# data[].attributes.headline
Quotes on the Importance of Differentiation and Edtpa Connection

# data[].attributes.subject
Quotes on the Importance of Differentiation and Edtpa Connection

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Quotes on the Importance of Differentiation and Edtpa Connection

# data[].attributes.headline
Differentiated Assessment from the Student's Point of View

# data[].attributes.subject
Differentiated Assessment from the Student's Point of View

# data[].attributes.headline
Differentiated Assessment from A Teacher's Point of View 

# data[].attributes.subject
Differentiated Assessment from A Teacher's Point of View 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A test is one of the most classic ways to evaluate a student. And even with this traditional method, you can do varied evaluations.

For this blog post, Saskia Vandeputte from " Schoolmakers " gave me some great tips. She's a specialist when it comes to differentiated learning.

Differentiated evaluation means that you perform a student-oriented evaluation on those aspects that are relevant. There are many differentiated testing variations.

But before we jump into this, there are a few important things Saskia would want you to know.

5 must-knows about differentiating

1. What is "evaluation"?

Evaluating isn't the same as giving grades. It's more than just assessing: evaluation can also be used to guide a student on the right path. A good evaluation practice makes students learn and decide on their performance in relation to certain goals, so they make better and more informed choices.

There are two types of evaluations. Formative evaluations and summative evaluations. Find out the difference between both evaluation methods here. The significance of formative assessment is increasing within classrooms. Check out this blog post to learn more about formative assessment.

2. What does "differentiation" mean?

In this case, differentiated teaching is responding to the diversity among students. Diversity is very broad: it concerns all those differences and similarities between students that influence learning and teaching. Those who differentiate, accept diversity among pupils as a starting point.

3. Don't pamper

Teachers want their students to have high dedication, perform at their best, and be challenged. At the same time, teachers argue for support to meet the standard, for variation in evaluation methods, and for comparing performances with previous performances. It's very hard to meet all the expectations. Teachers aim to put 'the bar high' in, combination with fair opportunities to show what students can do. This means that differentiated learning doesn't mean you have to pamper students.

4. Goals, goals, goals

The internet is full of beautiful evaluation forms. But without targeting your evaluation, these are empty boxes. What exactly is it that your students have to (want to) achieve? First, set a goal. Then, choose an evaluation technique targeting that goal.

5. Feedback, feedback, feedback

In the examples below, you usually have to read between the lines: people only come to learning thanks to specific information about their own learning process. Meanwhile, books have been written about the power of feedback.

Keep these 5 tips in the back of your head when you want to differentiate your evaluations. Then, I can show you 11 examples of differentiated evaluations, according to Saskia.

11 examples of differentiated evaluation

1. Outdoor examinations

Give students the possibility to take the exam outside. Maybe the green environment gives students some inspiration. One thing is sure: the oxygen level outside is much higher than inside a dusty classroom.

2. Cheat sheet

A cheat sheet teaches students to learn in a certain way as well. When students aren't motivated to learn, a cheat sheet can help. When students are making a sheet cheat, they are actually engaging with the content. This way, studets will remember much better (and don't even need a cheat sheet).

3. 5-minute talk

In this tip, students get the chance to talk with each other for 5 minutes about the test they just got. That way, students are developing strategies to order the knowledge that was evoked by this brief conversation. Students learn to handle knowledge in a more functional way. Make sure to not just ask reproductive questions, because these make evaluations less effective.

4. Various choice options

Create a test with a common part and an optional part A or part B. Use bonus questions or two different choice questions that test the same learning objective. These are both ways to give students a "choice".

5. Not for everyone

Not every pupil must take the test. You're probably wondering how that would work? The concept is simple: students look at each other's test and provide feedback. It all starts when students come to the classroom for a test they've all learned for. At that moment, you choose about five or six students who do not have to make the test, but form the assessment committee. While the others go to work, the commission makes a check model. In other words: they have to come to an agreement with each other about the right answers, decide whether or not to count something good, and whether alternative answers are possible. In this way they prepare for the real check-up and at meta-level they think about the lesson material.

With every incorrect answer there is an explanation of the committee, and the students get the chance to check with the book if they agree with the judgement. Subsequently, they can discuss matters with the assessment committee in a classical manner, in which the teacher, as moderator, keeps as much as possible in the background. During the year, everyone eventually takes part in the assessment committee.

