Designing Lesson Plans: Common Core State Standards

This assignment assesses your ability to develop accommodations or modifications for lesson plans in alignment with selected CCSS. This assessment also supports your achievement of Course Learning Outcome 1, and MASE Program Learning Outcomes 3 and 5.

All educators regularly collect information pertaining to student performance during lessons or instructional activities as a method of monitoring student progress. This type of assessment, while informal, provides excellent information related to the content standards such as the Common Core and the pacing of the lessons.

Instructions: Using support from your assigned reading, the Instructor Guidance, and the discussions, submit the following for evaluation. Use the below guidelines for creating your written assignment. If you have questions about the assignment or the rubric, please contact your Instructor using the “Ask Your Instructor” discussion before the due date.

Content Expectations:

· Lesson Plan (4 points): Using one of the Example Lesson Plans in the Week One Required Resources list as a starting point, revise the lesson plan, using the lesson plan template, to include accommodations and/or modifications that align to two or more CCSS.

· Justification (4 points): Write a one page justification of your revisions, fully addressing the reasons why the accommodations and/or modifications you designed are effective for students with mild to moderate disabilities.

Written Expectations:

· Syntax and Mechanics (1 point): Exhibit meticulous use of grammar, spelling, and organization throughout your submission.

· Organization (.5 points): Use the lesson plan template provided.

· Source Requirement (1 point): Reference at least three scholarly sources, which may include your course textbook, in order to provide credible evidence to support your ideas.

· The Scholarly, Peer Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources table  offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.

· Additional Page Requirement (.5 points): Your submission must include a separate title and reference page.

· APA format (1 point): All in-text citations, page formatting, and references must be written in APA 6th edition format.

Next Steps: Review and Submit the Assignment Review your assignment with the Grading Rubric to ensure you have achieved the distinguished levels of performance for each criterion. Next, submit your document no later than Day 7. In addition to submitting your assignment to Waypoint this week, you will also submit your document to the Doc Sharing tool for use in Week 4 Discussion: What Makes an Effective Lesson Plan? Peer Review and Structured Feedback. To access the Doc Sharing tool, select "Modules" in your left navigation menu. In the "Tools" module, you will find the Doc Sharing page.

Recommendation: The MASE program provides the opportunity for you to create an online portfolio that can be used in your career development and professional practice. Throughout the program you will have various assessments that can be included in this e-portfolio and these will be finalized in the Capstone course of the MASE program, ESE699. You may select this assignment and subsequent coursework to include as artifacts. Therefore, it is strongly encouraged you save your coursework on a flash-drive (e.g., a USB removable drive) or store in a cloud-based option such as Dropbox, Google Drive, or other similar applications.

Success Tip: Be mindful of the Week Six Final Assignment. The Week Six assignment involves creating a lesson plan portfolio and is a culminating assignment for this course. Preparation for this assignment must begin early to make certain you are planning ahead and saving your work. Review the full instructions for the Week Six assignment for specific information.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.) for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.

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Required Resources

Text

Cohen, L. & Spenciner, L. (2009)  Teaching students with mild and moderate disabilities: Research-based practices  (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Publication.

· Chapter 5: Linking Assessment and Instruction

Multimedia

ProfKelley. (2010). Screencasting – Creating a Narrated PowerPoint with Jing (Links to an external site.) [Video File]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npMuCWOvmVE

· The link to this website provides a how-to video for adding a narration to a PowerPoint presentation.

· Accessibility Statement (not available)

· Privacy Policy (Links to an external site.)

Websites

Classroom-Assessment Techniques: A Video Collection – Education Week Teacher (Links to an external site.). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2014/03/05/ndia_cm_videos.html

· The website is required in Discussion 2 and provides a video option for student analysis.

· Accessibility Statement (not available)

· Privacy Policy (not available)

Common Core State Standards Initiative (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/

· This is the main homepage of the CCSS website. State related information is available. The information in this website is required in Assignment 1.

· Accessibility Statement (not available)

· Privacy Policy (not available)

How To’s: The Present.me blog (Links to an external site.). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://blog.present.me/how-tos/

· This blog offers detailed information and instructions in order to successfully maneuver the Present.me application.

