After reading Chapter 11 in Including Students with Special Needs respond to the poll and the following questions.
Indicate what some of the tools are that we have as teachers for evaluating students' progress.
What accomodations can be made for students before testing, during testing and after testing?
What are some practices in report card grading that can benefit all students?
What do performance-based assessments measure?
When using portfolio assessments what two skills would you need to teach students with special needs?
Read: Making Accommodations When Evaluating Students with Special Needs on page 437 in the Including Students with Special Needs book.
Select 2 of the four questions to respond to. Indicate (by the number 1,2,3, or 4) which questions you are addressing.
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The most frequently used tools to evaluate students’ progress are testing and grading; we as teachers can accommodate and adjust both depending on students’ needs.
Accommodations BEFORE TEST: * STUDY GUIDES-help students to concentrate on most important information. * PRACTICE TESTS- help students get familiar with test format. *TUTORING-tutor provides guidelines for what to study. *TEACHING TEST-TAKING SKILLS- examples: how to study for tests, taking objective tests, and writing essay tests. Studying for the tests using chunking (memorization technique, recalling 5-7 ideas). Mnemonics (imposing an order to information), keyword method (visual imaginary), and rehearsal strategy. Helping students organizing their notes and materials. DURING TEST: *ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF QUESTIONS- examples would be decreasing the numbers of choice answers, changing the types or construction of the questions. *ALTERNATIVE WAYS OF ADMINISTRATING TESTS: examples: for comprehension problems we can underline keywords in questions, allow more time for test, allow students to take test orally, allow use of dictionaries, seating students near us. *ALTERNATIVE TESTS SITES help students with attention issues. As a ESL student taking college placement test in a small, and secluded, quiet room helped me to concentrate on the test, and avoid seeing others leaving much earlier than me, which can be very unnerving. In addition, I didn’t see it in the textbook, but I like the idea of open-book test as occasional alternative. AFTER TEST:*ALTERNATIVE TEST-GRADING. Changing letter or number grades by adding written comments or symbols. Using grading rubrics. Rubrics help students understand the expectations, monitor their progress, and judge the quality of their work. Changing grading criteria-example: giving partial credits, allowing retake the tests, grading after changing the amount of questions. Alternatives to letter and number grades: example would be fall/pass grade. We can use competency checklist showing which key concepts in the chapter students learned.
REPORT CARD GRADING. It is important not to discriminate against students with disabilities in report card grading, which should be used to motivate the students to stay in school, and communicate the progress to them and their parents. GRADING PRACTICES: *CHANGING THE LETTER/NUMBER GRADES. *REPORTING SEPARATE GRADES. * WRITTEN OR VERBAL NOTES+CLARIFICATION NOTES. *DAILY ACTIVITY LOGS- daily observations. Notebooks, journals, calendars, sticky notes. USING SEPARATE GRADES-each based on a different grading element and corresponding set of criteria. *AVOIDING GIVING ZEROS.
PERFORAMNCE BASED ASSESSMENT. -focuses on the learning process rather than learning product; involves authentic learning tasks. It offers alternative options to demonstrate students’ knowledge not limiting them only to reading or writing. Performance based assessment helps students with disability understand the connection between school-task and real world.
PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENTS: very helpful for teachers working with students with disabilities; assists teachers in evaluating students’ progress toward IEP (Individualized Education Program) objecting and in guiding instruction. It emphasizes student product rather than tests and tests scores. The key component of portfolio assessment is students’ self-evaluation. We need to teach students how to select and evaluate portfolio pieces, and we can administer many alternative ways of testing.
MAKING ACCOMMODATIONS WHEN EVELUATING STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS.
Q1. Tests. In case of Eugene, I would provide him with study guides, pre-tests, and consider an oral exam. Also, I would consider an alternative test site. I would alter Tara’s test by underlining the keywords, and decrease the amount of questions, and allow her to take time she needs to complete the test. In Tara’s case, oral exam would a good alternative as well. In Jamie’s case, I would consider a performance-based assessment.
Q4. Jamie’s Fractions. I would test Tara’s specific fractions knowledge by using real-life examples such as cake, and pizza. If she grasps the concepts of specific fractions in real-life objects, it would be equivalent to a student without disability recognizing and computing target fractions the conventional way.
