Flexible Assessment Dates

• Look at how long a typical student may take to learn the content, then add a little longer. Make that the deadline to take the assessment. This allows for the learner that may need more time to "get it."
• Plan your lesson sequence:
  • Put the open-ended, inquiry type activities first. These are geared toward the students who catch the material quickly. These assignments provide the "big picture" of the knowledge or skills. They'll set up all learners for understanding all of the content, may be all that a "runner" needs to master the material, but may also serve as an introduction for those who need more experience or exposure to the content.
  • Put together a sequence of lessons that increase in teacher-directness as they go OR give students choices of the activities that they need as they progress.
  • Allow students to work through the sequence at their own pace. Posting them in the LMS allows for this flexibility of pace.
  • Students who need more time may also need more attention. Check in with these kiddos more frequently. You can tell where students are as the submit their work because you're checking your LMS regularly, right? ;) You can also have kids check in with entrance or exit tickets, providing a periodic "status update."
  • The day before the deadline to take the assessment, plan to conference with those students who have yet to take it. Ask questions like, "What is your plan to be ready by tomorrow?" Provide suggestions to help them wrap up their learning; for example, you may advise that they focus their time on this task or part in order to be ready (based on the observations you've made in class or the work they've submitted to that point).
• Allow students to take the assessment at any point during the learning.
  • In order for students to do well, you may consider providing a practice quiz or some other review that they can take to gage readiness. Built in feedback is a plus! Your LMS is perfect for setting this up!
  • A student who is ready earlier than others AND show mastery early in the process is ready for enrichment or extension activities. Be ready for this to happen sooner than you'd expect! My kiddos always blow me away and I love it!
• Keeping the assessment cycle short and sweet usually benefits the students. How can you continue to weave their learning throughout the unit/year so they are consistently making connections between prior and new learning?

Some additional student quotes about flexible assessment dates:

• "I think it's really nice to have the option because people work at different speeds. For the people who get it right away, it's nice to get it out of the way."
• "Because if I understand things very quickly than I can just take it and move on, or if I'm struggling on a subject I can slow down and take my time on the subject."
• "I am always in compacting and typically ahead of everyone so being able to work at my own pace and take the test when i am ready is really great."
• "Because i'm not always understanding what we are learning so those few extra days help."