Bindu Bakka
“Constantly renews himself [or herself] as a professional on his [or her] quest to provide students with the highest quality of education possible. This teacher has no fear of learning new teaching strategies or incorporating new technologies into lessons.”
Diagnostic assessments are pretests. They usually serve as a barometer for how much pre-loaded information a student has about a topic. The word diagnosis is defined as an analysis of the nature or condition of a situation, which is exactly how teachers tend to use them.
Diagnostic tests help to tell the teacher (and the student) how much they know and don’t know about an upcoming topic. This helps to inform the teacher’s lesson planning, and learning objectives, and identify areas that may need more or less time spent.
Formative assessments are the opposite of summative assessments because they take place during the teaching process.
Formative assessments can reduce student stress around testing. They give you the chance to course-correct mid-unit if there are serious comprehension issues and to see which students might need a bit more one-on-one time. Some examples of formative assessment techniques include:
Think-pair-share
Entry and exit tickets
Self-evaluation techniques
Formative Assessment
Occurs through chapter or unit
Improves how students learn
Covers small content areas
Monitors how students are learning
Focuses on the process of student learning
Summative assessments are end-of-unit tests, final projects, or standardized tests used to assess student understanding on a broad and absolute level. There are important benefits to using summative assessments as a teaching strategy: they motivate students to pay attention and challenge them to apply their learning. They’re also a valuable source of insight for teachers, especially for those with larger classes -- allowing them to easily identify and correct any wide gaps in understanding across the classroom.
Summative Assessment
Occurs at end of the chapter or unit
Evaluates what students learn
Covers complete content areas
Assigns a grade to students’ understanding
Emphasizes the product of student learning
Differentiated instruction is a popular and effective teaching strategy that involves reacting to the diverse learning styles in every classroom with adjusted content and processes.
Just as everyone has a unique fingerprint, every student has an individual learning style. Chances are, not all of your students grasp a subject in the same way or share the same level of ability. So how can you better deliver your lessons to reach everyone in the class?
Differentiation in my classroom:
Design lessons based on students’ learning styles.
Group students by shared interest, topic, or ability for assignments.
Assess students’ learning using formative assessment.
Manage the classroom to create a safe and supportive environment.
Continually assess and adjust lesson content to meet students’ needs.
Universal design for learning (UDL) is an educational framework that ensures all students have equal access to education. Use it in your classroom to give unique students flexible ways to learn and become more goal-oriented.
UDL gives all students an impactful learning experience and helps teachers focus their efforts on students who need it most.
Some best practices for UDL:
Know the strengths and weaknesses of your students
Provide flexible classrooms
Adapt information for multilingual students
Response to intervention (RTI) focuses on early and continuous identification, assessment, and assistance for students who have learning or behavior needs. It’s best used as part of a more general classroom management plan, and involves small-group or individual intervention that quickly addresses trouble spots.
The most effective RTI strategies are proactive. Start with everyday teaching and move to targeted intervention as soon as you spot a problem. When you’re prepared to move quickly, you’re more likely to be able to develop a tailored and effective learning plan.