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Testing 1, 2, 3 . . . Testing
Why We Dont Want Our Data, Like Our Laundry, to Pile Up
hen I craft reading assessments, I follow a predictable structure that incorporates everything that I know I need to assess. This chapter shows in detail how to craft each of the following categories:
Test this weeks strategies with shared passage. Test this weeks strategies with a passage students have never seen
before. Spiral review content from the past month. Spiral review content from the past year. Incorporate standardized testing. Evaluate weekly vocabulary. End with a survey and self-assessment. Also,
Keep assessments kid-friendly. Dont let assessment logistics keep you from doing weekly assessments.
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Testing 1, 2, 3 . . . Testing
How often do you do your laundry? Do you let it go until its overowing or do you have a set weekly routine? My husband refuses to own more than seven pairs of socks. Maybe thats the reason why we do our laundry weekly! Our sock restriction keeps our laundry manageable. Its the same in our classrooms. Letting student knowledge pile up will be as laborious as letting your clothes pile up. The longer you wait to run the spin cycle, the longer it will be until you have fresh sheets, and the messier your hamper will be. Not testing frequently? Then your data, like your laundry, is piling up. But it isnt just frequency that counts with assessments; as with laundry, we need to consider compartmentalizing as well. By compartmentalizing your assessments, you can track data overtime by category. Want to know how your students do on close reading strategies? Create a category on each assessment. Vocabulary? Category. Standardized testing? Category. You get the picture. Frequent assessments are essential in that they make teachers feel more powerful; knowledge is power, right? I will show that frequently assessing gives students more power as well. I remember a college class where I didnt receive any feedback until grades were due. Or I got grades every two months without feedback in between. I was leading myself blindly through the course. Without feedback, I didnt do as well as I could. Frequent assessment results are great feedback and therefore allow for powerful self-assessment.
Formative (Not Graded) All classroom checks for understanding Conferences Guided reading Do-nows
Summative (Graded) Weekly assessment of weeks objectives Assessing i-Think journals weekly or bi-weekly Accountability for books read (end of book quizzes, reports, etcetera) Running records
Summative assessments are assessments of learning. Summative assessments include quizzes, weekly tests, and standardized tests. They measure achievement status at a point in time, and sort students according to achievement for later intervention work; grades are later used for report card grading.
Compartmentalized
Efficient
Frequent
Efcient Taking an assessment should be efcient and take one class period. I should be able to grade the assessments efciently and consistently.
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Testing 1, 2, 3 . . . Testing
Frequent Assessments should happen frequently. Both the students and I need to be on top of data in order to feel powerful. It is for this reason that the best teachers assess at least every other Friday, if not every Friday. I have just described the fundamental aspects of a Reading Without Limits assessment. Next I show how to put together a weekly (or bi-monthly) reading assessment that is compartmentalized, frequent, and efcient. Why test? Ultimately, you are helping students grow because you will be able to pinpoint exactly what they need. It also helps you revise your classroom instruction in order to address trends. Therefore, I believe you should keep tests simple and assess only the data you need. When I put together a weekly reading assessment, I include seven categories and no others. This is the data I need.
practice. Use an excerpt that youve shared before, ideally that week. That way, students who are below reading level will be able to access it. Keep the passage shortit should take the students less than a few minutes to read. Assess Exactly What You Taught After four or nine lessons, assess each of your daily objectives so you get frequent data. Write one test question per aim. You dont need to ask tons of questionskeep it efcient. Craft one question for each of your weeks lessons, using that passage. Make use of different approaches in your questions, including graphic organizers, short responses, cloze, and matching. Mix it up to make testing less of a drag. Following is an abbreviated sample showing what I mean. The students were reading The Watsons Go to Birmingham while working on inferences derived from Common Core State Standard 1: Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specic textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. I included an excerpt at the beginning of the test. Then, I asked four questions (for the weeks four aims), two of which are below. 1. Read the two i-Think notes below. Why is the Great Making More Inference better than the OK Making More Inference (Tuesdays lesson)? Identify three reasons. Great Making More Inference Kenny is self-conscious about his wandering eye. He doesnt like to look at people head on so they wont see his eye. Also, he practices looking in the mirror trying to straighten his eye out. I think hes self-conscious because he feels different, and because his brother teases him. OK Making More Inference : I think that Kenny doesnt like his eye.
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Testing 1, 2, 3 . . . Testing
Three different things are listed Reasons specically reference Great Inference Reasons specically reference OK Inference
2. Reread the passage below. Draw a peace sign in the bottom right corner (I explain why I wrote that later in this chapter).
Me and Joey cracked up, Byron kind of chuckled and Momma put her hand over her mouth. She did this whenever she was going to give a smile because she had a great big gap between her front teeth. If Momma thought something was funny, rst youd see her trying to keep her lips together to hide the gap, then, if the smile got to be too strong, youd see the gap for a hot second before Mommas hand would come up to cover it, then shed crack up too.
Using the criteria you listed in #2, create a making more inference (Thursdays lesson). Includes an inference that is not directly in the text Made more of the text by making a prediction Inference is supported by at least two details in the passage Notice how I wrote down the day we did the lesson I asked a short answer question and a question that required students to make a list I included criteria for the answer
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