>Many teachers struggle to branch out from traditional forms of assessment, such as multiple choice tests. To help you incorporate more effective, authentic assessments in your classroom, the following are great ways to change the way you assess your students’ learning:
Rubrics :
Rubrics are performance-based assessment tools used to evaluate student performance on a task, a set of tasks, or a learning outcome. Rubrics use specific criteria, in the form of narrative descriptions, as a basis for evaluating student performance. Most rubrics use a tabular format that identifies the level of student achievement, from low-to-high or high-to-low, based upon the proficiency that the student is able to achieve. Rating scales may be numerical, or qualitative, or both.
Exit cards:
Exit cards are a simple assessment tool. Each card will have a set of just two or three questions for students to answer after you teach a lesson. Students answer the questions before the bell rings. It is the last thing they do in class. They must hand the card to the teacher before they walk out the door, hence the name “exit cards.” It’s ongoing, immediate assessment in action. If you have two teachers, you have two people who can assess and group the exit cards. Exit cards (a.k.a. “tickets to leave”) are used to gather information on student readiness levels, understanding of concepts just taught, interests, and/or learning profiles.
Exit cards can also be used to form intervention pairs, triads, and groups. After a lesson, use exit cards to assess student understanding or interest. Keep the items on the cards short and to the point. Keep it simple!
When reviewing the cards that are implemented as an assessment tool, score them with a #1 if the student does not understand the concept, got the answer wrong, or needs re-teaching. Score it with a 2 if the student understands but needs more practice. Score it with a 3 if the student understands the concept and is ready to move on. Then use the cards to group students.
You might put all the #1s together and re-teach that group (or small groups). Put the #2’s together (or in small groups) and give them a practice activity. Put all the three’s together and assign them an enrichment activity or an investigation. Alternatively, you might put a 1, a 2, and a 3 together in a triad to work practice the skill.
Another option for using data from the exit cards is to determine student interest or strengths in a topic or group by learning style.
Additional quick assessments might include:
• High Fluency Phrases located in The Fluent Reader by Timothy V. Rasinski (Raskinski, 2003). Do an Internet search on a paper titled, “Phrases and Short Sentences for Repeated Reading Practice.”
• Everyday Edits are also effective as both an assessment and an intervention. Search for Every-Day Edits at http://www.educationalworld.com