Lori Voss-Schoonover

JCCC MATH 115

Elementary Algebra

Assessment

Purpose/Focus:
While most of collegiate work focuses on summative assessment, when we differentiate instruction we
also include self-assessment and formative assessments. Incorporating formative assessment into my
Elementary Algebra classroom would provide each student a progress report that does not affect their
final grade. Students would have the opportunity to improve before their summative final grade is
negatively affected. The particular form of assessment to be discussed here is the use of differentiated
exit cards. These cards could be used at the end of every lecture class.

Instructional Groupings
Homogeneous
Whole Group
Small Group
Heterogeneous
Peer Partners
Individual

Readiness

Student Learner Elements

Interest

Differentiation
Content
Process
Product

Learning Profile

Pre-Assessment:
Since this strategy is about assessment, pre-assessment is part of the entire package and constantly
happening. This pre-assessment might be formal or informal but should provide information about what
the students already know regarding formative assessment as opposed to summative assessment. As an
example, ongoing assessment in class would determine the exit card a student receives if the instructor
is giving tiered exit cards that day.

Results of This Lesson:

Students will KNOW (basic facts and essential information)
Their progress on the material (when they receive the assessed card)
Which material they have already mastered or need to study further
Students will UNDERSTAND (principles, generalizations, and big ideas)
Specific principles which are the focus for a particular lesson
Better how a previous lesson contributes to a current lesson
Students will BE ABLE TO (essential skills, observable and measurable outcomes)
Communicate with their instructor what they do still not understand without fear of a bad
grade.
Be appropriately challenged for the next lesson
Claim agency in their learning by asking specific questions

Differentiation Strategy:
Too often, educational tests, grades, and report cards are treated by teachers as autopsies when they
should be viewed as physicals. Doug Reeves
As a differentiation strategy, assessment contains three forms: Self-Assessment, Formative Assessment,
and Summative Assessment. Most often, students experience summative assessment which determines
their individual grades. Self-assessment could be for a grade or strictly diagnostic but is done by the
student as an evaluation of their own work. Formative assessment is formal or informal diagnostic
evaluation conducted while a lesson or unit is in progress to guide instructors on future learning
activities. Summative assessments are given at the end of a lesson or unit to document student mastery.
In a differentiated classroom, exit cards can be used to ask a variety of assessment questions. An
instructor may use the same exit card for all students or use tiered exit cards after an informal
assessment has taken place to determine each students tier. These cards could ask self-assessment or
formative assessment questions depending on the instructors purpose. Exit cards can be modified to
accommodate differences in student readiness and learning profile. Typically, exit cards are used to
assess individual students in order to give individual feedback. If an instructor chooses, exit cards could
be used to assess paired students, but the questions would be specific to that situation.

When to Use This Strategy

(e.g., introducing a topic, group work, individual work, culminating learning activity)

A part of every facet of teaching, assessment informs instructors about the progress of student learning.
When introducing a topic or unit, instructors might use assessment results from a previous or related
unit. When considering group or project work, students can use self-assessment and instructors can use
formative assessment techniques to determine progress and quality before an assignment is submitted.
Once a unit or project is complete, summative assessment techniques can help an instructor determine
the final quality and amount of student learning.
Exit cards are typically used at the end of a days lesson to give students an opportunity to communicate
their learning to the instructor. These exit cards could have content-specific questions or open-ended
questions depending on the lesson and instructors preferences. Exit cards are a form of formative
assessment, so these are not pop quizzes and will not affect the students grade. Exit cards should not
take more than two or three minutes at the end of a class session to complete.

Problems/Challenges with This Strategy

Choose at least one, and describe how you might overcome the possible challenges.

One particular challenge comes with changing assessment styles: getting the students on board. For
college students who are accustomed to summative assessment through most of their pre-collegiate
learning, it is necessary to help students develop understanding that negative feedback doesnt
necessarily mean a less-than-stellar grade. Explaining to students that exit cards are evaluated, but do
not necessarily earn points toward a final grade can be a challenge. As I have never tried this style of
assessment in the classroom, I can only suspect that student understanding comes over time.
Another challenge with assessment that I discovered during this class relates to giving a zero grade for
work not submitted. Previously, I had always been of the opinion that if a student doesnt do work, they
dont get points. However, for a grading scale that ranges from 0 to 100 but grades that follow the
typical 90-80-70-60 format, a 0 can be severely detrimental to a students grade. As a math person, I
understand how susceptible the mean is to an outlier, but Ive never applied that thinking to grades. I
will likely not implement this for all assignments in my classes, but I am considering adjusting an
occasional summative assessment from grading on a 100-point scale to a 4-point scale to reduce the
effect of an outlier zero.

Strategy Evaluation
What are you trying to accomplish? How will you know the strategy is working?

All forms of assessment are meant to communicate the amount and quality of student learning to the
teacher and perhaps to the student as well. As a differentiated instruction strategy, I would know that
the exit cards are effective when I am able to adapt instruction to meet student needs and they succeed.
While many students have succeeded in a typical, summative assessment style classroom, I suspect that
more would succeed if they had fewer high-stakes, point-driven assessments and more constructive,
formative feedback as they are learning.
In adopting new forms of assessment in my classroom, I will also be developing new tools that can be
shared with my colleagues so they can improve instruction in their own classrooms. Post-secondary
educators have significantly more freedom in their classrooms than K-12 instructors, so there should be
no problem adapting new assessment formats. Further, if other instructors come back to me and tell me
that they have begun using the exit cards and are seeing success, I will also know that I have been
successful.

Additional Instructor Resources

JCCC Classroom Assessment Techniques Cards, originally created by Jennifer Kennett, modified
by Lori Voss-Schoonover

Additional Student Resources

Explanatory guide for formative assessment

JCCC Math Formative Assessment Exit Slips

1. What was one concept/topic you understood well today?

2. What was one concept/topic that was still not clear?

JCCC Math Formative Assessment Exit Slips

Write down at least one real-world application of the content you learned in class today.

JCCC Math Formative Assessment Exit Slips

Positive: Share something that you liked about todays class.

Negative: Share something that you would like to change about todays class.

JCCC Math Formative Assessment Exit Slips

1. What do you think is the most important idea we have learned so far in this unit?

2. What do you have questions about?