Student Readiness

Finding the next achievable step

Two Important Aspects of Readiness
1. Emotion How is the student feeling?
Attitude/Mood What is the students normal outlook on life and what is their
temperament at the time of the session?
Confidence How self-assured is the student feeling about their personal abilities?
2. Understanding/Cognitive How well does the student comprehend the assignment or
information? How prepared is the student for the assignment or process?
Process How well the student is handling or understanding the steps to completing the
project at hand.
Assignment Does the student understand the task? Are they able to properly execute
it?
Behavior How well is the student executing the task? Are their actions positive for

the task at hand?

Knowledge/Skills How well prepared is the student for the current assignment?

Important Aspects of Assessing Readiness

Understanding how learning works

Understanding prior knowledge
Asking the right questions
Asking questions in the correct way
Using the answers from the questioning to know what the next step will be
***Always focus on What is the next achievable step?***

How Learning Works

Learning is a process
Learning involves change in knowledge, beliefs, behaviors, or attitudes.
Learning is not something done to students, but something students do themselves.

Prior Knowledge

Students prior knowledge can help or hinder learning

Assessing a students prior knowledge is important due to how it can affect the learning
of new information

Most researchers believe that students must connect new knowledge to previous
knowledge in order to learn
o Relate information to real life or well-known information if the student is

struggling
The information learned prior to this must be not only accurate but also sufficient
o Important to assess prior knowledge so the session can be tailored to the students
needs

Tips for Assessing Prior Knowledge

Asking questions about the material What is this assignment/class about? What

information have you researched/learned?

Having the student brainstorm Asking the student to think about their topic or

assignment and talking out the information.

Looking for patterns of error in student work Are there areas of information missing
from the assignment or paper?

Emotional Aspect of Readiness

It is important to assess how your tutee is feeling at the time of the session.
As a coach, it is important to build rapport with the student by introducing yourself

and being caring

Knowing more about their personality, their mood, and how they are feeling about the

assignment will help you to prepare for your session together in a better way.
It is very important to ask some opening questions at the start of the session
o How are you today?
o Can you tell me more about this assignment?
o What seems to be causing you the most issue in this assignment?
Observation is also key in assessing emotional readiness
o Does the student look upset?
o Does the student seem to be unfocused?
Assessing the emotional readiness of the tutee will be the most difficult and most

unscientific part of assessing readiness.

Make sure to use your best observation skills and react as appropriate to the situation

at hand.

Asking the Right Questions

Beginning of the Session

o Asking questions at the beginning of the session allows the coach to get a clearer
idea of
What the student knows, doesnt know, or is unclear about an
assessment in the form of a series of questions can inform the coach more

about where the session needs to go.

Students preparation level is the student ready for the session? Where is
he/she in the process of the assignment? What strategies has the student

been using up to this point?

Middle of the Session
o Use assessment throughout the session it will allow the student and the tutor to
be aware of the learning taking place.
Examples of interspersed assessment is when students
Provide additional examples
Paraphrase or summarize information in their own words
Draw conclusions independently
Correct previous errors
End of the Session
o Have the student summarize the session - Assessing the student at the end of the
session allows for summarization of the information and setting up for what the
student needs to do next for the assignment
Examples of summative assessment when students Summarize key information
Follow through with directives
o Examples: show, explain, summarize, and demonstrate
Apply a concept correctly

Deciding on Whats Next

Have the student summarize having the student summarize the information that has
been covered in the session will allow the coach to assess is there are any gaps in learning

or understanding. If so, cover what is missing; if not, move on to the next topic.
Utilize the information learned about the students readiness
o Use the knowledge of the students strengths and weaknesses. - Assessing the
students readiness will enable a coach to learn the strengths and weaknesses of
the student and use his/her strengths to improve his/her weaknesses.

Follow-Up Questions
o How is questioning and assessing readiness helpful in deciding what to do next?
o Other than assessing, what are some other ways that coaches can know what to do
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next in a session?
When do you know when to move on in the session?
How do you know what to move on to?
Why would knowing the students mood be helpful to the coach?
How could the students confidence effect the session?
Why is assessing the readiness of the students understanding and knowledge
important for the coach at the beginning, and even throughout, the session

important?
o What are some other reasons it is important to assess the students readiness at the
beginning, middle, and end of the session?
o How will these assessments help you to spin off into what is next for the student?