Dr. Patterson's EDTL 6800 Blogspot

What is your new approach to differentiating assessment?

I am reminded that from the Inventory that I have strong beliefs about differentiation–I am wholly committed to building a “large and diverse repertoire” (Wormeli, 2006) and doing whatever I can to help students achieve their goals. I do strive to do whatever works and not just what is most comfortable. I try a lot of things that just fall flat, but it is worth it to me, because the risks often bear fruit.

I have always been a very regular formative assessor, but the thing studying DI has taught me is that there are big payoffs to offering choice in assessments, whether by interest, learning style, or readiness. My new approach to differentiated assessment is therefor to look over each assessment before I administer and consider whether or not it can be differentiated by any of these. I  never used to do this, but I see offering choices in ways students students report what they know as high yield for low effort on my part.  I once heard the quote “Bread and milk can so easily be toast and tea.” That is how I am approaching assessment–with very little work, it can be much more interesting and nutritious:)

I also like the definition very much that Carol Ann Tomlinson’s student generated about what DI is–having your goals in sharp focus, knowing where students are in relation to those goals, and getting everyone to meet them. This is all about assessment, in my view, from pre-assessment to formative assessment to summative assessment.

I have really enjoyed using Knowledge Bar Graphs and Topic Webs (Heacox, 2010) as a new type of pre-assessment. They can be quick and easy or more complicated for a formal pre-assessment. See “Totally 25 HOT Quiz” and “Menu HOT Quiz” attached as examples of a fun way to formatively assess that offers students choice. These can also be used as pre-assessments. I can know where weaknesses are by what students choose NOT to answer as well as what they do. I have also used Heacox’s topic webs in a teacher training workshop, and found that they were a great way to get lots of information about what your students know.

Assessment is on a continuum from what we do before, to what we do during, to what we ACTUALLY DO with the information during a unit to address what we found out, to summative assessment. It is at the heart of being fair to kids and helping them learn best.

Bibliography

Wormeli, R. (2006). Fair Isn’t Always Equal: Assessing and Grading in the Differentiated Classroom. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.

Heacox, D. (2010). Making Differentiation a Habit. Free Spirit.

Menu HOT Quiz–This quiz came from Wormeli’s first book on differentiation, Differentiation from Planning to Practice, 2007. I used it as choice assessment but can see it as a pre-assessment as well.

Totally 25 HOT Quiz–This quiz is adapted from our class text, pp. 55-56.

Weaving a Topic Web–This is a set of step-by-step instructions I used in a workshop I offered in Morocco when teaching practicing teachers about differentiation. English we their second or third language, and this both helped them and me see what they knew about it.

~ by ncpatte on June 23, 2010 .