· Accessibility Statement (not available)

· Privacy Policy (not available)

Supplemental Materials

Lesson Plan – Elementary

Lesson Plan – Secondary

Recommended Resources

Article

Holbrook, M. D. (2007, August). Standards-based individualized education program examples (Links to an external site.) [PDF file]. Retrieved from http://nasdse.org/DesktopModules/DNNspot-Store/ProductFiles/36_a7f577f4-20c9-40bf-be79-54fb510f754f.pdf

· Chapter 1: What is Challenging Behavior?

· Chapter 2: Risk Factors

Jersey City Public Schools Department of Special Education. (n.d.). Accommodations/modifications/interventions (Links to an external site.) [PDF file]. Retrieved from http://www.jcboe.org/boe2015/images/pdf/depts/speced/13-14/links13-14/accommodationsmodificationsinterventions.pdf

· The document provides clear definitions and examples of accommodations, modifications, and how these can be applied in the teaching and learning process.

Website

UDL & the Common Core State Standards | National Center on Universal Design for Learning (Links to an external site.). (2014, August 15). Retrieved from http://www.udlcenter.org/implementation/udl_ccss

· Material located at this website provides information on CCSS and Universal Design for Learning methodology for lesson design.

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Teaching Students with Mild and Moderate Disabilities:

Research-Based Practices

SECOND EDITION

Libby G. Cohen

National Institute of Education, Singapore

Loraine J. Spenciner

University of Maine, Farmington

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cohen, Libby G.     Teaching students with mild and moderate disabilities : research-based practices / Libby G. Cohen, Loraine J. Spenciner.– 2nd ed.       p. cm.     Includes bibliographical references and indexes.     ISBN-13: 978-0-13-233138-8     ISBN-10: 0-13-233138-1   1. Children with disabilities–Education–United States. I. Spenciner, Loraine J. II. Title. LC4031.C64 2009     371.92’6–dc22                                                   2008008700

Vice President and Executive Publisher: Jeffery W. Johnston Executive Editor: Ann Castel Davis Development Editor: Heather Doyle Fraser Editorial Assistant: Penny Burleson Senior Managing Editor: Pamela D. Bennett Production Editor: Sheryl Glicker Langner Production Coordination: Jodi Dowling/Aptara Design Coordinator: Diane C. Lorenzo Cover Designer: Diane Y. Ernsberger Photo Coordinator: Valerie Schultz Production Manager: Laura Messerly Director of Marketing: Quinn Perkson Marketing Manager: Erica DeLuca Marketing Coordinator: Brian Mounts

This book was set in Galliard BT by Aptara. It was printed and bound by Edwards Brothers, Inc. The cover was printed by Phoenix Color Corp.

Part and Chapter Opening Photo Credits: Jack Hollingsworth/Getty Images, p. 1; Kathy Kirtland/Merrill, p. 2; Anthony Magnacca/Merrill, pp. 34, 156, 280; Scott Cunningham/Merrill, pp. 66, 94, 123, 198, 436; Silver Burdett Ginn, p. 124; Katelyn Metzger/Merrill, p. 228; SW Productions/Getty Images–Photodisc, p. 248; David Mager/Pearson Learning Photo Studio, p. 316; Getty Images–Stockbyte, p. 347; Krista Greco/Merrill, p. 348; Laima Druskis/PH College, pp. 386, 466; Mike Provost/Silver Burdett Ginn, p. 414; Ken Karp/PH College, p. 465.

 

Copyright © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458.

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is protected by Copyright and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For information regarding permission(s), write to: Rights and Permissions Department.

Pearson® is a registered trademark of Pearson plc Merrill® is a registered trademark of Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Education Ltd., London Pearson Education Singapore, Pte. Ltd. Pearson Education Canada, Inc. Pearson Education—Japan Pearson Education Australia PTY. Limited Pearson Education North Asia Ltd., Hong Kong Pearson Educación de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. Pearson Education Malaysia, Pte. Ltd. Pearson Education Upper Saddle River, New Jersey

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN 13: 978-1-323-50396-6 ISBN 10: 1-323-50396-X

Chapter 5 Linking Assessment and Instruction

OBJECTIVES

After completing this chapter, you should be able to

 Discuss contemporary views regarding assessment practices and instruction.