3) Performance-based assessment "provides students with opportunities to demonstrate their mastery of a skill or concept through the performance of a task". This is to say that this way of assessment measures learning processes instead of focusing on learning products. This particular way of assessing provides accommodations for all students. A couple of examples of such accommodations are: time flexibility for those who may require additional time; and connection with real life, this helps with skill applications. I believe this assessment helps more with what they have learned rather than what they can memorize.
4) When using portfolio assessments, it is necessary for the teacher to teach the students how to self-evaluate their work. Another skill the teacher may need to teach is how to make good selections in what materials the student should put in the portfolio.
I'm so thankful for a variey of assessments! I think this releaves some students of anxiety who may not receive high marks on assignments when they are assessed in the traditional way.
Question #2
There are many tools that we, as teachers, can use to help students who have needs to be better prepared for tests, more relaxed and at ease during the test, and less worried about how they did after the test. One way that many teachers prepare students for tests is the use of study guides. This is a very helpful practice because it highlights key ideas that are going to be on the test. If the teacher already does this for his/her class, they can go one step further and adapt the way the study guide is set up to help a speacial needs student. One way of doing this is to list vocabulary in the form of questions, rather than just listing the vocabulary. Study guides are a very helpful student to anyone who must take a test, but if it is not in a format that is going to help a student, it is useless. Another this that we can do before a test is to practice test taking skills with the child. You could even take it one step further and have an example of the way the test is going to be set up. It is very important to be consistent with the way that the tests are set up so that children are not surprised and worried about that aspect of taking the test. Teachers, for the most part, create the test, so it will be very beneficial for the child to know how the test is laid out, what types of concepts the teacher picks out to put on the test, most importantly, how to study for the test.
There are also many strategies that teachers can use to make accomidations during the test. One way that I have personally seen this done is by the teacher reworking the question so that they child can better understand the question. In my case, it was a math test and instead of having word problems, the child simply had the equation that the other children had to come up with based on the word problem. Another thing that teachers can do is to allow their special needs student more time. Sometimes, even children who just have test anxiety will be better off if you give them a little more time. Some other things that teachers can do is to offer the test being read to the child, which I also personally experienced during a vocabulary test.
After the test, there are also several strategies that teachers can use to benefit the child. One way would be to change their grading. They could allow partial points for a student who started off doing a problem correctly, but merely made a mistake for the final answer. This also forces the child to write out their work, which would also benfit them in the long run. Another way to make accomidations after grading is to develop a list of the criteria, similar to a rubric, that you were looking for the student to display, and you could check off the satisfactory responses and put a minus next to an area where the child still needs work.
Question #3
I think that performance based assesssment is a great way to make accomidations for all of your students. With performance based assessment, you are not necessarily focusing on the final product, like we so often are, but you are focusing on how the child got to the final product. Did they put all they had into working on this project? If they were in a group, do they put forth adequate effort? Were they using their time wisely? Is this child working in the best way that they are able to? Questions like these can be used to guide the way we evaluate performace based learning and it allows us to focus on each child's strengths and weaknesses. These accomidations can help children by allowing them to work on something that they are familiar with, and in turn, they'll want to learn more.
To evaluate student progress, teachers can use grading, testing, portfolios, performance-based testing, and report cards.
Before testing, teachers can use study guides, practice tests, teaching test-taking skills and strategies, tutoring, and modifying the structure of the test. During testing, teachers can use alternate questions or give the test in a different way. After testing, teachers can grade the tests and change the grades, change the criteria that the grades are based off of, or use alternatives to letter or number grades.
Practices that can benefit all students include differentiating the report cards, avoiding zeroes, and reporting progress frequently.
Performance-based testing measures the learning process instead of a certain learning goal. They usually include real-world tasks and problems.
Special needs students need to be taught how to choose and evaluate the works they put into their portfolios.
2. Before testing, I would give him a study guide or possibly a practice test. We may also need to work on his test-taking strategies since he gets really anxious when he takes tests. In construction of the test, I would give him an alternate form that may more closely follow the study guide, so that it looks more familiar to him and alleviates the anxiousness. I would try to administer teh test differently for him. I may separate him or find some way to make him feel more comfortable while taking the test. In grading the test, I may make it so the criteria that my grading is based off of is only that which was on the study guide I gave him.
