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Johnny Buys
Chapter 3: Principles of Successful Assessment in the Differentiated Classroom Assessment needs to be designed based on students’ understanding of content as well as teachers’ understanding of their students. Wormeli argues that assessment is a coaching tool (20). With this mindset teachers need to focus on providing students with expected outcomes which is reflective of the real world. While this may seem a compromise to assessment’s purpose, Wormeli argues, “students achieve more when they have a clear picture of the expectations” (21). To create these clear and focused goals Wormeli suggests the use of focusing on “essential and enduring knowledge” (EEK) or “Know, Understand, Able to Do (KUD). These models move effortlessly from the factual understanding to comprehensible and analytical to applicable knowledge. Diversifying what the teacher personally thinks is important for content can be sorted by identifying as “Essential, Highly Desirable, and Desirable;” this will continue to focus a teacher’s outcome making for creating assessments more beneficial (23). Wormeli also details what the necessary steps are for creating the necessary assessment process. It is important to pre-assess, but to use the summative assessment to create the pre-assessment as quality scaffolding for students (27). Once these stages are finished, formative assessments that provide “ongoing and helpful feedback” while serving as “checkpoints” toward understanding will give teachers insights to occurring comprehension and application (27). With the collected data, teacher can then adjust and modify curriculum as a result for student that require the differentiation to be successful. Wormeli also suggests that assessments not only need to be varied but done over time to escape possible confounding factors (31). Assessments should also be developmentally appropriate, as students vary in development and different proficiencies as well (31). Other suggestions include authentic and contextually recognizable assessments that are simultaneously substantive (32-34). Careful attention to these assessment principals results in student understanding of content as well as teachers understa

nding of how students learn.

Christina L Quach
Chapter 3 discusses different forms of assessment, what level of assessment is appropriate at what time, and the important of continuously assessing students and learning so that they can get the most out of assessments. Assessments should also be looked at backwards at times. This way the teacher and the students know exactly what is being assessed. It is not good teaching when students have to guess what they should know, and assessing students knowledge that way would not be an appropriate assessment. I have had many teachers that would not tell the class what we were going to be tested on. This was always frustrating because I had cheerleading and worked at night so I was up from 6am to past 9pm going to school, working, going to practice, and then doing homework. When it came time to take tests I would look through all the information that I had on everything we would go over, and I would end up concentrating on little things that I thought might be important. I always seemed to miss what was important and could remember it, but had everything else fresh in my mind. Assessing students and myself will be important because it will keep me on track and aware of when my students need me to go more in depth. It will also be less likely to leave students behind and in the dark. The chapter also mentioned students not being 100% all of the time so it is only fair to give them extra chances when needed. I always appreciated this from teachers because I had so much going on, and I will make sure to include it in my teaching.

Kelsea Trefethen
This chapter discussed more on how to assess the students in a classroom. There a many ways to test and quiz students on content, all different ways are beneficial. Assessments in a classroom are useful for both the student and the teacher. The book mentioned that students come with biases. This is so true. I remember being in a classroom and students believed very different things from what others did; my teacher had to work to get us all on the same page. It is kind of fascinating that when students come to your classroom you get the opportunity to mold them to be successful in your class and ultimately in life. I loved the idea the chapter gave about handing out the end of the class test on the 1st day. It gives students some foreshadowing to the end of the year and like the book said it keeps their attention throughout the course as different questions are brought up. The book talked about “fuzzy assignments.” I am going to do my best to avoid these. I remember having assignments where I did not really understand how to go about completing it. It was frustrating so I always put it off. When I am a teacher I want my students have a clear understanding of the assignment and how they will be graded on it. I think it is important to pre-assess the students in a classroom before starting the lessons. The book stressed that it is important to gauge where the students are with the content to know where to start with them. Some student may need a review of previous material before starting the curriculum.

