A Different View of Assessment

Last week I had to stay after school for a 3-hour PD on Assessment. And as you can imagine it was not one of the things on the “to-do list” that I was looking forward to. But I am the kind of person who can ALWAYS get something out of a PD (bad or good). I am easily motivated and willing to implement changes in my classroom when I am convinced they will make a difference. That is, in fact, what made me choose Carnegie!!

Anyway, after the 3-hour PD was over I was already beginning to rethink the slope quiz I was planning on giving to my students this week. I knew for a fact that several students were still struggling with using the formula (because they had either not finished their assignments or hadn’t done them without the assistance of their friend’s papers) and I also knew that most of my other students were a little fearful of the threat I had given a few weeks ago that if they failed the quiz they would be staying after school for Extended School Services until they got it!!

So, I decided to do things a little differently this time. What if the quiz itself was actually a tool for teaching as well? What if the assessment was also a way to give my fearful students confidence and “catch up” the students who were behind….WHILE I got a clear picture of who gets it and who doesn’t? Why do I think a quiz always has to be 10 questions on a half sheet of paper?? Couldn’t assessment be MORE than that?

Here is what I did!! I typed up 7 different scenarios similar to the ones we have experienced in the text so far as a group ($8 an hour, US Shirts, Rent-a-Car, Moving a Sandpile, etc)….each of these on it’s own page. Also on each page were instructions to write an equation, construct a table, use two points to find the slope, graph, and find the x and y intercepts of their scenario. I handed each student ONE scenario so that no one would have the same one as anyone around them (that’s why I made 7). This way EVERY student had to do their OWN work. (I gave them two class periods to work so they could not take it home either.) I began to circulate and what I found was exactly what I thought. Some students finished their problem beautifully with the occasional need for a confidence booster (“Mrs. Bratcher, am I doing this right?”) which I provided. And other students I had to guide through almost every step. If they needed my help using the formula on their scenario, they first had to use the formula on ten generic sets of ordered pairs (with my guidance). (Like shooting practice shots, before the real game.) Then they could go back and do their “assessment” problem on their own. The results of this “assessment” were profound. Not only did I get a clear picture of who DID and who DIDN’T understand how to use the slope formula; I also got to teach, one-on-one, those who were struggling.

I didn’t even have to grade them because EVERYONE had to have it right before they were allowed to turn it in!! Formative assessment at its best!! Who knew a 3-hour PD could have such an immediate positive impact on my classroom!