"How is my assessment driving my instruction?"

"How can I ensure that all of my students are learning?"

"What is success going to look like during this lesson?"

1. What do I want my student to know, learn and do by the end of the lesson?

2. What strategies will help them succeed in the areas they are struggling in?

3. How will I know they have learned it?

2. How will I measure whether students have met the learning goal?

3. How will I structure the lesson for active engagement and deep thinking?

4. How will I include scaffolds, extensions, and accommodations for diverse learners?

5. What will make this learning meaningful, challenging, and engaging for my students?

For example:

When planning for a lesson teachers need to include higher order questions that engage students.

Included in the delivery of the lesson is student engagement and interaction as a result of higher order questions.

3b on Tess defines the professional expectation on using questions in the classroom.

What types of assessment will I use during instruction?

Which research based strategies will best support the learning goal?

What are the different learning needs in my classroom?

What do I need to reteach or extend based on data/observations?

2) Is my goal grade level?

3) What supports and previous knowledge refresher might a student need to reach grade level?

4)What materials and activities will I use to reach the goal?

5) How will I know when each student has been successful?

6) How might I extend a student who is ready for more?

7) What will I do next?

"How can I ensure that my instruction is meeting the needs of every student at their level so they are learning?"

"How does my criteria for assessment meet the end goal of my instruction."

"Does my instruction lead to the higher level of learning assessed?"

How can I make sure my lesson will resonate with and impact all learners at different levels?

What activities and questions can I use that will aid in the understanding and comprehension with all of my students?

How will I assess my students in order to see if the learning objective was reached?

How can I move students to a higher level of learning when the main objective has been met?

What exposure have my students had before this activity?

How can I modify this for struggling learners? For advanced learners?

The TESS framework measures how effectively it’s delivered.

Together, they guide teachers to plan with purpose, engage students in meaningful learning, and continuously assess and reflect to enhance student achievement.

What are common misconceptions about what students will be learning?

What things do my students enjoy or enjoy doing?

What resources can I use within the lesson to both engage students and deepen their understanding?

How will I know students have demonstrated mastery of the standard?

How will I support those who have not shown mastery and push those who have?

-What do I need them to know (standards)?

-What materials and resources do I have available?

-How am I assessing (not just today or tomorrow, but all the way through)?

-How will the students be engaged?

-What possible knowledge gaps or questions will there be? What are potential roadblocks?

"What scaffolding is necessary to help ensure student growth for all students?"

"What learning strategies or graphic organizers can I use to aid my students in the learning process?"

"What assessment can I use to gage student learning to meet the expectations of the standard successfully?"

What do they already know?

How will I present this new knowledge in such a way that they will be able to grasp the material?

How will I know that they have learned it?

What other resources can I provide for students to increase their understanding?

"Is my instructional material aligned with this specific standard or ALD?"

"Is there a clear criteria for assessment?"

"Are my outcomes clear where students could articulate?"

"Have I differentiated instruction to ensure mastery for all?"

"Are there classroom procedures in place to minimize loss of instructional time? "

What evidence of learning you will ask the students to produce?

What key vocab terms that will need to be taught?

Consider new knowledge for the students. What is the content or skill and what strategies will be most effective in teaching it?

How will I chunk the information and allow time for the students to process it? 

How will the students record the new knowledge? 

What are the opportunities for intentional questioning and discussion among the students? 

How will I give students the opportunity to practice with the new knowledge or skill? 

What supports do I need to put in place to support all learners?

What am I hoping the students will learn from this lesson, or what is the learning goal?

How can I measure that the students are fully understanding of the lesson?

What assessment will I use and how will I know if it is successful?

2. Do I know my students well enough to differentiate instruction, materials, and grouping for their needs, especially cultural backgrounds and interests?

3. Are my lessons structured so that all students can participate meaningfully? Am I offering extensions as needed in addition to inclusive practices for ALL learners?

2. What will students know, understand, and be able to do by the end of the lesson?

3. How will I differentiate the learning?

What should students know or be able to do by the end?

Does this match the standards?

2. Student Needs

What do my students already know?

How can I help all students succeed?

3. Teaching Strategies

How will I teach this so students understand and stay engaged?

What materials or resources will I use?

4. Assessment

How will I check if students are learning?

How will I give feedback to help them improve?

5. Classroom Environment

How should I set up the classroom for learning and focus?

What routines or rules will support students?

6. Flexibility

What might not go as planned, and how will I adjust?

How will I reflect and improve next time?

• What do I want my students to learn/get out of this lesson?