Leanne Fasulo
The third chapter of Wormeli’s //Fair Isn’t Always Equal// is about differentiating assessments. Teachers their first year of teaching will have trouble finding out what are the most important things to teach, and how to assess their students' knowledge. The book gives a few good ideas like asking coworkers if you could look at their tests, or checking the end of the chapter review in the book. Using these ideas a new teacher could come up with different ways to assess students. A good way to see what students know is to give them a pre assessment and then at the end give them the same test. In between it is very important to give them formative tests so that they can receive feedback. The book notes that in a study students who received better grades had gotten feedback from their teachers. This way students will know what they need to work on to improve their learning. A good teacher will never have a student ask them if certain material will be on the test. Teachers should be clear with what they want from the students so confusion does not arise. Coursework while it should relate to the real world it does not always have to. Sometimes certain things need to be learned to move on to the next day’s assignments or to get to the next year. In order to solve word problems in math a student must have good language skills. Sometimes material learned is not even about the content, but about persevering or being organized so that they will be ready for future lessons and classes. While the chapter was a little too long to read all at once it did a good job of doing an in depth analysis of assessments. I believe that I will come back to my post it notes in this chapter for stage two of making my unit.

Tyler Oren
The third chapter of //Fair isn’t Always Equal// offers perspective into successful assessment in a differentiated classroom. As the chapter begins Wormeli also opens the chapter with “Beginning at the End”. A tactic that he prescribes to teachers as a method to help students learn because they can learn better when they can know and understand what is expected of them before they even begin the unit or lesson. However, before even beginning the instruction of the unit once the students know what is expected of them is to test their knowledge of the subject with a diagnostic pre-assessment, after all a final test at the conclusion of a unit do not really help the students learn, they give broad members some kind of quantifiable information that the students are doing //something// in the class. Pre-assessment helps to determine aspects of the curriculum that a teacher need to strengthen, or even parts they can skim over if the class’s proficiency allows for it. When designing pre-assessment Wormeli recommends several planning aspects be considered; what are the essential and enduring skills and content you are trying to assess? How does this assessment allow students to demonstrate mastery? Is every component in that objective included in this assessment? Can students respond another way and still satisfy the requirements of the assessment task? Is the assignment more a test of process or content? Is that what you’re after? After teachers have created a targeted lesson plan and assessed their students level of readiness Wormeli directs teachers to occupy their students with substantial assignments that let them think and grow and ensures that they develop a master for the topic or idea, asking your students to color a map is not substantial, asking them instead to outline the boundaries of the desired area from memory or what they already know will help them think, and even provide a valuable form a formative assessment that will help you understand where you students are academically.

Richie Johnson
Similar to chapter five //of Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design// (Tomlinson/McTighe), chapter three of //Fair Isn’t Always Equal// deals with assessment. However, Rick Wormeli really highlights the complete process of doing so- from teaching the unit to assessing the students understanding, as he states: “in a differentiated classroom, assessment guides practice” (20). I was instantly hooked on this chapter when he began by describing an experiment that ultimately underlined how teaching is difficult when a student has a previously formed opinion, which is very typical. Wormeli explains that a teacher “has to understand each student’s ‘truth,’ and convince [them] that their perceptions are incorrect or incomplete” (20). Next in the process is to evaluate students “readiness.” Wormeli says, “we identify specific tasks we can employ to determine our students’ readiness regarding the topics,” and that “these are diagnostic pre-assessments” (25). This is so obvious and yet so smart- it makes a lot of sense to evaluate a student throughout the entire process of teaching a unit rather than just at the end, as in doing so will allow the teacher to adjust the teaching process accordingly.

Kyle Kuvaja
Chapter three of __Fair Isn’t Always Equal__ is about determining what differentiated assessments may be used effectively in the classroom. One form of differentiated instruction is breaking students up into groups, but this is only differentiated if the students are carefully placed in groups because of something previously known about them. Thinking about the end is important in understanding the beginning. Wormeli uses the example of giving an end of the unit exam on the first day of class. This tool helps students realize that information they are learning in class is connected to what they should know in the end. Developing essential understandings and questions are important components when developing a unit. These are then broken down and used in a teacher’s lesson. The essentials are what we consider necessary in attaining mastery for a given subject area. Wormeli stresses that developing “what is essential” in a lesson takes time and must be revisited from time to time. Pre-assessments are a useful way to gauge a student’s understanding at the beginning of the unit or lesson. In order to help students grow, teachers need to realize what they already know. The pre-assessments help a teacher guide students to have the ability to understand summative assessments. Before students can take part in summative assessments, they must first receive instruction and feedback along the way. This is known as formative assessment. One last key component of assessments is “avoid fluff”. As teachers, we need to develop what is essential in our subject area. Wormeli brought up a lot of points that were already mentioned in UbD chapter five. Understanding the importance of developing a lesson around essential questions was most impactful to me. Being a student who has grown up in classes that were filled with “fluff”, I understand that creating effective essentials and making sure students understand them is important.

