5 Ways to Use Test Results WITHOUT Adding Them to Your Grade Book

Tests have become such a hot ticket topic in education. In previous blog posts like What’s Wrong with Standardized Testing and Why Projects are Better than Tests, I have discussed my feelings about standardized testing and testing in general. However, tests can serve a vital purpose in the learning process, especially if they aren’t entered into a grade book. Once we write a grade into our grade book, it means that the learning has stopped. However, we can take the results of tests and use them to drive our instruction and be sure that learning is complete. In order to do this properly, we ideally give our test a week or so before we wish to be “done” teaching a certain topic. Or we allot a portion of our instructional time to continue working on skills that have not yet been mastered. Then we take the test results and use them to drive our instruction.  After the additional instruction time, another test can be given, or even better a project, if a grade is needed.

Here are five different strategies that you can take your test results and use them to drive your instruction:

1.) Conference with your students – Take time to sit down with each student to review their results. Talk about both strengths and weaknesses and set specific goals for the next step in their growth. We most commonly do this with reading and writing, but the same concept can be used for many subjects. For example, on a Social Studies test, you might discuss with students the topics that they struggled with on their assessment and suggest (or assign) further research into that topic. In Math, you might suggest a problem solving strategy that would better suit them or point out a simple misconception that they have and suggest ways to correct it.

2.) Create small groups – Take your assessment and create a list of skills or topics that were assessed. Then, review your assessments to see which students are still struggling with which skills or topics. Using this information, create temporary small groups based on the needs of individual students. Use these groups to work on that specific need. These groups might each meet with you or they might be given targeted assignments to help guide them through conquering those missing skills.

3.) Allow students to correct their own mistakes – Give students back their tests with the incorrect answers circled, but no clues given as to the correct answer. Ask students to correct each question, allowing them to use notes, books and additional research. Ask students to do their corrections in color or on an additional piece of paper to prevent a confusion of original answers and corrections. During the process, students will reflect on their own learning and recognize the gaps that they need to fill. 

4.) Create need based activities or projects  - If the majority of your students are lacking on a specific skill based on test results, create activities, lessons or projects that will help the students have additional time to work with the concept. For example, one year my students were struggling with long operations – addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. So I sat down and created a project to help them work on these skills in a real life setting. The resulting project was my balanced checkbook project. This project forced them to use the operations in different ways, but they were so excited to figure out their weekly salary and get spending that there were no qualms and they had a much better understanding by the end of the project.

5.) Provide tiered assignments – For single skill assessments, tiered assignments can come in handy. Students all continue to work on that skill after the test, but they work at a different level depending on their test score. If they have mastered the skill, they are given extension activities to push them into higher level thinking skills. If they have not mastered the skill, they are given time to review. If they have grasped the skill, but not mastered it, they are given time to practice.

One way I used to do this was with the prove it, solve it, fix it approach. In this strategy, all of the students are given a paper with a set of problems. ( I usually used this in math, but it could be done in other subjects as well.) The lowest level students are given the set of problems with the answers provided. They are asked to prove that those answers are correct. By having the correct answer already, the pressure to get the right answer is off and the students have a chance to focus on the process, which is more important anyways.
Mid level students are given the same problem set and asked to solve each problem. This gives them a chance to continue practicing the skill. Higher level students or students who seem to have mastered the skill work on the fix it level. They are given the same problem set, but with incorrect answers. The answers preferably have common mistakes that teachers see regularly with that skill. The students at this level then try to figure out how the students got the incorrect answer and then fix it. Students at this level build higher level thinking and continue working on the skill at another level. You can download a subtraction with regrouping prove it, try it, fix it sheet for free from my Teachers Pay Teachers store to check out this strategy further.

How do you use test scores to drive instruction in your classroom?

What’s Wrong with Standardized Testing?

Recently, John Oliver put out a great video about standardized testing and how we use the information gathered from these tests. If you haven’t seen it, you can find it HERE:

 

 

In addition, I recently listened to Jennifer Gonzalez’s interview over at Cult of Pedagogy with Anthony Cody about standardized tests in coordination with educational policy, which you can find HERE.

 

These two resources made me start thinking about standardized testing much deeper. Being out of the classroom this year and having my own children homeschooled, we don’t have to deal with standardized testing much.  I never liked standardized testing when I was in the classroom, and often simply didn’t put much emphasis on it,choosing to do research projects instead of test prep during testing season. However, I’ve also never had my job depend on my students’ test scores.  I didn’t leave teaching or take my kids out because of testing, but now that we are out, I am seeing so many benefits from not having testing as a driving force in our learning environment. If they were to go back into a public school environment, I would definitely be opting them out of the test.

Here are the reasons why I don’t agree with standardized testing:

1.) Tests often occur four to six weeks BEFORE the end of the school year. This means that teachers are required to be done teaching all of their content at least a month before the end of the school year. Not only does this mean that curriculum is rushed through, it also leaves the impression with students and parents that when the test is done, school is done, which means the last six weeks of school can be a major classroom management nightmare. 

2.) Students and teachers NEVER get to see which questions students got right or wrong. Part of the reason for assessing is to know what students haven’t mastered, so that we can cover this material better. In my classroom, all in class assessments are reviewed in detail with students so that they can make corrections to their thinking, or even their test taking strategies. However, standardized tests are never reviewed, so they are there simply to judge students, not to help them.

3.) Standardized tests are often more of an assessment of a students’ background knowledge than of the content or skills that they are learning. This is why low income students traditionally score lower on these tests. They have different background knowledge and approach problems differently. It can also be a problem for kids on the other end of the spectrum. Students who are extremely well read and exposed often over think test questions because they know that things aren’t generally as simple as test questions want them to be.

4.) Current policies put so much pressure on students and teachers, that these tests are now taking center stage when learning should take center stage. I don’t do test prep if it’s not forced on me, but I have never had my job depend on my students’ test scores. I can completely understand how test prep has become a focus of our schools. I don’t think test prep helps students, but I can understand why it is so predominant now.

5.) All children do NOT learn at the same rate or with the same activities. Standardized testing is taking away individual learning. It doesn’t matter if Student A loves to read and learns to read quickly, but lags behind in math skills while Student B enjoys numbers and learns math and exceeds in math, but doesn’t enjoy reading fiction stories. Both students – all students – are expected to be at the same place at the same time, even though we all know that no children, and no adult for that matter, grows and changes at the same rate as other people their own age. Instead of embracing the differences that make us all unique, the testing push tries to stamp us all into the same person.

 

 

Now I do understand the need for assessment and to show teachers and students that growth has happened over the course of a school year. I think that every students should have a portfolio – paper or online – that travels with them through their school career. This portfolio can be compared against “student norms” to see if students are below, on or above level in different subject areas. It can be used to create an instructional plan for students. It can allow for different students to excel in different areas and to be their own unique selves.

When I was teaching at a private school in Morocco, I started an online portfolio system with my 2nd –5th graders where students created their own portfolios. At the end of each school year, the portfolios were added on to in order to show student growth. The students had certain requirements, including a writing example from each genre and links to completed science and social studies projects. Then the students presented their own portfolios to their teacher and parents. These portfolios showed true growth and understanding over the course of a year, whereas test scores simply gave a snapshot of a single point in time. If you’re interested in using my Online Portfolio Format, you can find templates and instructions on Teachers Pay Teachers.