 Compare and contrast contemporary assessment approaches for planning and monitoring instruction.

 Discuss approaches to evaluating instruction, including state and federal mandates that influence practices.

 Describe professional standards and ethics in assessing students with disabilities.

Good teaching always begins with an understanding of what the student already knows and can do. Before special educators start to plan specific instruction, they identify questions and gather information about the student’s knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Educators continue to gather information, or perform assessment, during the lesson or instructional activities, in monitoring student work, and at the end of the instructional unit. When linking assessment with instruction, an educator uses student assessment information to make instructional decisions regarding introducing new material, providing additional practice with supplementary learning activities, or modifying lessons and using different instructional strategies. In other words, the assessment information guides teaching practices.

Finally, assessments that are closely aligned with the curriculum provide a special educator with valuable help in monitoring student progress. By examining this assessment information, the educator can identify areas of proficiency and areas where the student is making progress. Assessment information also indicates areas in which the student needs attention, signaling the teacher that adjustments should be made in instruction.

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5.1 Contemporary Views of Assessment and Instruction

Educators use an array of assessment approaches from student to student and from classroom to classroom. Perhaps as a student, you have experienced some of the many different ways teachers (and professors) monitor and assess achievement. Contemporary researchers have written about the importance—and connections—of good assessment to effective teaching. According to Shepard (as cited in Olson, 2002, p. 2), “We have strong evidence that high-quality classroom assessment improves learning tremendously, possibly more effectively than any other sort of teaching intervention.” In this chapter, we look at various assessment approaches and ways teachers construct high-quality assessments and, link assessments with instruction to help students with disabilities meet high academic standards, develop positive behaviors, and demonstrate competent social skills.

5.2 Assessment for Planning and Monitoring Instruction

Planning Where to Begin Instruction

Before planning instruction, teachers use various assessment approaches to identify what students know and can do. They gather information about academic achievement, attainment of social skills, and positive behaviors. Many of the traditional assessment practices, such as teacher-developed quizzes and standardized achievement tests, focus on content knowledge. These assessment approaches require students to recall or identify information. By contrast, contemporary assessments focus not only on knowledge but also on process skills, learning strategies, thinking skills, acquisition of social and personal behaviors, effective communication, and work habits. Students may be asked to compare, analyze, and evaluate information in these types of assessments.

Selecting Appropriate Assessment Approaches

Each of the assessment approaches discussed in this chapter has its own strengths and limitations. Some approaches are best used as an integral part of instruction. Curriculum-based assessments, criterion-referenced assessments, probes, and observations are examples of assessments that occur before and during instruction. These types of assessments are known as formative assessments. Formative assessments provide students and teachers with ongoing information about their work and progress. For teachers, formative assessments provide information about what students can do and enable teachers to reflect on what methods and strategies are most effective in supporting student learning (Darling-Hammond & Ancess, 1996).

Other approaches, referred to as  summative assessments , occur at the end of lessons, instructional units, or marking periods to show student growth and progress. Student performances, portfolios, teacher-made exams, and standardized tests are examples of summative assessments. Although summative assessments provide students time to develop understandings, sometimes students have to wait a long time to receive feedback. Chapter 9 presents another valuable assessment approach, student observations, used in both formative and summative assessments.

When selecting an assessment approach, teachers should be knowledgeable of IDEA mandates. Regarding assessment practices, IDEA states that assessments and other evaluation materials used to assess a child must be provided and administered in the child’s native language or other mode of communication. The assessment should be in the form most likely to yield accurate information about what the child knows and can do academically, developmentally, and functionally, unless it is clearly not feasible to do so.

Because teachers use a variety of assessment approaches to make informed decisions, the assessment approach and the scoring procedure must be both reliable and valid. Teachers want to have confidence in the results. The  reliability  of an assessment refers to the “scoring procedure that enables the examiner to quantify, evaluate, and interpret behavior or work samples. Reliability refers to the consistency of such measurements when the testing procedure is repeated on a population of individuals or groups” (American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education, 1999).