Kalib Moore
I found the introduction to Chapter 3 of FIAE to be very interesting. The example of the teacher who took two separate groups of people and showed them a picture that could represent both an older woman and a younger woman. The first group he emphasized the young woman, and in the second, the old woman. When the two groups finally came back together and he instructed them to explain to the other group what they saw. Both groups were confused because they only saw one perspective, their own. (Wormeli, 19&20) Though the author uses this example as a tool to explain that students are "'biased on how to see the world [of education]" (Wormeli, 20), I see it more as an example for myself as a future teacher. Going into the classroom, I don't want to come off as "biased" to my students and make them feel that the only correct answer is my answer. I hope to learn from my students and receive feedback from them on how I teach so I can make changes for future classes. Wormeli also talks about "Fluff Assignments" as being assignments that are not going to further your students understanding of the material. By having them just make a poster; they are not learning the material, but just re-write or craft information you have already given them (Wormeli, 34) I hope to avoid fluff assignments in my classroom, but rather assign my students projects that make them think more deeply about the material they are covering.

Evgeni Bouzakine
In Chapter three Rick Wormeli discusses how to use assessments to assess students learning effectively. There are three types of assessments covered in the chapter Pre-assessments, formative assessments, and summative assessments. A pre assessment is given before a new unit is started. A Formative assessment is usually done throughout the unit. The summative assessment is given at the end of the unit. Each assessment is responsible from before to after the unit. It is important to know what the student knows before, during, and after the unit. It is easier to correct something before or while it is happening. Like for example if students are not grasping the main idea of the unit. The unit can also be revised even after the unit is taught, so your next class does not suffer the same issue. The chapter also mentions how the assessment should be done before the actual unit is designed. The teacher can now teach only what the students do not know. As a teacher I want to avoid using busy work. I want to concentrate on the important aspect of the unit. Once again this book gives me good ideas that I will use as an up and coming teacher.

**Cyril Lunt**
While this chapter is longer than the other two combined, I still found it a very interesting read.

It starts off by explaining that every student is essentially taught from the get go to only see things the way their teachers want them to see things. We believe certain myths that are perpetuated (like the summer-winter example at the beginning of the chapter), and are never looked into further than that, in an almost "well, that's how I was taught" manner.

So, how do we combat this? Wormeli suggests to do the following:


 * Begin with the end in mind. If your students know what they should know by the end of the unit, the boundaries have been set, and they'll pay more attention to their assignments.


 * Determine student readiness. If students aren't ready for something, it is your job to prepare them for it. Obviously, there are time constraints, but helping out students isn't a bad thing. Again, it's your job.

He also gave several tips on designing and carrying out curriculum. Focus on the big issues, and the little issues will sort themselves out. Don't pad your curriculum, your students will notice that what they're doing is filler. Make sure every assignment has a meaning. Things that sound like common sense, but many-a-teacher don't do these things. They jump right into the thick of it, expecting students to simply follow because they're students.

Brittany Blackman
The third chapter is all about assessments. I thought it was interesting how Wormeli explains that children come in with pre-conceived information, and it’s hard for them to think any differently. This statement scares me for reasons not mentioned in the book. If you have two different math teachers that teach completely different, then when the students take the other math class they are going to have a hard time following your methods. I had this happen to me. I didn’t understand how the teacher was coming to her conclusion, because I learned how to do it completely different. It is hard to change your thinking process.

I found one of the author’s suggestions to be extremely interesting. He suggests to show your students the test questions ahead of time, and that it’s actually //good// for your students to yell that this is one of the answers and to pay attention. I can see how that would get your students to pay attention to the questions you found most important, but wouldn’t it condition to pay less attention all of the other time? I understand that you can’t tell students that they have to read every word in the book in order to be fully prepared, but I don’t think you should be that specific either. I think teachers need to be in the middle of vague and specific about what is going to be expected of them. That way the students pay attention to your lessons, but don’t feel like they need to know everything.

I loved that the author admitted to assessing his students, but not changing his lesson. I can see how that would be easy to do, especially when being a new teacher. Hopefully this class will help me build the tools I need to be able to change my instructions when I need to.