9/8 Assessment

Tomorrow we will be taking the district math assessment, but already we have a good idea of who will do well and who will struggle. How do we know? We've been observing how the students are doing in their everyday math work. Since the first day of school, Mrs. S and I have been observing students, seeing how quickly they complete math problems, who is struggling, who is looking at someone else's paper to know what to do, who can explain how they got their answer, who can draw a picture of their thinking. There are a few students we know will need test questions read to them, and then will be able to do the math. Being a below-level reader hurts students on so many fronts. Other students will breeze through the test. Since this is a new math curriculum for the district, some may struggle with the new language and format but we have covered much of the new vocabulary by using it during the first week of lessons.

Mrs. S has been conducting running records with individual students to assess reading, but again we have learned a lot by watching them during independent reading time. We look for who sticks with a book and who keeps changing, ask students about the stories they are reading, or listen in to a few pages. One student told us he couldn't read on the first day of school. Another asks for help reading math questions. All of these pieces are valuable in figuring out where the child is at. A spelling inventory and writing samples also round out the picture.

Assessment is so much more than just a test and I'm beginning to see how much individual, daily observation plays into knowing where your students are at. The next step will be to see how this information turns into individualized instruction.