3. I would give Tara a grade in reading, but I would make it so that it follows her specific IEP and does not compare her to the other students in the class. This way, I could measure her progress and give her parents an idea of her improvement. I do not think that I would use an A/B/C/D approach to Tara. I would probably use more of a checkmark strategy, where if she met the learning goals, she would get a check.
-Some of the tools that we as teachers have for evaluating students' progress are classroom evaluations, testing and grading. Testing and grading are the ways in which students are tested most frequently.
-Accomodations that can be made for students before testing are study guides, practice tests, individual tutoring, teaching testtaking skills and modified test construction. Some examples of test taking skills include: Chunking (recalling 5-7 key ideas), mnemonics (order on information to be remembered)Ex: CHROME, keyword method (visual imagery, and rehersal strategies.
-Accomodiations that can be made during tests are alternative forms of questions (Ex: multiple choice instead of essay), alternative ways of administering tests (more time, orally, or different seating arrangement), and alternative testing sites to insure that the results of the test are more accurate. A resource room might help students with atention problems, or written language problems. This may also help students who are taking a different test from being embarressed.
-Accomodations for after test taking are changed letter or number grades, changed grading criteria (standards on which the grade is based), and alternatives to letter and number grades (pass/fail or checklists). A teacher can give partical credit or points when a students does half of the problem correct, but gets the wrong answer. Rubrics or checklists may also be helpful so students know how their work is being graded.
-There a many practices in report card grading that can benefit all students. Differnetiated report cards are reporty cards that have individualized provisions for students to clarify the meaning of their grade. Avoid using zeros. A zero distorts the final grade and diminishes its value as an indicator of what was learned. For example if a student gets 4 100's, 95, and a 0 the student will recieve a B-. The zero distorts what she learned and undermines her motivation. Wormeli (2006) suggests that a 60 percent instead of a zero would be a way of lessening the impact of a missed assignment or test. Reporting students progress frequently is also important is also important and will greatly benefit students.
-Performance-based assessments can be very beneficial to students with special needs. It measures learning processes rather than focusing only on learning products. Authentic learning tasks are frequently involved. They are tasks presented within real-world contexts and lead to real-world outcomes. Students can demonstrate their knowledge that does not rely on reading and writing.
-When using portfolio assessments teachers need to teach students with special needs how to select and evaluate portfolio pieces.
2. Some accommodations that need to be made when constructing Eugene's test is to make sure that it has no essays. Eugene is not good at writing, which places him at a disadvantage when taking his tests. He has test anxiety so his tests need to be short. If he sees too many questions he will freak out before even starting the the test. When administering Eugene's test it needs to be done orally. Read him the passage, questions, and answers so he doesnt spend too much time trying to do it himself. I think Eugene's test should be based on what he knows. If you shorten his tets, use no essays, and read his test to him orally thins should relieve his test anxiety.
4.) A performance based test that I would use on Jamie to test her knowledge of target fractions would be using a pizza or pie cut into equal pieces. Jamie needs to identify 1/3, 1/4, and 1/2. I would assess her progress by Jamie being able to show me 1/3, 1/4, and 1/2. When she can do that sucessfully I would suggest that she can grasp the concept.
Tools for evaluating students' progess are tests, report cards, projects', etc. Even our observations of the student over time will sometimes give us clues to a student's progess.
Some accomodations that can be made for students before testing are study guides, and giving a practice test. An accomodation for during the test is to use alternative forms of the question (example: using matching instead of fill-in-the-blank). An accomodation for after the test is using alternatives to number and letter grades, such as pass/fail or a check system (check, check minus, check plus)- depending on how they rated on your checklist.
One way to differentiate report-card grading is to use separate grades, each based on a different element and corresponding set of criteria. This is perfect to reflect how much a student has progressed, his or her effort, and the quality of the student's products, etc. This is a great technique because it allows for the teacher to communicate and the parent to see all aspects of a student's school life, not just a grade/number letter in the core subjects, like math, English, and so on.
Performance-based assessments measure the learning process rather than just a finished product.
When using portfolio assessments, teachers need to be flexible and be able to differentiate. They must be flexible because they need to take what they've learned from the asssessment and use that information to adapt the lesson according to the student's needs and abilities. The ultimate goal is to help that student show their talent and succeed through whatever means they need to do so. Teachers need to be able to differentiate because if they just have the portfolio assessment knowledge, and do not do anything to uniquely assist the particular individual- and makes them do the same as everyone else, that teacher is not utilizing that assessment information to help bring the student to his or her fullest potential.