• How will I get them engaged and keep them engaged/what activities will I use to teach the lesson?

• How will I assess the students understanding of the lesson?

• Is this lesson aligned to the standards?

• What accommodations or modifications need to be made?

• What misconceptions may students have during the lesson?

My take away is that the TESS descriptors are the "sounds like, looks like" of what good planning and delivering looks like in the classroom. Teachers are able to use the TESS descriptors like a blue-print to help guide their planning process, delivery of instruction, and how to reflect on my teaching and move forward.

What do my students know?

What do my students not know?

What do my students need to know?

How can I break down the learning into easy steps/chuncks (task anaylsis)?

How am I going to assess my students based on their strengths- receptively, expressively, visually, etc?

What does my next step look like?

What is my EOY goal?

1) What do we want them to know?

2) How will we know they have learned it?

3) What will we do if they have learned it (extend the learning) or (Provide intervention and support to address the gaps in learning)

Many teachers use this as a starting point and are led to more questions:

How do I need to modify the lessons to change as new students come to me with different experiences, learning backgrounds, etc.?

How do I find the necessary time to reflect and improve on my instruction based on student progress or feedback?

I feel strongly that this process should be a continual cycle of reflection, conversation, collaboration and revision with other teachers and with our students.

You plan and prep for lessons after making the assessment so that you are teaching what the students are to be tested on. Using scaffolding and differentiated instruction to meet the needs of all students. Students must be engaged in the lesson so there needs to be a variety of interesting activities for the students to learn from.

There needs to be a positive classroom environment where the students feel as if they are a part of a safe and supportive class.

Teachers need to establish clear goals and hold high expectations for each student. Giving praise, a sticker (or a Jolly Rancher ), or showing a student's work as a model goes a long way to motivate those students who need that little extra touch.

I see a lot of connections between high-impact instruction and the Arkansas TESS Rubric. Setting clear goals helps my students know what to learn. I try to make lessons fun and engaging so everyone participates. I check for understanding often to see who needs extra help. Using different strategies for different learners matches what TESS expects. High-impact instruction helps me make learning meaningful and reachable for every child.

• What do I want my students to learn today?

• How can I make the lesson fun and keep them engaged?

• Do I have activities that help every student succeed?

• How will I check if they understand while we’re learning?

• What can I do if someone is struggling?

• What can I do if some students need to be challenged?

- How does this learning connect to prior knowledge or extend to the upcoming learning?

- What is the most effective way(s) to assess student progression and mastery of the learning?

- How do I connect the learning to the students interest and current understanding?

- What are the prerequisite skills that are necessary to actively engage in the learning? And how do I address learning deficiencies or gaps to prevent student engagement.

- What extends to the learning is appropriate?

- What supports, resources, tools and other accommodations are needed to support ALL learners?

What strategies and resources will best support all learners in reaching the goal?

How will I actively engage students and adjust instruction based on their responses and needs?

What will I do when students have mastered the learning?

What will I do when students have not mastered the learning?

What is the criteria for mastery of the skill?

How will I communicate the criteria for mastery with students?

Where will students need supports and scaffolds?

How will students show evidence of their thinking?

How will the assessment be used to guide instructional next steps?

How will I introduce the topic to engage students? What'll be my hook...

What instructional strategies will I use?

How much time should be allocated for each activity?

Connections to TESS - 1D, 1E

If one wishes to have 'high quality instruction' he/she should hover in columns 3,4

What instructional strategies will I use to convey the teaching?

What type of assessment is best to gauge a student's understanding?

What do I do if they don't get it?

What do I do to further expand the learning if they do get it?

How can I make the lesson more engaging and meaningful?

How will I monitor progress/mastery and adjust instruction based on student understanding?

What strategies can I use to support all learners?

1. What should students to able to do?

2. Will they be able to transfer this skill to the next skill and real-life situations?

3. Are the questions thought-provoking and engage students in higher DOK levels?

4. How can I use these questions as a form of assessment?

What previous knowledge do students need to know to accomplish this objective?

What are they going to learn?

How will assess what they know and what they will learn?

What differentiation will I have to put into place to ensure all learners are at optimal learning capacity?

How can I expand the learning and relate it to an everyday example?

What is the criteria for mastery and how will i communicate that to my students?

What would small group look like if it were needed?

What teaching strategy makes the most sense for this lesson?

What will my students struggle with, and how can I support them in the moment?

How will I check for understanding?

How will I know if the lesson worked?

What will I do for students who didn't get it?