Pre Assessment for Student Needs
Pre-Assessment
The first step in implementing solid reading instruction is to determine a baseline for the students in the classroom. It is important to keep in mind that students enter the classroom with diverse backgrounds and literacy skills; some students may enter the classroom with special needs that require basic skills review, while other students may have to have their literacy instruction designed at a higher level than what the teacher initially intended to teach. Pre-assessments provide teachers with the necessary information to develop appropriate lessons and improve instruction for all students.
Select a grade level K-3 (1st Grade, Louisiana) and identify a state standard in two of the following areas: phonological awareness, alphabetical code, print concepts, and/or oral language. (You may use the grade of the field experience class.) Create a developmentally appropriate pre-assessment aligned to each standard.
In 250-500 words, reflect on how pre-assessments might help you to meet individual student needs and allow for differentiation in the classroom. How do pre-assessments help support, verify, and document student learning? Provide examples.
Pre Assessment for Student Needs Example
Selected Standards for 1st Grade, Louisiana State
Phonological awareness: Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes)
Print concepts: Demonstrate understanding on the organization and basic features of print.
Reflection
Pre-assessments constitute a means of gathering information about the interests, readiness, and the learning profiles of students before engaging in actual instruction (Hockett & Doubet, 2013). The evidence gained from pre-assessments should be used in the classroom to address individual learner needs and differentiate instruction. Pre-assessments are usually designed to reveal the significant variations among learners, which helps to determine how the teacher will deliver skills, knowledge, and concepts (Hockett & Doubet, 2013). Knowledge gathered in pre-assessments is essential in determining the learners who need more support in certain areas as well as those who need a higher level of instruction (Guskey, 2018). With pre-assessments, the teacher gets to know what specific learners require to gain competence in the area of instruction and applies it during the time of instruction.Effective pre-assessments help teachers to offer the necessary support for learning as well as to confirm and document is learning is taking place. They tap on the learners’ minds to draw what they might know, not know, or be misunderstanding (Hockett & Doubet, 2013). This informs the teacher on the support needed. Data gathered during the pre-assessment stage is vital for the verification and documentation of student learning. Since pre-assessments are done before instruction, they help in gaining information about what learners know. These records could be compared with the data gathered after instruction to verify whether learning has already occurred (Haley-Speca, 2013). Repeated pre-assessments are essential for documenting the milestones acquired in learning. For instance, a teacher might conduct a pre-assessment for phonological awareness instruction. The pre-assessment is likely to show varying levels of understanding in sound ordering among learners. While learners might recognize the sounds that can be combined in a certain language, others might not. During instruction, the teacher will offer the required support to ensure that the learners who do not recognize sound ordering techniques learn how sounds combine. The data gathered in pre-assessment will later be used for comparison after the instruction to determine whether learning has occurred.
References
Guskey, T. R. (2018). Does Pre-Assessment Work? Educational Leadership, 75(5), 52-57.
Haley-Speca, M. A. (2013). Using Data and Formative Assessment to Drive Instruction. Acton: Research for Better Teaching, Inc.
Hockett, J. A., & Doubet, K. J. (2013). Turning on the Lights: What Pre-Assessments Can Do. Educational Leadership, 71(4), 1-4.