2. Before testing, I would accomodate Eugene by giving him a both a study guide and a practice test. During the test, I would use alternative forms of the question. For multiple choice questions, I would only have 2 options, instead of the usual four. I may also make the actual test look similar to the study guide for Eugene so it may be more familiar and ease his anxieties some. I would ask Euguene to jot down his reasons for selecting the answers he did. After the test, I would give partial credit wherever I could- like if Eugene gave a correct explanation but happened to choose the wrong answer.
3. At the end of the marking period, I think I would give Tara a grade in reading. I may use the "checks" system of grading though, and list the things she was supposed to work on, and give a check, check -, or check + depending on how well she met her goals. Since she met all of her short-term goals, I would give her all checks or check +s depending on if she just met them or exceeded them somewhat.
What accomodations can be made for students before testing, during testing and after testing?
- I love study guides. Giving students a study guide of what will be covered on the test helps them focus on those particular areas. I remember teachers handing out study guides before a test. I remember always being able to study better for a test than those teachers who did not hand out study guides. Also, even handing out a practice exam of what could be covered on a test would be beneficial. During testing a teacher can accomodate how they give the test. Maybe a student will be better off if the teacher read them the test, etc. After testing a teacher can most definitely look at the test and curve it if they have too. Or even let the student get the test back and take it home to be corrected as homework and they get half the points, etc.
What are some practices in report card grading that can benefit all students?
- I think giving students a number grade instead of a letter grade can most definitely benefit the student. I think we all remember getting report cards and once we saw that dreaded grade it got us a little down. Using a number grade would let the student see what they could do to improve and also over the year if that number would go up it would help the parent see their accomplishments over the year. I also feel like with grading there needs to be more emphasis on participation and how hard the student tries in class. You could have a child who is amazing at working with others, listening, and cooperating but yet is just awful at exams. Does he deserve a bad grade? I don't think he/she would. More than just homework and tests need to be considered in report card grading.
As teachers, we can evalaute student's progress by report cards, test, projects and activities, homework, and in class work.
Before testing, we can provide the students with a study guide, practice test, individual tutoring,and modified test construction as well as teaching them test-taking skills. During the test we can have alternative forms of questions and alternative ways of administering tests. After testing, we as teacher, can change letter or number grades, change grading criteri, or provide alternatives to letter and number grades.
Differentiated report cards and avoiding zeros can benefit all students in report card grading.
Performance-based assessments measure learning progress rather than focusing only on learning product.
We need to teach students with special needs how to select their portfolio pieces, and how to evaluate their portfolio pieces.
1. I would give Eugene and Tara an oral test, and consider giving Jamie a performance-based assessment.
2. For Eugene before testing, I would provide him with a study guide and teach him test-taking skills. During the test, he would be given alternative forms of questions; perhaps something with less words. Also, I might consider sending him to a resource room where the questions could be read to him, he would respond, and the teacher there would record what he says. In grading the test, I would check for his understanding over his techniques. For instance, it would be important that he have the right answers, and not perfect grammar.
What accomodations can be made for students before testing, during testing and after testing?
I think testing is a good way to measure student progress throughout the year. However, as many of us know, not all kids are good at taking tests. Because of this, I think that it is very important for us, as teachers, to provide our students with all the tools necessary to succeed. As a student, I really liked when teachers would provide us with an overview or outline of the chapter. The teacher would provide the key topics, and we would fill in the main areas of each topic. Many teachers then gave us study guides right before the test so that we could see what information we were expected to know. By filling in this information, it allowed us to remember this information better. As for during the test, I think it is a good idea to make different forms of the test, according to the different learning levels in the class. This variation can be very helpful to the students, and can simply be labled "Test A", "Test B", "Test C". As for after the test, I think it would be beneficial to have the students keep a journal. After each test, have them write down any areas they may have struggled on, if they like multiple choice/true or false/etc., what they could have done to better prepare for the test, and any suggestions they may have for you, as a teacher, to help them do better on the next test. This way the children are not only assessing themselves, but also providing you with ideas as well.