The  validity  of a test or other measure refers to the “degree to which evidence and theory support the interpretations of test scores entailed by the proposed tests” (American Educational Research Association et al., 1999, p. 9). An educator who needs information about a student’s reading comprehension or a student’s ability to solve a mathematical problem must have confidence that the assessment approach will provide that information.

Curriculum-Based Assessment

Curriculum-based assessment (CBA)  provides valuable information to special educators about what students know and are able to do. Because CBAs consist of items that address specific areas of student knowledge or skills, a teacher can use the assessment results to pinpoint a student’s actual skill levels. This information allows the teacher to develop appropriate instructional and learning activities and to focus instruction on what the student needs to master. Special educators frequently use the results of CBA to determine a student’s progress toward school district or state curriculum standards.

Developing a CBA

1.  Identify the content area and performance objectives.  By identifying performance objectives, educators define the behaviors that the student must demonstrate in order to indicate progress. Because a CBA focuses on specific areas of the curriculum, educators begin by carefully examining the curriculum area and identifying the specific information or skills they wish to assess. Educators consider the kind of information students should know: facts, concepts, rules, and/or strategies (Howell & Nolet, 2000). Facts are pieces of information that the student has memorized, such as the temperature at which water freezes or capitals of various countries. Concepts involve more than memorizing and recall; they require the student to understand and distinguish the attributes of one concept from another. Rules and strategies involve both memorizing and identifying situations in which the rule or strategy applies. A well-constructed CBA typically assesses two or more types of information.

2.  Decide on the question and response format.  Before educators begin writing the actual test questions, they will need to decide if the assessment will be a paper-and-pencil assessment or if it will be available as a digital file accessible by computer. Educators can construct assessment items that require students to use their laptops to respond in a text or voice note or on a traditional answer sheet.

Educators address other considerations as well, including what question formats to include in the assessment and how students will be asked to respond (Hargrove, Church, Yssel, & Koch, 2002). Question formats include total recall, fill in the blank, multiple choice, and matching. Students with cognitive disabilities and short-term memory difficulties may have more difficulty with some question formats than others.

3.  Write the test questions.  In this step, educators develop the specific test questions that correspond to the performance objectives. The content of the test questions should be closely aligned with the curriculum. This will help to ensure that the assessment is valid.

4.  Develop scoring procedures.  Educators must decide how test items will be scored and how educators will determine student progress. For example, a question could be scored as right or wrong, or a certain number of points could be assigned based on the student’s response.

5.  Organize and interpret the information.  Educators consider how best to organize the assessment information so that it can be interpreted easily. They frequently create a bar or line graph. By using graphs, educators and the student and family members can observe a student’s progress.

Using CBAs.  Special educators frequently use CBAs to determine a student’s skill level and to monitor student progress. For example, in reading, special educator Per Lysaker uses CBAs to assess reading accuracy as well as reading comprehension. To assess reading accuracy, Per selects a 100-word passage and records the number of errors that the student makes. He then subtracts the number of errors from the number of words read (100) to calculate the number of words read correctly and compares that number to 100 (Idol, 1996). Thus, if a student makes 5 errors in a 100-word passage, the student’s reading accuracy is 95%:

Accuracy=number of correct wordstotal number of word(100)=95100=95%

To assess reading comprehension, Per identifies not only questions that will allow students to gather information directly described in the story (literal-level questions) but also questions to encourage students to interpret (inferential-level questions) and apply (application-level questions) information. These expectations involve student understanding of the story, such as the characters and their traits, the setting, the author’s purpose in writing the story, and lesson(s) the student learned. Figure 5.1 illustrates Per’s CBA to assess reading comprehension. Which questions do you think are literal-level questions? Which are inferential-level questions? Which are application-level questions? (The answers are found on page 154.)

Figure 5.1   Teacher-developed CBA

Curriculum-Based Measurement

Sometimes special educators use a variation of CBA called  curriculum-based measurement (CBM) . CBM (Deno, 1985) assesses specific areas of the curriculum as well as using graphs of the assessment information to make instructional decisions and implement interventions. Each week Per graphs a student’s performances and uses this information to monitor the student’s progress. He makes changes in instruction when the assessment results indicate that the student is continuing to experience difficulty.

