Chapter 3: Principles of Successful Assessment in the Differentiated Classroom

In order to give an effective exam to a differentiated classroom the exam must not only show that students have memorized facts but also whether they can apply the knowledge. The type of assessment talked about in this chapter focuses on essential and enduring knowledge (EEK). This type of assessment makes sure that students Know, Understand, and are Able to Do (KUD). It means that information presented to students should be able to be applied to the real world or it is not as important. In order for teachers to know what they need to spend the most time on giving a pretest is a way to judge what students already know. Also instead of just giving one big exam over the entire unit, giving small quizzes through out help student know what you expect them to learn. In the end a summative assessment should be given in order to make sure that students have learned everything. Not only will these exams show the knowledge they have learned but also if they can apply it. By using EEK and KUD, assessments will no longer test how well the students can memorize facts but what students can do with this knowledge. There is not one type of test that can accurately show what a student has learned, so it is important to give different types of assessments through out the lesson.

Though many of the class found this chapter too long and repetitive, overall they found it very informative. Most of the class found it a good idea to assess students through out the lesson as well as applying the knowledge to real world situations. By giving multiple types assessments we can judge how well students are doing throughout the lesson. One of the items that many of us talked about in this chapter was the section on not giving fluff work. Many agreed that if you can not apply the knowledge or the assignment has no substance and is just given to take up time then it should not be included.

http://www.park.edu/pdi/assessment.pdf

FIAE Chapter 1

Fair Isn't Always Equal: The Differentiated Instruction Mind-Set

This chapter covered the basics of Differentiated Instruction (DI) and how it’s defined and why it is successful in the classroom. Differentiated Instruction is anything that a teacher adjusts in order to conform to a student’s needs. It requires the teacher to accommodate the learning needs of every student. Students that have been taught with DI will become independent, creative and well-prepared. DI is meant to be fair to all students because it is not changing the students work load; it is helping them to all reach the same goal through different paths. It allows students to learn at levels appropriate for them but does not make the learning any easier. The teacher must be able to adapt their lessons to children’s skills and learning styles to get them interested in the topic at hand. DI could be something as simple as a teacher rephrasing a question that class does not understand, or allowing a student to redo a project or a test. It’s not just the instruction that can be changed to best suit the class but also being able to move desks around or even take the class outside. The expected results of differentiated learning are to have every student master the subject at hand and do well on the test. DI also helps to prepare students for assessment testing. Students are prepared for assessments test because they have successfully learned through DI. The differentiated approach accommodates the needs of all students individually and allows them to identify with who they are and achieve more throughout their time in school.

As a whole the class agreed with the Differentiated Instruction technique. Not only does it help all students to learn but it also helps the teacher to develop different and unique learning styles to keep the class engaged. DI allows for many new ideas and activities in the classroom. Not all students learn the same way, so it makes sense that we teach in different ways. Each student needs different tools to learn and it is up to the teacher to help them discover and use the tools they need. Equality is not the same thing as fair and education is meant to help ALL students find the tools they need to succeed. Many students have had experiences in school where their teachers did not use Differentiated Instruction in the classroom and their classes just consisted of lectures and note-taking. I think that the whole class would agree with saying that this is something we plan on using in our classrooms someday.

Chapter 2-Fair Isn't Always Equal: Mastery Learning

Chapter two of Fair Isn’t Always Equal discuss the importance of mastering materials that are learned within a class. Mastery of materials is more then just comprehending what being taught. Simply put mastery involves applying information learned within class into everyday life. The chapter also discusses different ways to assess a student’s mastery of a subject. A student has not mastered a subject area if he or she can simply recite definitions about the subject. If a student has truly mastered a subject area, they should be able to fully understand concepts within the six facets of understanding. These facets include explanation, interpretation, application, perspective, empathy and self-knowledge. The chapter suggests that if a student is able to successfully show proficiency in all these facets in a subject area they have gained mastery of that subject area. To show the difference between memorization and mastery the chapter gave an example about spelling. The example consisted of a student who had memorized all the words on a spelling list and done very well on a spelling test. While this student can remember those words on their spelling list, they have not mastered every rule of spelling. Mastery is not the same within all subjects. Within Math and English mastery can be tested within examinations that ask for knowledge to be applied within different areas. For Social Studies mastery may be proven by comparing and contrasting different concepts to show that facts were really learned and not memorized. Assessments of students can be done in several ways including performance tasks, panel discussions, examinations and checklists. For teachers it is important to give assessments that really reflect a student’s mastery because it allows teachers to see how advanced their students mastery is. This can be done through the backwards design model which we discussed in class. It is also important for teachers to teach the correct areas within a unit that they want their students to master. However, for new teachers this can be challenging because their inexperience and the wide range of units available to teach about. New teachers can find guidance within teaching resources, assessment guidelines, state learning results and with conferences with other teachers to help determine what they should be teaching about. While guidelines are important, the chapter suggests that teachers should go outside of comfort zones to enlist some new ideas when researching for lesion plans.

Overall the class liked this chapter because it gives many helpful suggestions about mastery learning. Most of the class liked the section that discusses what are the good parts of education units that teachers should be focusing on. The class tended to agree that teacher resources like curriculum guidelines would be very helpful to them as a teacher. You also liked how the chapter describes how backwards design model and the six facets of understanding fit in with mastery learning. Many members of the class found that this chapter helped put the bigger picture together on how the backwards design model and the six facets of understanding can be used within teaching.