6. Collaboration on tests

A test that encourages collaboration? It's possible! The two-stage test is an easy way to integrate collaborative learning into an individual written test. In a two-stage test, the student first makes the test individually (part 1), and then makes the test in small groups of four students (part 2). During part 2, the classroom is filled with inspiring and effective discussions in which students actively participate. Through the involvement of students during the exam, the discussions ensure that students learn a lot from each other. Moreover, two-stage testing appears to have a positive effect on learning before, during and after the test.

7. Language support

Roughly you can say that a small minority of learning objectives really requires students to write. Within language courses, learning objectives of writing skills are included. Besides that, the importance of written evaluation is kind of relative. Measuring writing skills also quickly interferes with the measurement of students' actual learning objectives. Especially for multilingual students. So, make sure to provide language support (a bilingual dictionary, a glossary, a pre-structured answer). To keep an eye on the actual learning objective, you could also replace the written exam with an oral test.

8. Choose a test that counts

Lots of students get a large number of small test. Recognizable? Why not let them choose which 'small evaluations' count or not? Each student makes the test. But it's up to the students to choose when their test actually counts as a mark. Freedom of choice is motivating. Want to do this without your school becoming a pony camp? Make sure to set some ground rules and give your students guidelines that gives them certain criteria. They'll have to discuss, considering every criteria, which test count and which doesn't.

9. Students choose test questions

This one in probably more common than the rest of the examples. Ask students to think up test questions themselves. It is one of the ways in which bright pupils do not simply have to do 'more of the same'. It also keeps students busy with the learning material.

10. Take-home exam

Want to give students the time to find solutions (together) for a (very) difficult problem? With a take home exam, you stimulate students to integrate different subject matter components and process them in a demand-oriented way into a coherent whole.

In order to bring a take-home exam to a successful conclusion, a student must be able to do more than merely reproduce the information. The complexity of the assignment and the expected answer is relatively high in a take-home exam. The student almost always has to look for additional information at home. In any case, he must appeal to his insight into the course, his critical attitude, his ability to analyze and synthesise to solve the assignment.

11. A flexible testing policy

Here, students will be responsible for organizing their tasks during the semester. In this testing policy, students must become competent and self-reliant.

Students have:

to be able to direct studies: make a study choice.

to be able to organize studies themselves: to develop plans and independent study activities.

study skills: to reproduce, to acquire, to control, to relate, to repeat, ...

test skills.

to be aware of their own learning style with the strong and weak aspects.

So that's it for this post. I hope you can use some of these differentiated evaluation formats in your own classes!

P.S. Want to read this article in Dutch? Saskia wrote about it right here.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Creative testing - 11 examples of differentiated assessment

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A test is one of the most classic ways to evaluate a student. And even with this traditional method, you can do varied evaluations. For this blog post, Saskia Vandeputte from " Schoolmakers " gave me some great tips. She's a specialist when it comes to differentiated learning.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Assessment represents a gray area for all teachers, especially differentiated assessment, so that this post will provide practical examples. We constantly fear that we haven't fulfilled the learning objectives, and we ponder what we could have done differently. However, if we take a step back and think about it, we will conclude that we must individualize the assessment and create a differentiated classroom.

Many research proved that by differentiating our classroom, students learn more and achieve greater learner autonomy. However, we need to learn the rules by heart to apply a differentiated assessment and "break the rules". That means that we have to know how to develop our curriculum by ourselves, and we need to use many different instructional designs.

We can differentiate our classroom in these areas:

Content;

Formative assessment tools;

Performance tasks;

Instructional designs.

When differentiating the assessment, I follow these steps:

1. I start with the diagnostic assessment, and then I explore the student's aptitudes by applying the Multiple Intelligence Theory.

2. I develop personalized and task-oriented assessment.

3. And last, but not least, most of the assessment I conduct is formative.

The examples in this article come from my online classroom. T he ideas for differentiating assessment can be modified and used in any online or offline classroom. They are conducted in large groups, as well as individual lessons.

Here are my differentiated assessment examples!