A special educator uses curriculum-based measurement to monitor student progress.

Bar graphs illustrate the number and types of questions that a student completes successfully each week (Figure 5.2). Bar graphs are useful when Per wishes to display the assessment information in terms of the number of correct answers and compare progress in two or more areas.

Figure 5.2   Percentage of words read correctly on the weekly CBA

Figure 5.3   Curriculum-based reading comprehension assessment results showing improvement in the student’s reading comprehension

Line graphs are useful when a teacher wishes to display the assessment information by plotting trends over time. For example, Figure 5.3 illustrates reading accuracy (the percentage of words read correctly) on a weekly assessment.

The usefulness of CBM is well supported by research findings (Busch & Espin, 2003; Fuchs et al., 2007; Wallace, Espin, McMaster, & Deno, 2007; Wayman, Wallace, Wiley, Tichá, & Espin, 2007).

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS: CBAS AND CBMS.

When CBAs and CBMs produce reliable and valid assessment information, special educators have specific and useful information when designing instruction to help students with disabilities attain high levels of achievement. However, developing good CBAs or CBMs requires a broad base of curricular knowledge. Educators must have not only a strong background in the assessed curriculum but also knowledge of prerequisite skills needed to demonstrate the performance objectives. Developing an assessment can be a time-consuming process.

Criterion-Referenced Tests

Criterion-referenced tests  provide information about a student’s knowledge and skills in one or more specific content areas. A criterion-referenced test usually contains a number of test items relative to each area. When the student has completed the assessment, the teacher synthesizes the information to obtain a picture of the student’s current level of performance in the area. Various types of criterion-referenced tests may be purchased commercially; however, the teacher should carefully review the test items to ensure that the assessment reflects the content of the classroom curriculum.

Probes

Probes  are teacher-developed questions or informal test items that provide a quick estimate of a specific skill. Typically, a probe is administered when a teacher meets individually with a student to assess achievement or diagnose areas of weakness in mathematics, reading, written language, science, social studies, or other content areas. For example, at the beginning of the year, a special educator might wonder if a student with a learning disability will be able to read and comprehend the science supplements used in the general classroom. The special educator introduces the material and asks the student to read aloud several paragraphs, noting the words that present difficulty. The special educator also checks for understanding using a series of guided questions, or probes. This information will be helpful in making decisions about instructional strategies and how much support the student will need.

DEVELOPING PROBE SHEETS.

Sometimes teachers develop a probe sheet to provide a written record regarding mastery or accuracy of specific skills. Probe sheets can be used to assess a student’s beginning reading skills or ability to compute mathematical operations. One special educator developed a probe sheet to assess a student’s ability to use regrouping in subtraction (Figure 5.4). Using the information gained, the special educator planned a number of specially designed instructional activities for the student. Teachers may also use a probe sheet to check on the retention of information learned earlier in the year.

Figure 5.4   Teacher-developed probe sheet

Teacher-Constructed Quizzes and Exams

Teachers construct quizzes and exams to assess student knowledge in specific areas of the curriculum. Teachers frequently develop pretests to gather information about what students already know about a unit before planning instruction. At other times teachers use quizzes to assess understanding. This information helps teachers determine student progress and modify instruction if needed.

Classroom quizzes and exams are different from standardized achievement tests and large-scale statewide achievement tests that are designed to sample a broad range of achievement. Teacher-developed tests link directly to classroom learning.

Developing items for a quiz or test takes thought and practice. Teachers consider the following:

• What content is important for the student to know?

• How will this content be assessed?

• Should students be able to recognize the correct answer or should the question be open ended?

• Should students be asked to apply what they know?

• Are the test format and the method of student response designed so that they are accessible for students with disabilities in the classroom?

Let’s look at several different types of questions that teachers use and when they might select specific types. We also consider the student responses required, depending on the type of question.

SELECTED-RESPONSE QUESTIONS.