1. I agree with Leah. Giving Tara and Eugene an oral test would allow them to better understand the question.
3. I would grade Tara in reading. I think it would be best to grade her according to her ability and how far she has come, rather than grading her according the my expectations for the rest of the class. In this situation, I think it's best to use a check system, based off of her progress. This way she will understand that I am grading according to progress, and what she needs to work on, rather than if she were to see A/B/C/D/F. I think if I were to use the letter system, she would be more worried about the grade, rather than her individual progress.
As teachers we have many ways in evaluating a students progress such as tests, worksheets and other activities. We can use grading and portfolios as well to evaluate a students progress.
Accomodations that can be made for students before testing would be letting each child use a study guide before taking the test. By giving a child a study guide it gives them an idea of what lessons will be on the test and what they are expected to know before they take the actual test. Many students get nervous when it comes to testing because they aren't exactly sure what to study or what they need to focus on while studying for a test. During the test a teacher may realize that some students require a longer time period for taking a test so in order to make it possible for these students to do their best a teacher must be flexible with time and realize that not all children are quik when it comes to testing. After the test it is always great to go over the test and discuss the problems on the test and explain their answers so that in the future the students will understand the concept more and understand what they did incorrectly. ALso, a teacher may decide to give partial points to a student who started to anwer the question correctly but somehow slipped away from their correct answer.
During report card grading there are many ways to accomodate to different students needs. One useful way would be to assign differnetiated report cards, which allows the teacher to have individualized provisions for students to help them better understand the reason for recieving the grade that they were given. A big thing in grading would be to avoid using a zero, a zero is a negative number and makes it seem like the student did not learn anything. I also think that number grading would benefit the student because instead of seeing an F they may see a 1 and just know that they must work on it but they are still recieving credit for it.
Performance-based assessments can be very beneficial to students with special needs. Instead of always focusing on the outcome it allows the teacher to focus on the learning process and evaluate how the student is relating to the real world and how they are coming up with answers.
Portfolio assessments allow the teacher to evaluate a students accomplishments in one part of the portfolio.
1. Since Eugene is not good at writing I would probably give him and Tara an oral form of the test while giving Jamie a performance based test.
2. Before giving Eugene the actual test I would allow him to take a practice test and also to complete a study guide so taht he is given prior knowledge of what the test will be like and what he needs to study. While Eugene takes the test I would make the test more towards his level by allowing him fewer options when it is multiple choice, instead of bombarding him with 4 options, I'd possibly give only 2 options for him to decide from. I would also allow Eugene to take his time and give him extra time to complete the test if need be. Since I have given him a study guide to look through bnefore the test, I would accomodate the test and make it have many of the same questions just mixed up to ease his anxieties.During the test, I would use alternative forms of the question. For multiple choice questions, I would only have 2 options, instead of the usual four. I may also make the actual test look similar to the study guide for Eugene so it may be more familiar and ease his anxieties some. After the test I would explain the answers to Eugene and for the ones that he did not do right I would ask him to explain his reasoning to me and possibly give him partial credit if I feel like he understand the concept just didn't exactly know how to write it down.
There are several different types of tools used to evaluate student progress. A few examples are administering pre-tests and post-test for evaluation, report cards, mid term reports, and self performance evaluations.
Question #2: An accommodation that I would make for Eugene before his testing would be to create a study guide very similar to the test for him to practice with. This can help ease with his testing anxieties, because he will know the outline of the exam that will be given. I think it is important as a teacher to allow access to a study guide for all students to use. I personally have found it to be helpful to me, and I am sure others will agree. You can also use class time to review as a whole, so that if there are any questinos that may arise, as a group you can work together to answer the question. No one likes to be blindsided by a test, so to be prepared is helpful.
When I construct the test, I would want to make sure that it follows the study guide that I handed out, but with different wording and numerical problems. I would also make sure not to use words that may cause confusion, and keep it as cut and dry as possible.
During the administration of the test, I want to be available to answer any questinos they may have. Of course, I won't give them the answer or help them solve it, but be there to clarify if needed. Also, I want to make sure there is plenty of time available for the class to take the test, so that they don't feel like they are rushing to finish it. Lastily, if there is a student that needs to have the test read to him/her, I will accommodate them with someone to do that.
I will be a fair grader, and offer partial credit if I see that they have the basic idea and concept of the problem, but struggled to connect all of the dots.
Question #3
I would give Tara a grade in reading, but would not use a grading system to do so. I think it is important to acknowledge her progression that she has made throughout the semester/school year, so I would impliment the check system, or something similar to chart her progress.
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