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How can I use assessment to stay in touch with all students and monitor their progress?

By use of a carefully designed assessment program, a teacher should be able to determine what students know, understand and are able to do while going into a unit, moving through it and completing it. These tools, when used thoughtfully, can help you monitor the progress of all students and respond accordingly.

Tools	Descriptions
Analyzing pre-assessment data	This tool will help you identify what your students know and think about a topic before you launch a new unit.
Student questionnaire #1 (older students)	An invested student is an involved student. Get all students’ input on subject matter.
Student questionnaire #2 (younger students)	This questionnaire, when used with younger students, will give you insight into their thoughts and feelings about subject matter.
Checking for understanding techniques	These quick strategies will help you periodically determine whether your students understand a concept, principle or process.
On-going literacy planning	This tool will help you develop ways to record and utilize information gathered when your students read and write.
Analyzing authenticity in performance tasks	If students are asked to complete tasks that closely resemble what they know adults in the real world tackle, they'll work harder and reveal their true abilities.
Choosing a type of rubric	Carefully designed rubrics can help students understand how they are being assessed and improve their performances accordingly.
Engaging students in assessing their own work (portfolios)	Having students develop portfolios is a way to motivate them and to help them develop their self-assessment skills.

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