: [[1]])

Ideas to do with the student:

  • I look at their TABE scores and talk to them about where they actually stopped learning - what they've been doing workwise and try to gather information to give me a better picture of what someone may really know.
  • I adapt a lot of my assessment measures up and down for any given new student. I don't want to frustrate them off the top and if I see them struggling with something, I'll approach them and tell them to "let's try something else - let's back up a bit and see if this is a bit better place for you to start."
  • I keep track of what each student is working on day to day, week to week. I do my own version of an IEP for each student so that if for some reason I'm not there, they know what to do and where to go and keep moving ahead. I update their plans as they complete lessons, gain confidence, pass GED practice tests or GED tests or simply progress levels up on the TABE. It's more work in the beginning but it works better organizationally for me in the long run and the students like being able to see what they're doing, where they are and where they're going. Students have access to [their IEPs]. It's an individualized education plan fitted to that student. It helps keep the student on target and focused as to what step he or she is in the program - where they are in terms of reaching individual goals.
  • We’ve added a Tuition Waiver Approval process which entails: pre and post tests, meeting with an advisor, completion of the college placement test, a goal setting process and attendance.
  • Our practice is that ILPs (Individualized Learning Plans) are developed with the learner - they have a copy of them and the goals in the ILPs are regularly reviewed.
  • Each 8 weeks the learner's ILP is flagged and the teacher reviews it with the learner. If they want to review it earlier they just change the dates in the data base. Each learner has a paper copy of the ILP in any event.
  • We have a computer site where students can access assignments and use the email. All students get an email account when they register so that simplifies the matter. As the instructor, I have access to their email account from the registration records.
  • We provide opportunities to show feedback in the form of quizzes, writing essays, doing small group work, etc. to make sure the students are getting what is being taught during the class period.
  • We also spot check work done out of workbooks and review scores on the software lessons.

Ideas for student self-assessment:

  • Concerning IEPs, in Arizona we call them ISPs Individual Student Plans. We place one on the top left side of each student's folder and enter their TABE scores, Official Practice Test scores, and their other goals (improve job, enter employment, children's education, improve computer skills, etc.) on these forms. The student goes to the cabinet and pulls his/her folder each time s/he comes to class. This process gives the student as well as the teacher full awareness of where the student is on reaching yearly goals and what still needs to be done.
  • Beneath the ISP are study guides for each subject area we have assigned. These study guides have checkmarks for the chapters/software lessons the student needs to complete. The student checks off each completed lesson.
  • On the top of the right side of the folder we have a Daily Goal Sheet. Students write a mini synopsis of what they complete each day before leaving and then are encouraged to write about what they plan to do next time they come to class.
  • The process is especially beneficial to our GED Online program because these students can drop in to the next open class period if they get stuck. The ISP and the entire folder system really help with flexibility and meeting needs.
  • Pre and post test scores are talked about in small and large groups so that all students understand the system of progress. Each student is given their own personal scores and an individual learning plan that is developed with staff and the student. This plan changes through time, but it helps tracks goal accomplishments and testing scores. Students also work on resumes, complete job searches, complete FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) forms and attend job interviews while enrolled.

Ideas for self-directed or Distance Learning:

  • I've been working on creating blackboard classes for AHS (Adult High School) but we also currently use A+Anywhere for an online component of our AHS program. Each class has a syllabus and objectives that need to be met. The online assignments are not necessarily the same as they would be if the student were taking the same class in person. The whole idea is to provide an alternative means of instruction for students we might otherwise lose or who might otherwise have to quit or stop out for whatever reason he or she is facing. The online classes are designed for students that truly show an aptitude to learn on their own and at their own pace. They're given contact information for me as an instructor and the hours I'll be available online to help them both during school hours and outside school hours. They have to check in with me once a week and I monitor their progress via reports and assignments and if I see a problem I will contact a student and bring them in for face to face counseling. So far it's working well.

Ideas using class management:

  • My class is a mixture of independent and self paced learning with some group instruction thrown in. We do a writing journal as a class every day and we do a math journal every day as a way of coming together as a class.

Ideas for reading:

  • I like to have students read out loud sometimes so I can hear how they pronounce words, get a sense of their understanding of punctuation, get an idea of their fluency.
  • I like to ask comprehension questions after an out-loud reading so I can see if the person needed to use all their concentration to decipher/articulate the text, or it they were able to comprehend the text at the same time.

