In the last decade the big buzz words in education have been differentiation and its overbearing partner, assessment.
Administrators across the nation are asking their teachers “What can you do to differentiate instruction in your classroom?” Recently, educators have seen this metamorphosis into productive group work and universal design for learning. Everyone is dis-aggregating data to elevate your use of differentiated instruction so that it includes the student in the dialogue with the goal of providing specific feedback, meaningful tiered instruction, and developing a classroom that is cognitively connected to the academic skills being mastered.
So now you are saying, “Well I know that, but what do I do about it?” There are simple ways to incorporate common instructional practices into the classroom environment that have a high yield return on investment. At the end of your work day, you should feel that you raised the bar for all students from your below grade level learners to your above grade level learners. This feeling of accomplishment is the teacher’s return on investment. Knowledge increase is the student’s return on investment.
With any investment portfolio you first have to know what you have; “How much money do I have to invest?” In the classroom we are asking, “What does little Jamie already know?” Assessment is the only way to decipher what a person knows. Whether it’s through observation, last night’s homework, or a test, all forms of assessment should be assigned with one goal in mind – to move the child forward in their academic growth and acquisition of skills.
As we look at these strategies, remember that the goal is to grow students academically from where they are to the next step. It’s a process of constantly raising the bar so that students do not experience a plateau in their educational experience. Including students in the conversation about where they are at academically and where the desired level of achievement is will create an environment where students are stretched to think and engage in cognitive connections. Learning is a process in which educators must constantly endeavor to increase the knowledge, skill and ability of their students. In other words, take the baseline data and use it to make informed decisions about how to pace and present instruction. Dialogue is critical in the process.
Diagnostic Pre-Assessment
Diagnosis of student knowledge should take place fairly frequently through a variety of pre-assessment tools. All assessments should have the same goal – to assess what a student knows right now and to use that data to develop lessons that increase their knowledge in a measurable content or skill over time. Therefore any work sample, selected response from county, state, and national assessments to create data driven instruction. However, data driven instruction should be an integral part of the everyday assessments teachers give in their classrooms.
Differentiated instruction is a tiered approach to educating students in the mixed ability classroom. How else do you teach a group of third graders long division when one-third doesn’t have basic multiplication and division facts memorised, another third has their basic facts mastered, and the last third is so far beyond anyone in the class that they often spend math class peer tutoring their classmates? The three group rotation method just is not enough in our standards based classrooms when many students have yet to achieve the basics.
Here, I will challenge you question, essay, math problem or drawing can be an assessment tool. Pre-assessments need to serve two purposes – to give a snap shot of what a student knows, and to provide feedback to the teacher on what next steps can be taken. When the teacher shares the results of the pre- assessment and opens it up to dialogue with individual students or the class, they take a step that moves everyone in the direction of making cognitive connections.
For instance, in my Year 5 class, I would routinely give the students specific questions from the first page in the math chapter that held the pre-requisite skills for the chapter’s content. Based on what pre-requisite skills they had, I was able to score these assessments and start to fill in skill gaps before attempting to teach them how to do an even harder skill. I mean, why teach someone who cannot really divide 2 digit by 1 digit numbers how to long divide? They just don’t have the prerequisite skills yet. And ‘yet’ is what it is all about. Every day, you are teaching students who just do not have the desired skill set – YET.
When teachers keep this in mind – the theory of “yet” – and convey this same message to their classes, they are setting the stage for a higher level of dialogue about learning in the classroom and create an environment where students are engaged, where their academic ability grows and cognitive connections are fostered.
Types of pre-assessments vary, but what is easiest to quickly put into place is an exit or entrance slip. When students enter, have a half sheet of paper with no more than 5 questions on the topic or skill you are targeting that day and have them answer the questions as your warm-up. Score them quickly (that day or within 24 hours) and set-up groups for leveled or tiered instruction. This form of assessment is quick, accurate, and yields immediate feedback to the teacher and the student. It also signals to your students that you genuinely care where they are academically and desire to assist them to build the skills they need to reach the next level.
