Differentiation is The Key to Assessment For Learning “Too often, educational tests, grades, and report cards are treated by teachers as autopsies when they should be viewed as physicals. Assessment is the process of observing and measuring learning. Explore assessment terminology, assessment tools, and discover why differentiated assessments are necessary for your GT students. Compared to traditional assessment, I believe that differentiated assessment is a better mode in helping students learn best and demonstrate best what they have learned. In the differentiated classroom, assessment must provide clear information on student progress with regard to classroom content, processes, and products. Rather, it is a strategy to encourage every student to meet the same rigorous standards in different ways. differentiated assessment pdf, Assessment and instruction should be linked together; assessing learners, be that in end-of-session summative work, or in informal questioning and answering, is an ongoing diagnostic tool, and the teacher is thus better informed to modify the ways in which teaching is differentiated, because of such interactions. Formative Assessment. You can determine if you have successfully learned something in a number of different ways, depending on what you are trying to learn. These should be small checkpoints throughout a unit to see how well students are learning material. Assessing students before, during, and after instruction allows teachers and curriculum leaders to draw from a repertoire of assessment tools and strategies not only to improve student performance but also to help students self-assess and take responsibility for their own learning. Differentiated assessment is certainly not a mechanism for lowering expectations for students. These formative assessments can be exit tickets, Google Forms, Socrative, or myriad other strategies and tools.Differentiated assessment might also include a take home test. Tomlinson describes differentiated instruction as factoring students’ individual learning styles and levels of readiness first before designing a lesson plan. Differentiation can also be used here through a variety of strategies such as tests, projects, demonstrations, writing performances, and more. Throughout the project, students should be reflecting on their work and setting goals for further learning. What differentiated instruction means. Whether teachers differentiate content, process, products, or the learning environment, the use of ongoing assessment and flexible grouping makes this a successful approach to instruction. Look for the tag #differentiated to find these assessments. Ongoing. "Differentiated assessment is an ongoing process through which teachers gather data before, during, and after instruction using multiple formative and summative tools." Key Words: Feedback, differentiation, autonomy, motivation, formative assessment, self-efficacy Differentiating assessments is just as effective as differentiating instruction. Mr. Shelton learns that differentiated instruction is an approach whereby teachers adjust their curriculum and instruction to maximize the learning of all students: average learners, English language learners, struggling students, students with learning disabilities, and gifted and talented students. Differentiated instruction is rooted in assessment. During the unit, continually assessing each students’ progress toward the learning goals (KUD’s) guides the teacher in planning the next instruction… Best of all, there are custom legends to identify if a student is emerging, demonstrating or exceeding in their fluency of a standard. Assessment is the element that steers instruction in the differentiated classroom. This information helps teachers make wise, informed decisions about the needs of their students and the direction their instruction should take. Reflection is an essential component of PBL. Differentiation means tailoring instruction to meet individual needs. Assessments provide faculty with a better understanding of what your students are learning and engage students more deeply in the process of learning geoscience content. Finally, teachers expressed the potential difficulties of providing effective feedback to their students. One very helpful tactic to employ differentiated instruction is called tiered assignments—a technique often used within flexible groups. The assessment strategies in this book will give … It is an essential part of teaching and learning. Differentiated assessment is an ongoing process through which teachers gather data before, during, and after instruction from multiple sources to identify learners’ needs and strengths. Recognizing that there are many different ways to assess learning and becoming skillful at self-assessment are important lifelong learning skills. She is coauthor with Gayle Gregory of the landmark Corwin Press book Differentiated Instructional Strategies: One Size Doesn′t Fit All. They incorporate language supports, bonus problems and hints. 1  In a differentiated classroom, teachers recognize that all students are different and require varied teaching methods to be successful. Assessment of learning is the culminating task or summative assessment, which takes place after the learning has occurred and students can show what concepts and/or skills they learned. We co-designed formative assessments to support learners of any pace. However, it is still best to combine different types of assessment (e.g., traditional and differentiated) to achieve the best results. Differentiation is the educational practice of modifying or adapting instruction, school materials, subject content, class projects, and assessment methods to better meet the needs of diverse learners. The teacher then designe… differentiated feedback led to increased academic performance, autonomy, critical thinking, character building, and improved behaviour. Using ungraded tests or surveys to pre-assess students’ readiness and interests before or at the start of a unit will help you determine where each student is in relation to the unit KUD’s and guide you in identifying initial student groupings and task assignments in the beginning of the unit. The results of the assessment determine the teacher’s instructional approach. View the following videos and professional learning resources to consider new assessment possibilities for the diverse learners in your classroom. Assessment should be ongoing; it is not just summative. Assessment is an essential component of differentiated instruction. This is the step that translates to different kinds of assessments. Student-dependent. 1 Differentiated Instruction Module Assessment 1. Fifty Classroom Assessment Techniques are presented in this book with examples of how they have been used, pros, cons, time commitment, and ideas for adaptation . From Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers , 2nd Ed. Students are differentiated in their knowledge and skills. At specific milestones in a project, one teacher that I observed had students reflect on what they’d learned so far in math and science, and then create goal statements for what they still wanted to learn. It includes a broad range of information that helps teachers understand their students, monitor teaching and learning, and build an effective classroom community. Educators using differentiated instruction begin the class with an assessment. Many teachers use differentiated instruction strategies as a way to reach all learners and accommodate each student’s learning style. Assessment in the Differentiated Classroom. Carol Ann Tomlinson is a leader in the area of differentiated learning and professor of educational leadership, foundations, and policy at the University of Virginia. While differentiated instruction seems to have reached a level of broad acceptance, many still wonder if differentiated assessment is appropriate or even workable. Page 1: Defining Differentiated Instruction. Differentiated instruction IS more qualitative than quantitative. What is differentiated instruction? It involves more formative assessments than summative assessments. Instruction-dependent. Differentiated instruction and assessment, also known as differentiated learning or, in education, simply, differentiation, is a framework or philosophy for effective teaching that involves providing all students within their diverse classroom community of learners a range of different avenues for understanding new information (often in the same classroom) in terms of: acquiring content; processing, constructing, or … ASCD defines differentiated instruction as a "teacher's response to learners' needs guided by general principles of differentiation such as respectful tasks, flexible grouping, and ongoing assessment … What is differentiated instruction? Differentiated instruction is a framework for teachers to use to adjust their instruction and curriculum based on student’s abilities and learning needs. Classroom assessment is the process of collecting, synthesizing, and interpreting information in a classroom for the purpose of aiding a teacher's decision making. In The Difference Between Assessment Of Learning And Assessment For Learning, we explained that “assessment for learning is commonly referred to as formative assessment–that is, assessment designed to inform instruction.” Below, we offer 6 types of assessment of learning–very briefly, with simple ways to ‘think about’ each so that you hopefully wake up with a better grasp of … Informative for continuedinstruction. Chapman has written many books about differentiated instruction, multiple intelligences, multiple assessments, and the brain-compatible classroom. Assessment doesn't have to be a written exam. This is a great opportunity for them to set personalized learning goals and for you to target instruction specific to the goals they set. It does not add to the final … Many teachers incorrectly assume … Point out that there are many ways to assess students in a differentiated classroom. These assessments provide a peek into what each student knows. 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