Ages 8 and 10 - a girl and a boy from Poland

A. and B. are brother and sister, and they both had issues with communicating in the beginning. They performed well on the grammar diagnostic tests, so I began exploring other reasons for their poor communication skills. The problem was that they were not motivated when we followed my curriculum. I suggested that they make a list of topics they like, and based on that, I created TBI units, which the children loved.

Types of assessment included recording a video game tutorial and narrating using present simple and present continuous. A. created a collection of photos of her best friends, and we revised a lot of vocabulary and functional phrases by describing her best friends and their relationship. Additional assessments included creating a comic book and a rap song since the boy loves rap music.

Ph.D. student, an adolescent from Turkey

B. is a Ph.D. student, and her greatest problem is stuttering when she speaks, even in her native language.
Her stutter cannot be detected easily, and it sounds like she is using many crutch words. Unfortunately, she didn't share this information with me, and she was trying to improve her speaking by herself.
When I realized this, I changed the methods of assessment. We are now using Edmodo (an online platform for students and teachers). All my students are part of an asynchronous learning group, where they collaboratively discuss and compare the topics we cover in lessons by text, audio, and video.
B. is an engraving artist, and she started writing blog posts about the events she attends. She also shared things from her personal life and talked about the engraving process. This was the best way for her to be assessed since she had the time to meaningfully prepare the posts and vlogs while also recycling the language structures we learned.

700 students in an IELTS preparation course

Besides giving individual online English lessons, I collaborate with an IELTS preparation center from Nigeria as a lecturer and IELTS course facilitator. We currently have 700 students, and surprisingly, assessing their knowledge does not represent an issue. I developed an online interactive course, which allows the students to get an automatic grade for listening and reading tests. Before starting, they all completed a diagnostic level test to determine their learning gaps.
We have weekly lectures and collaborative activities consisting of discussion, oral and written presentations, summaries, reflections, and surveys. The students do oral and written summaries regularly, and other students are peer-teachers - they help me correct their mistakes. We are using Google Docs for the writing practice, and students can see and correct all the essays collaboratively. In every lesson, they share their reflections about their progress and practice speaking at the same time. They also submit audio recordings of their speaking section, and we analyze them together and comment. I can see the individual assessment and progress on the platform, including the hours they logged while practicing.

To conclude

The differentiated assessment comes naturally in my classroom, simply because I do not traditionally have to grade students using summative assessment. This is why I truly hoped you like these examples. I am not very keen on standardized tests, and my professional opinion is that they are obsolete - they do not prepare the students for 21st-century life. They do not develop the necessary 21st-century skills in students. To properly assess our students, we must remember just one thing - one size truly does not fit all.

This article was originally published on British Council Teaching English.

How have you differentiated your assessment in the past, and do you have some examples to share? Share difficulties or successful assessment activities you implemented! Let me know in the comments or via the contact page what do you think of this topic.

Click here to explore my store where 99% of materials are forever free!

All the materials except lesson plans and 30+ page interactive activity books will be free FOREVER! Why? Because sharing is caring, and 2020 hasn't been kind to all of us. Please consider donating so I can keep making FREE materials for everyone and keep my website open for all of you.

Don't forget to leave a review when you download materials! It's just a minute of your time, and it means a lot to me.
P.S. The store and the freebie library are not the same thing - the freebie library has some extra materials like conference presentations and webinar recordings which are not available in the store ✨

The subscription link for the store is below my bio in every post. ?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Successful differentiated assessment activities - classroom examples

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Assessment represents a gray area for all teachers, especially differentiated assessment, so that this post will provide practical examples. We constantly fear that we haven't fulfilled the learning objectives, and we ponder what we could have done differently.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A great way to begin a discussion on differentiated assessments is to answer, "What does the word assessment mean to you?" This question holds a lot of meaning for a lot of different people. For some teachers, assessment means giving students quizzes and tests. For others, it means much more. In order to determine how to differentiate assessments for all students, it's important to understand that an assessment should not just happen at the end of the unit. Good assessments include pre-assessments, formative assessments, and summative assessments and these assessments all inform instruction.

Begin With the End in Mind

According to Wormeli (2006), author of Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessing and Grading for the Differentiated Classroom, the teacher should begin with the end in mind. Namely, summative assessments and what we deem essential standards for student learning should drive instruction. Before even creating the first unit lesson, the culminating project or test should be created so that teachers can adequately prepare students for the assessments (Wormeli). Once we get that summative assessment created, students should receive pre-assessments and multiple formative assessments in order to adequately prepare lessons that meet the individual needs of the students.