Teachers develop  selected-response questions  when they want students to be able to recognize and select the correct answer. True/false and multiple-choice questions are examples of selected-response questions. These questions are designed to focus on reading and thinking skills in the content areas (such as literature, social studies, or science) rather than writing or computational skills. Students respond to these questions by circling or checking the correct response.

One of the disadvantages of selected-response questions is that students may identify the correct answer even if they do not know it or have only partial knowledge. In completing true/false questions, students have a 50% chance of guessing the correct answer; in completing multiple-choice questions, students have a 25% chance (if there are four possible answers) of guessing correctly.

CONSTRUCTED-RESPONSE QUESTIONS.

Constructed-response questions  provide a format for students to demonstrate what they know by using their own words, mathematical reasoning, or illustrations to construct the answer. Short-answer and essay questions are examples of constructed-response questions. For example, a teacher may want students to compare and contrast characters, settings, and plots in the stories that they have read recently. Or, a teacher may want students to demonstrate that they can synthesize knowledge about a time in history by explaining the key conditions in society that contributed to a major event.

Constructed-response questions assess understanding and the ability to communicate, even if the teacher does not give credit (or take it off) for organization, logical development, spelling, and grammar. These questions also require students to organize their thoughts and to hold them in their memories while completing the answer. The requirements of constructed-response questions may pose difficulties for some students with disabilities, especially those with language-based learning disabilities.

ENSURING VALIDITY.

Validity is a critical concept in teacher-constructed tests because it refers to the usefulness of test scores. In designing classroom assessments, teachers must be careful that a student’s score reflects the student’s knowledge of curriculum content and not the level of disability. For a student with a disability, validity concerns can focus on (a) reading and understanding the test items, (b) processing and organizing answers, and (c) communicating responses.

Students’ disabilities can affect their ability to read and understand and communicate. When teachers assess achievement in subjects other than reading by requiring students to read questions or other material, validity may be compromised. Thus, assessments in mathematics, science, or social studies that require students to read may not accurately assess student knowledge. For example, a 10-question science quiz would yield a score measuring not only knowledge of science but also of reading ability. To ensure that the quiz is testing only knowledge of science, the teacher could have a teacher aide read the questions aloud to the students or create a digital file of the quiz so that students could use text-to-speech software to “read” the quiz. Of course, if the quiz were designed to test reading ability, students would be required to read the questions independently. Generally, modifications (such as having a different set of questions) and accommodations (such as having a reader or text-to-speech software) to students’ programs are listed in the students’ IEPs.

Students’ disabilities may also affect their ability to process information and organize and communicate responses. Constructed-response questions require students to use short-term memory in formulating answers. For students with learning disabilities, holding information in short-term memory may be very difficult. The resulting score, then, will reflect not only students’ level of knowledge but also their ability to organize and remember.

Students with disabilities may need alternative ways to compose a response. Some of the ways that students can respond to test items include marking the correct item, writing an answer by using pencil and paper, typing an answer by using a keyboard, text messaging on a personal cell phone, selecting an answer by touching a computer screen, or telling the answer to a person who is acting as a recorder. Deciding how students can respond to classroom quizzes and exams could be part of the IEP team’s meeting agenda, or a teacher can meet with the students to discuss individual preferences. Teachers also make these decisions during the instructional process and as part of continuous monitoring.

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS: TEACHER-CONSTRUCTED QUIZZES AND EXAMS.

Like other assessments, teacher-constructed quizzes and exams may have errors. For example, they may be difficult to score accurately, because a teacher may be inconsistent in scoring students’ papers; this will affect test reliability. The wording of test items may be ambiguous, resulting in misinterpretation.  Rater drift  describes the occurrence of shifting criteria or a change of emphasis from those originally held by the teacher when the grading of papers began. Personal bias, or a teacher’s impressions of a student, affects the teacher’s judgment and grading of constructed-response questions as well.

In addition to guarding against errors that are associated with grading student performance, teachers can strengthen these assessments by carefully planning what will be tested. Developing a test involves clarifying what is expected in terms of student achievement. Aligned with standards, the test items sample what students should know and be able to do as a result of planned instruction and accompanying activities. Teachers should consider the reading level of students in developing the questions and include enough items to cover the key material. Finally, teachers can ask colleagues to review the test and provide feedback regarding clarity of questions and coverage of content.