Moving beyond the pre-assessment is giving students the opportunity to discuss their errors with peers or the teacher after the assessment is scored and given back. This step enhances learning and creates cognitive connections for the child. The dialogue helps the student and the teacher to learn the causal effect of the errors whether it stems from
1. Lack of background knowledge, or
2. A silly mistake or misunderstanding that can be quickly addressed. Dialogue between peers can help clarify for the student where they currently are and accept that the next steps are designed to move them forward and elevate their academic achievement.
Prescriptive REGROUPING:
Once you have your groups, have skill-specific assignments for each group to complete. This should always be work that is meaningful and something that your students can understand how it is going to help them as learners. This creates a classroom environment where everyone is informed of their individual progress, understand the steps they need to attain to reach the next level, and is accepting of the academic diversity of the learners in the classroom.
Work is teacher lead, data driven, but student centered. Therefore students are in a situation where they understand:
2. What they will end up learning today? and
3. How the acquired knowledge will impact their success in school tomorrow, but moreover in life?
Instructionally, a teacher who supplies students with a handy formula for writing an essay does equip them for some success in the future, however, if the student is never stretched to develop their writing beyond the formula the bar never raises and they never become accustomed to their own writing style. This type of teaching truncates the learning process. The educator’s goal is to grow the students academically.
For example, in my classroom I have 5 groups of students in Year 5 learning division: 2 groups above, 1 group right on target, 2 groups with skill gaps. I, as the teacher, rotate from group to group. It is my presence that keeps the classroom focused. My presence is physical, but also subliminal because I have specifically selected learning activities and assignments that will meet students where they are and equip them to achieve at the next level. Students understand where they are, are connected to their learning at a cognitive level of awareness, and desire to master the current skill so they can move on to the next level.
Prescriptive Flex Grouping
“Will I ever get out of the slow group?” Inevitably you have students in the room moaning and groaning about their group – it’s too easy, it’s too hard. Moving beyond grouping based on the pre-assessment results, teachers need to include students in the dialogue as to why they are in a particular group and what skill(s) they need to master. A clear picture of what the next level looks like needs to be depicted to each student as they are human beings and human beings all have motives that guide their behaviour. In the classroom, there are 2 motives:
1. I want to be around the teacher or
2. I want to hang out with my friends.
It’s really that simple.
Keep groups flexible – no group should be meeting and assigned the same level of work for more than 4 days. There’s an expiration on leveled groups for many reasons:
1. Some students will exhibit mastery of that level and will need to move on,
2. Some students will need additional repetition, and
3. Some will need more attention so they can ‘feel’ confident in their own ability.
Remember to continue to give specific feedback to individuals and groups to help students grow their academic ability throughout this process.
In math, my groups may change daily; whereas in reading they change when the skill changes for the story, poem, expository text (i.e. groups for main idea are not going to be the same for making inferences or character analysis); social studies may be based on student interest; science may be based on background knowledge of concepts.
Prescriptive Peer Partnerships
Having two students work together can be a powerful tool, however it can be just as detrimental as it is empowering. Students who are paired together need to be placed into partnerships where both individuals bring something to the desk. Peer mentoring or peer tutoring puts too much pressure on the student who has the stronger academic skill set and can make the student who needs help feel co-dependent (like they cannot do it on their own). This format should be used sparingly and with forethought. Create cognitive connections by including the peer partners on the reasons they were grouped together. Do they have similar skill sets? Does one person need to help the other? Or do they have common interests that will help them understand and accomplish the assessment with more success?
It’s quick, easy and initially fun for the kids when the teacher says “Annie can you help Billy out with addition with regrouping?” However, there has to be a balance in the group dynamic so that Billy is a contributor and active team player.
In conclusion, student assessment should always enlighten both the teacher and student about the knowledge, skills and abilities a student has before, during and after instruction. Diversifying grouping to reflect student knowledge keeps the classroom active and promotes not only student engagement, but fosters cognitive connections where students are stakeholders who dialogue about their academic growth in an honest and accepting classroom environment. In these cooperative small groups it is essential that every member is empowered to be an active team player and who knows their own personal goals for academic growth.