It's NOT a "Gotcha" Game

The most important thing to remember about assessments, in my mind, is that they should not be a "gotcha" game. I know many teachers who give pop quizzes and throw things on summative assessments that students "should" know if they paid attention in class. They pride themselves on "catching" the students who don't pay attention, but this is basically punishing students with a major grade, and it's not fair to anyone. It certainly doesn't help drive differentiated instruction that enables all students to learn. So, what are the assessments essential to driving differentiated instruction?

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent="yes" overflow="visible"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" background_position="left top" background_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" spacing="yes" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" padding="" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" class="" id="" animation_type="" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="no" center_content="no" min_height="none"] Assessments should not be a "gotcha" game. Click To Tweet

Types of Assessments

Pre-assessments. In order to design a lesson that truly helps students learn from where they are, pre-assessments are important indicators of student readiness for a topic. Ensuring that these assessments contain the essential standards the student must know and learn for the unit is vital. After lessons are designed around these assessments, frequent assessing is important. That leads to the next type of assessment.

Formative assessments. Wormeli (2006) calls these "en route checkpoints" for students, and they must be done frequently. Formative assessments help teachers see where students are with regards to the essential standards and where to go from there.

Summative assessments. At the end of the unit of learning, students take a summative assessment that match the objectives and essential standards the students must know in order to demonstrate mastery.

Differentiated Assessment Methods

With any one of these assessments, teachers have the opportunity to get creative with how students demonstrate mastery. Instead of just giving students multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, or essay tests, the way in which students are assessed can be differentiated so that any disability the student might have can be bypassed and learning can be gauged appropriately. Here are some different ways in which teachers can help students demonstrate learning.

Cubing: Here, students can be provided with a three-dimensional cube made out of foam or cardboard with a variety of questions scaling up Bloom's taxonomy (Wormeli, 2006). One side might contain a question that demonstrates knowledge, where students can remember and recite the content they remember. One side demonstrates comprehension, where students show how they understand the concept. Yet another side might have students use application by using what they know in a different situation. The fourth side would contain an analysis question, where students break down and then analyze the concept as a whole. The fifth side would allow students to synthesize information by connecting contradictory topics and forming new concepts. The last side would allow students to evaluate by taking a specific criteria and judging the validity or success of the criteria for a concept. Students can roll the cube and answer three questions from the cube successfully in order to demonstrate mastery.

RAFT(S). With this assessment, students can choose the role, audience, format, topic/time, and, if deemed necessary, "strong verbs" that students must include. Since students can choose one piece from each part of the RAFT(S) rubric, the assessment is differentiated based on student interest and ability. Here is an example:

Using $2.00 summaries. Put the value at ten cents per word and have students provide a $2.00 summary of the topics covered in class that day. You can increase or decrease the price depending on how much you want the students to write.
Differentiated Assessments in the Inclusion Classroom and Beyond Click To Tweet
What's Most Important When Developing Assessments?

As Wormeli (2006) asserts, assessments are most productive and appropriate when students are provided with materials that are not only developmentally appropriate, but cover the essential standards. The types of questions and how they are worded can vary depending on the student, but the challenge with differentiation is ensuring that students also demonstrate competency with the essential standards. There is nothing wrong with occasional multiple-choice tests just as long as students are taught the skills to answer the questions. Always keep in mind what deficits might get in the way of students completing a summative assessment and help them work around it so that you are testing the ability of the student with your content area, not with their disability. And if you haven't read Wormeli's book, it's an excellent source of information on how to differentiate assessments with finesse. I did receive a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, but I honestly could not put the book down when I began reading it. Just remember when you're assessing your students that "Fair Isn't Always Equal" and that sometimes means that some students demonstrate learning in different ways than others.
Reference:
Wormeli, R. (2006). Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessing and Grading in the Differentiated Classroom. Stenhouse Publishers: Portland, ME.

[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Differentiated Assessments in the Inclusion Classroom and Beyond

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A great way to begin a discussion on differentiated assessments is to answer, "What does the word assessment mean to you?" Fair isn't always equal...