Progress CheckingStrategies and Pitfalls

Pitfalls to avoid• Superficial progress

checking. Just because a student gives you a ‘thumbs up’ doesn’t mean that they understand

• Inaccurate progress checking. Student perceptions of what they understand may be wrong

• Unhelpful progress checking. Just because the student understands, doesn’t mean that they will remember: “as learning occurs, so does forgetting” Nuthall

Learning can only be inferred from performance (Bjork)• Learning is invisible• 30% of what a student learns in a lesson is unique to that

student (Nuthall)• Learning takes time. For learning to embed in the long-

term memory it needs to be repeated at least 3 times• Learning can occur without being seen in performance

(latent learning)• Performance can improve without learning• Performance can be too dependent on the context and lost

when this is variedAvoid progress checking which is actually performance checking

Check mastery to adjust planning

Common mistakes• Work is pitched too high

or too low• Due to lack of match some

students have unnecessary repetition of work that they have already mastered, while others are moved on too swiftly

Check that students understand what success looks like• Provide models of best

practice• Provide clearly delineated

steps to success• Take photos of what

excellent looks like

Check understanding to adjust teaching• Use probing questions to

check student understanding

• Use mini-whiteboards or ABCD cards to gain feedback from all students

• Probe what students understand rather than how they feel or what they think they understand

Check where you left students• At the end of the

lesson set a question to gain feedback on where students are:

a. They understandb. They can apply

understandingc. They can apply

understanding to a new context

Check what students are struggling with

What did you struggle with today?

Get students to check their work• Get students to check

their first draft against criteria in order to improve it further. For examples see Self-assessment Essays

Progress Checking QuestionsWhat are

the advantages/ disadvantag

es of working in this way?

What advice would you

give to someone

who...

If I was to teach this

lesson again what should

I keep/ change?

How has your thinking

changed since the

start of the lesson?

What different learning

strategies have you used, and which was

most helpful?

What was the most valuable feedback you got today?

Where have you made

improvements to your work?

Who, or what, helped you to make progress?

What would a good outcome

look like?

What made you decide to

include?

What best helped you to understand?

Which resource that you used was most useful?

What was the most

challenging aspect of...?

How could you prove

that you have made

progress?

How did you manage to overcome a difficulty?

Why did you use that strategy?

Who contributed most to your

group?

What do you predict will

be the outcome?

How does what we’ve

learned today link

to...?

Who else could you use this

skill?

What was your best/

worst choice today?

What has been your best/ worst decision?

What has been the best

question asked?

What were the 3 main things you learned?

What was interesting about this

lesson?

If you could repeat this, how would you change

it?

What helped/

hindered you most today?

What is least clear to you?