differentiated assessment

Differentiated Assessment

BY: Promise Mdluli

In your free time, what do

you enjoy doing?

Each Child Is Different

• Learning Styles Inventory• Personality Test• Love Languages• Spiritual Gifts• Culture• Gender

“Fearfully and Wonderfully Made”Psalm 139: 14

Some Observations

• One size does not fit all– Yet, we ask students to jump through the same

hoops• Definitions vary

– Differentiation – Assessment

• Focus should be on learning, not teaching• Differentiated assessment is neglected

Differentiation: A Definition

Differentiation: The philosophy and process of developing and providing various strategies, options, and opportunities for students to learn and express learning. Differentiation considers differing student needs, backgrounds, prior learning, strengths, weaknesses, higher order thinking, creativity, and expectations. – definition Russell L. Claxton

Ways to Differentiate

Presentation

Process

Product

Direction InstructionWhole class or groupPhysical actionNote-taking styles

StationsCooperative groupsCompacting: moving onContractsChoice opportunities

Traditional assessmentsWebsitePowerPointCreative expression

When you go to the doctor, what questions are asked?

TELL me what’s wrong.

SHOWme where it hurts.

DOthe motions that

aggravate the ailment.

“Can’t I just e-mail you a link to my blog?”

Which type of testing is most important?

Pretesting

Formative Summative

Differentiated assessment is an ongoing process through which teachers gather data before, during, and after instruction from multiple sources to identify learners’ needs and strengths. Students are differentiated in their knowledge and skills. They differ in the ways and speeds at which they process new learning and connect it to prior knowledge and understanding. They also differ in the ways they most effectively demonstrate their progress.

What Is Differentiated Assessment?

Differentiated Assessment Is Not Just

It is not just ModificationChanges in content, standards, or instructional level (Common in special ed)

It is not just AccommodationChanges in time, amount of work, or process that do not lower standards (read aloud tests, extra time, reduced number of items)

Differentiation is more than . . .

The Traditional Instructional Cycle

• Lecture• Modeling on the board• Practice with “paper” problems• Paper-and-pencil assessment• Letter-grade feedback

Not wrong.Just incomplete.

Knowledge

Comprehension

ApplicationAnalysis

SynthesisEvaluation

Bloom’s Stair-KCAASEAssessment should focus on the appropriate level with the right

amount of emphasis.

Bloom-Gardner MatrixWords Numbers Visual Music Bodily

Know20 points Assignment Description

20 pointsAssignment Description




Understand & Apply






Analyze & Synthesis






Evaluate50 pointsAssignment Description





How might a teacher explain to a parent or another student why some students are completing different assessments?

Planning Strategy

WHAT? WHO? HOW?Assessment #1 Description

IndividualLeft BrainLogical-MathematicalAuditory

Assessment #2Description

PairRight BrainVerbal-LinguisticVisual


Individual Auditory


Individual Bodily-Kinesthetic


Group Visual-SpatialInterpersonal

Suggestions: Increase Reliability

Assessment should be done like voting in the United States —

Early and

Often

Suggestions: Keep Anecdotal Records

Post It Notes

Mailing Labels

Index Cards

Suggestions: Increase Validity

What do we want to assess?

• Familiarity• Understanding• Improvement• Mastery• Personal interaction• Compliance

Suggestions: Beware Zeros

The case against Zeros – What do they assess?

Suggestions: Assessment Activities

• essay• speech• song• poem• poster• skit• craft project• commercial• video

• newscast• step-by-step

instructions• PowerPoint• teach lesson• multiple-choice*• fill in the blank*• creation of test or

problems• application to real life

situations

Suggestions: More Assessment Activities

• create a game• write a newspaper

or magazine article• portfolios• collage• web page• blog• model

• story board• invention• notebook• photos• map• letter• experiment• cartoon

Suggestions: Even more Assessment Activities

• Smith’s Favorites • What are some of yours?

differentiated assessment

Education