Pre-Assessment (Before Learning Assessment) Linda Hoffman, Literacy Coach

Pre-Assessment TOOLS: Before Learning Assessment Strategies

WHY THE NEED FOR PRE-ASSESSMENT?

Pre-assessment tools identify what the student knows at the beginning of the learning. The information derived from the pre-assessment helps the teacher make instructional planning decisions.

What can be assessed? Readiness: Skills, Concepts, Content Knowledge Interest: Self reflection of interests and learning Learning profile: Areas of strength and weakness and awareness of academic abilities

Pre-assessment = “Finding Out” What prior mastery of knowledge, understandings or skills do my students possess? What do my students want and need to know, understand or do in order to increase their level of mastery?

More About Pre- (instruction) Assessment The teacher uses tools to preview upcoming topics. The teacher determines prior student mastery of knowledge, skills and understandings before the topic is taught. The teacher gauges the appropriate content and pacing of instruction for individual students. The teacher makes instructional decisions about students’ strengths and needs. FIRST STEPS KEY QUESTIONS: A. What do my students know before my teaching begins? B. How will I pre-assess my students’ prior knowledge and readiness levels? C. What does the information generated by my pre-assessment tool tell me about my students’ entry points to learning the new information?

1. Select a pre- 2. Have students 3. Collect the student 4. Analyze the data and assessment tool complete the task information make decisions about the levels of student mastery ◄ Student knows most of STUDENT the information and has a KNOWS strong knowledge base. ◄ Student knows some of the information and has had some related learning experiences. ◄ Student has little or no knowledge base and experience. ◄ Student needs to apply ◄ Student is ready for new ◄ Student has gaps in STUDENT knowledge in other ways learning experiences. learning. Student needs to NEEDS and extend learning. learn needed background information and skills

Degree of mastery? HIGH degree of mastery APPROACHING mastery BEGINNING mastery

February, 2008 - Complied by Linda Hoffman, Literacy Coach/UFT Teacher Center staff Adapted from Differentiated Assessment Strategies: One Tool Doesn’t Fit All by Carolyn Chapman and Rita King 1. Knowledge Base Corners Corner Labels: Not a clue I know a lot! I know some. I’ve got it! OR Rookie Minor league Amateur Major league

Purpose: An informal pre-assessment of students’ content knowledge: To uncover what students know and to identify misconceptions they may have and to identify an entry point in instruction based on prior content knowledge. Procedure: Ask students to respond to your questions or statements. Then, ask students to choose which corner label best characterizes their level of knowledge. They can move to one of the four corners to show their level of knowledge OR they can record one of the four corner labels to each of their responses on paper so that you can collect and examine the data.

______2. Content Knowledge Boxes

Simile Alliteration Personification Metaphor Hyperbole Onomatopoeia

Purpose: To have students reveal their knowledge base and prior experiences with some of the key ideas of future instruction. Procedure: As a graphic organizer, present students with one to six unfamiliar or unknown bits of content – key words, phrases, concepts – and then ask them to tell you everything they know related to that bit of content. ______3. Content Surveys

Purpose: Teacher-created surveys are good data-gathering tools for collecting concrete information about what students know about a subject prior to instruction. Procedure: Use these prompts to elicit from students what they know/think. Have students record what they know/think about content by responding to one or more of these sentence stems. Create similar ones in order to discover your students’ depth of knowledge.

Example of Pre-assessment Surveys: How do you feel about ______? What do you know about ______? How does ______relate to you? When we mention ______, what do you want to learn about it? ______What learning experiences have you had with ______? List all the words you know that best explains ______. If I asked you to tell me about ______, you would say ______. 4. Anticipatory Chart The Pythagorean Theorem This is what I know This is what I would like (OR what I need) to find out The Pythagorean theorem is used to find a missing side Does this only work with right triangles? of a triangle. Why or why not?

Purpose: Here is a graphic organizer that helps students to quickly brainstorm what they know (think they know) about a topic before the class embarks on its exploration. Procedure: In two columns, students note ideas they understand about the topic and a question/questions or hypothesis they would like to clarify. ______

5. Anticipatory Guide Adding Integers AGREE DISAGREE 1. When you add two numbers together, you always end up with a larger sum. 2. You can add two integers and still have less than zero.

Purpose: A series of agree and/or disagree statements are used to activate/trigger students’ background/prior knowledge about the content of a text they are expected to read or the lesson they will engage in. Procedure: Students read a series of statements and decide whether their knowledge base causes them to agree or disagree with the statements. Students consider the statements so that the teacher can gauge their thinking about key/crucial issues in the text/lesson. ______6. Knowledge Rating

Knowledge Rating: Linear Equations Rate the following terms according to this scale: 1. I have never heard this term before. 2. I have heard of this term but do not know how to apply it in mathematics. 3. I understand this term and know how to apply it in mathematics. _____ equation _____ coefficient _____ rate of change _____ variable _____ constant _____ graph

Purpose: This kind of rating system is intended to activate students’ background/prior knowledge of key concepts and academic language. Procedure: Students rate their familiarity with key concepts and academic language – using the numbers 1, 2, and 3 to show their levels of understanding. 7. Quick Write