Ideas for writing:

  • I like to use dialog journals in the classic way of not overtly correcting errors, but rather writing back with the same language but in corrected fashion. You can see over a period of time when the person's writing starts to change and the person begins to notice correct forms and use them. This progression is fairly slow and so you can really get a sense of the learning journey for that person.

Ideas for speaking/listening:

  • I began class with the same routine which was often a set of casual questions thrown out to whomever would like to respond (i.e.: how was your weekend? What did you do? etc). I can see who speaks right up, and who does not; you can see over time how that dynamic starts to change because the students have the expectation after a while that this will happen and they start mentally preparing for it. They will often ask each other as well once this has been established. I sort of feel that in an ESOL class, especially one focused on speaking/listening, formative assessment happens anytime anyone opens their mouth (or doesn't) - but wouldn't that be really hard to document?!

Ideas for pronunciation:

  • I ask students to bring in their own pocket mirror so that they can look at their mouths while they are practicing sounds. I ask them to look in their mirror and see if what they see looks like what I am doing; they also monitor their progress during class.

Ideas for promoting critical thinking:

  • Here's an idea if you are asking people to provide definitions of words/terms or to discuss the meaning of a particular concept: ask them to first write what they think is the correct response, even if they are not sure; then provide them with where to find the correct answers so they can go there and add the correct response to their own and the question at hand. This makes the activity much more of a critical thinking process and it is organized to provide a self-assessment.

Ideas for using scenarios for professional development:

  • We use scenarios all the time in professional development - they help make concepts real and participants can relate what they have been working on to a real live situation. Usually I use my own or other colleagues' personal experiences as models.
  • Scenarios are very flexible too - a former colleague of mine taught me to how to start them off in quite a simple way and then either make them layered by adding more information or by getting the participants to add more information - that way you find out what they are doing and are able to ask rich questions about why they chose to add that information.
  • Prior to that I had spent a lot of time writing quite complex and rich scenarios and sometimes they didn't relate to the participants' experiences so this way they build the scenario too and have a strong sense of ownership
  • I find scenarios really useful in making explicit the wide range of opportunities that exist for formative assessment - we put a lot of emphasis on observation and recording as formative assessment rather than 'testing' per se.
  • Observation requires some knowledge on behalf of the teacher and a commitment to enquiry - when they see something that they are not sure about then they ask someone or work out what was happening.

Ideas for using data:

  • We have a new custom designed database that teachers use to input all sorts of data. The database includes the learner's Individual Learning Plan (and goals) and the records for each session - what was planned, what was delivered, comments from the learners and the teacher. It also includes data about programme goals, curriculum, key milestones, learner details as well as diagnostic assessment data and formative and summative assessment data as it is collected.

Ideas for using standards/curriculum:

  • My informal on-going assessments are standards/curriculum-based; I suppose what you’d call formative. I then write my IEP goals based on our state standards.
  • I use several things to help put together curriculum for my class including state content standards, program goals, CASAS test information, my own observations, and student requests. Mostly I use the CASAS information as a guide as it shows their strengths and weaknesses and because our program uses the competencies as benchmarks to meet the state's content standards.
  • We have just started to use the draft Foundation Learning Progressions which were released in NZ last year and they owe a lot to the EFF (Equipped for the Future) Standards and approaches [[2]]

Ideas for using real world:

  • If I have time and paper, I like to create my own materials, otherwise I try and use the textbooks, supplemental materials, and realia on hand to make my lesson plans.
  • I try to follow the Communicative Approach which basically says that language is a tool and as a teacher, it is my duty to help learners use language to solve their problems in the everyday world.
  • I try to use authentic language (or near-authentic) as opposed to the often contrived textbook language. Examples: using real job ads from the newspaper, recording your own dialogues, having students create their own dialogues, having students fill out real applications, etc.

Ideas for using existing materials:

  • I use Pre-tests in the Steck-Vaughn and Contemporary GED and Pre-GED books. I also use the Achieving TABE success books that have some excellent Pre-Tests that I like better than the GED Pre Test when it comes to reading because it gives me a better picture of the "skill" area that a student may be having difficulty with in terms of Reading - such as Main Ideas, Inferences etc.
  • McGrawHill's Top 50 Skills CD – the practice tests give a really good "study" plan for students and they can print off their information for their score and see their own progress.
  • Students in our on-line classes are all TABE tested just as we do for any other student. GED students work on MySkillsTutor and A+Anywhere and do the assessments involved in each program.
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