ASSESSING PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

The following is an approach to use to gain an understanding of the prior knowledge and mathematical understanding that students bring to our classes.

Using diagnostic tools can be helpful to determine where students might need additional support and interventions to address unfinished learning and help them develop a more solid understanding of mathematical concepts and relationships.

Taking inspiration from resources developed in intermediate classes (Grade 7 Long Range Plans and Grade 8 Long Range Plans), we have created resources to help us learn about the thinking and understanding that students enter our classes with, related to key areas in the MTH1W course:

• Proportional Reasoning

• Integers

• Fractions

• Algebra

• Linear and Non-Linear Relations

PART 1: The Diagnostic Thinking Tasks

The diagnostic "thinking tasks" are designed to be fairly open to various approaches so that they are accessible to all students and where students can use different ways of communicating or justifying their thinking.

PART 2: The Developmental Continuum

This tool allows teachers to track where a student starts in relation to expectations from previous courses and determine what needs to be done next to move the student along the continuum for that topic.

PART 3: The Follow-Up

Embedded in each set of diagnostic thinking tasks are links to resources, strategies, and tools that can be helpful when planning follow-up interventions and learning opportunities for the whole class, small groups or individual students.

At the end of each diagnostic thinking task slidedeck, there is a collection of resources listed:

• Follow-Up Teaching Strategies

• Materials / Manipulatives / Models

• Additional Resources

These supports will aid in planning for whole class, small group or individual opportunities to address unfinished learning revealed in students' thinking.

Connect with an Itinerant Coach and/or work with your course team to develop responsive approaches to supporting students' development along the continuum for each area.

Assessment from a CRRP stance, by its nature, encompasses a wide variety of assessment approaches. It is designed to reflect, affirm, and enhance the multiple ways of knowing and being that students bring to the classroom while maintaining appropriate and high academic expectations for all students. The primary purpose of assessment is to improve student learning.

Adapted from Ontario Ministry of Education Curriculum - Mathematics: Grade 9 - Assessment and Evaluation