Assessment

=**Assessment to Inform Instruction**=

Here are some important points about using assessment to inform instruction, totargetyour instruction and students' work for maximum student learning: See the whole article at TKI.
 * Pre-assessment should begin early in the year, term, or unit of study.
 * Pre-assessment should be on-going – not just a first step, but a constant one.
 * Pre-assessment should be comprehensive, examining readiness (strengths and needs), interests, and learning preferences.
 * Pre-assessment should be appropriate for various cultures, ages, genders, abilities or disabilities, and so on.
 * Pre-assessment should directly match the intended learning experiences: content, process, and product.
 * Pre-assessment should rely upon a variety of methods – not a singular approach.
 * Pre-assessment should take alternative forms (that is, interviews, class discussions, tape recordings, writing, graphic).
 * Pre-assessment MUST result in appropriate differentiation.

The purposes of using assessment to inform instruction are these:
 * Readiness for growth
 * Interest for motivation
 * Learning profile for efficiency

Ask yourself these questions about using assessment to inform your instruction:
 * What do you know about each area of assessment-readiness, interest, learning profile?
 * What is a definition of each area?
 * What is an example of each area?
 * What are the characteristics of each area?
 * What might be non-examples of each area?
 * Why might we call this ongoing assessment? How is it alike or different from formative assessment?
 * What are different forms ongoing assessments can take? What kind of learning goals are they best matched to?
 * Can a teacher use only one type of assessment and be teaching in a differentiated classroom?
 * How is feedback on readiness assessments alike or different from instruction? What qualities of feedback make it motivational? … allow students to learn from it?

See the pages on Learning Style/Learning Profile, Interest and Readiness Assessments to learn more!