Purpose: The goal of a quick write is to capture ideas, experiences, events, impressions, perspectives, and feelings about a subject through a quick written response that is not polished or revised. Procedure: Students respond immediately to a prompt or prompts presented by the teacher. These brief responses are collected by the teacher and are used to assess level of knowledge about the subject. Example: Tell me everything you know about the events that led to the United States entering World War II. ______

8. Popcorn Sharing

Purpose: This technique allows all students to have a voice and share their ideas with the group. Procedure: Students respond one by one as if they are kernels of corn popping with individual ideas. Each student has a turn to offer his or her answer without interruption. No one can pass. If a student’s answer is similar to or the same as prior ones, the student has to start by acknowledging the similar idea and adding to or extending the prior response. ______

9. Semantic Maps (also known as learning webs, idea clustering, bubble maps, thinking maps)

Purpose: These maps provide students with a way of organizing their thinking around a central theme or topic. Procedure: Students respond to the central theme or topic located in a circle by making associations and writing them at the end of spokes that extend from the center. ______

10. Values Line-Up

Purpose: This pre-assessment tool is useful when a class is about to study a topic on which opinions vary or about which misconceptions are prevalent. This activity helps students explore their initial beliefs. Procedure: Students physically arrange themselves along a continuum depending on their degree of agreement or disagreement with a given statement. Students are various spots in the continuum explain their positions and give reasons for their agreement or disagreement. OR The teacher creates a continuum line with degree markers and students place their names on the line to show their degree of agreement or disagreement. This assessment works best where students can visualize their own belief against those of others in the class.

EXAMPLE of a teacher-created values continuum line:

<______>

______11. Shutter Graph

Purpose: This activity allows students to register their answer to an essential question. This activity also allows students to see how their opinion fares against another opinion. Procedure: The teacher creates an important question and posts it for all students to read upon entering the room or as a beginning of class activity. Students respond by writing their names at the bottom of the left-hand side of the shutter or at the bottom of the right-hand side of the shutter, depending upon which answer they choose. When everyone has responded, the teacher rips the shutters across on both sides up to the point of the last recorded name. Inside, there are two sheets of colored paper – different colors for each side of the shutter. When the shutter doors are ripened open, the class can see the formation of two colored bar graphs, representing the number of students who responded to the prompt on the left-hand side and on the right-hand side.

Use large size chart paper to create the shutters. Fold the chart paper length-wise. Use two different colored sentence strips to create the bar graphs inside of the shutter doors.

How is the president of the United States selected?

------name name name ------name name name name name name

By electoral By popular votes votes ______

12. Admit Slip (also called an admission or entrance ticket)

Purpose: Students activate their background/prior knowledge in a variety of ways. Procedure: Ask students to record their knowledge individually about a key idea or topic using their own slip/ticket. Collect all slips/tickets so that you have concrete information on individual student thinking.

ADMIT SLIP Write down everything you know about ______. Use single words, phrases, pictures, diagrams, drawings, examples, complete sentences – all methods of representation are acceptable! 13. Likert Scale

Purpose: A Likert scale comprises a line with graduated numbers or descriptors, ascending or descending. It is used so that an individual can assess his/her level of performance or understanding. Procedure: Have students place an X on the line in the spot that reflects their level of understanding.

______(4) Know this! ______(3) Know most of this! ______(2) Know some _____(1) Know very little______

______

14. Ponder and Pass

Purpose: This pre-assessment tool is a quick, informal activity to gather information. Procedure: Students are asked to give information about what they know, what they want (need) to learn, and about questions they have about the topic. Examples: My background experience on this topic is ______. I want (need) to learn ______about ______. My feelings about this topic of ______are ______and ______. Big questions I have about this topic are ______and ______. ______

15. K-W-L Chart (Plus an extra column for misconceptions)

Purpose: This assessment tool is for pre-, during, and post assessment. The “What I Know” column is strictly pre- assessment. The “What I Want (Need) to Know” column can be both pre-assessment and during-learning assessment. Procedure: Students are given an opportunity to record evidence of their knowledge base in the “What I Know” column. With your help, students evaluate their knowledge base and make decisions about what they still want or need to learn about this topic.

What I KNOW….. What I want (need) to What I LEARNED Misconceptions: How KNOW….. I have changed in my thinking 16. Response cards

Purpose: Students expose the response cards that reveal their level of understanding as the teacher poses questions about a topic. Procedure: Students use small index cards to create four response cards. See below. When the teacher needs to assess background/prior knowledge or to assess the knowledge base of students, these cards can be displayed by students in response to content questions.

I KNOW! I UNDERSTAND!

I DO NOT KNOW! I’M LOST!

Other examples of response card possibilities: Agree – Disagree My mind is working – My mind has shut down Got it! – No clue I feel sure about this! – This is not clear to me Explained fully – Explained some - Have no explanation Finished with my response – Checking it over – Need more time to think I can explain this! – I am still trying to figure this out ______

17. Other Kinds of Pre-assessment Tools:

Conferences with students Conversations Journal Entries Observations Noticings Surveys

Others: ______