Student Self-Reports

A student can also provide information about what he or she knows and is able to do. The student can identify areas that continue to present difficulty and suggest ways to help. Information from a student’s point of view provides a teacher with a unique perspective. There are several ways that a student can share a self-report. One informal way is through a personal conversation with a teacher. The conversation takes place at a planned time, providing the student an opportunity to think in advance about current achievements, strengths, and difficulties.

In talking with the student, a teacher can probe for additional information using the following questions:

• What are you most proud of in terms of your work in this marking period?

• What has proved to be the most difficult problem?

• What study strategies do you use?

• How do you go about getting help?

In addition, a teacher can use a more structured approach by preparing a set of questions to which the student responds. The teacher may meet with the student to discuss the questions or ask the student to respond to them in writing. By using a consistent set of questions, a special educator can gather the same information from several students, which can be helpful in examining common needs among students or in planning group instruction.

Snapshot: Susan’s Geometry Lesson—Reflecting on Sam’s Self-Report

The following reflection was recorded in a journal kept by educator Susan Moore, who teachers in an inclusive sixth-grade classroom. “Today we started a new geometry unit, and I reintroduced the terms perimeter and area. Sam did not know the meaning of these terms, nor could he explain them at the beginning of our class. The first activity dealt with estimating and then physically measuring the distance around our classroom. Using a ball of twine, Sam and his group measured the entire perimeter; then we went outside to lay the twine out. Using a tape measure, Sam determined the length. I noticed that he had extreme difficulty understanding the measure and increments when it came to inches and feet. He read 10 ft 3 in. as 10.3 ft. Several students quickly corrected him.”

Susan continues, “To calculate area, the students then measured each of the two sides. Sam knew the opposing sides would be the same lengths. The results were not the same, so we brainstormed reasons why. Sam had several great logical reasons as to the difference in measurements, which he recorded.

“In talking with Sam after the activity, he felt that this activity was ‘silly’ and he couldn’t see how he would use the information in a ‘real job.’ Sam is very self-conscious, which I was not aware of. I’ll also try to refrain from creating situations where Sam may feel uncomfortable. In the next lesson, I’ll try to incorporate measurement in more activities that apply to real-world situations.”

Using Error Analysis

Error analysis  is a diagnostic assessment technique in which teachers examine student work to identify patterns of errors. Error analysis may be used with various assessment approaches but is particularly effective when students make repeated errors in their work, such as in mathematics and reading.

When studying errors in reading, teachers sometimes refer to this process as  miscue analysis . A  miscue  is a word that a student substitutes for the actual word when reading aloud. Although everyone makes miscues at times, accomplished readers tend to make miscues that retain the underlying meaning of the text; less proficient readers make miscues that make little sense in the context of the passage (Learner, 2006). By analyzing the types of miscues a student makes, a special educator can make adjustments in instruction or plan additional instructional activities. In addition to continuing to collect information through the various approaches described previously, a teacher may select other assessment approaches to monitor student progress.

Snapshot: Per Lysaker

Per Lysaker, the special educator that you met in Chapter 4, uses error analysis in his work with students with disabilities. Today, as he works with a student, he asks the student to read aloud a passage from the text. Following along in the teacher copy, Per notes any miscues that the student makes. For example, the student might read, “The snow melted quietly because the sun was so warm.” Because many of Per’s students have learning disabilities, the miscues they make often reflect letter substitutions that result in the sentences not making sense. By using the information in error analysis, Per can plan instructional activities to help the student check to make sure that the sentence is logical. Error analysis allows him to monitor the student’s progress closely and to link the assessment information with instructional activities.

5.3 Evaluating Achievement

At the end of the unit, teachers use assessment information to determine student achievement. This information is helpful to students and their parents as well. Approaches such as performance-based assessments and portfolios provide evidence of new skills and learning. Teachers may also use teacher-made tests and standardized assessments to compare student achievement levels. A  standardized test  is one in which the administration, scoring, and interpretation procedures are strictly followed. Aptitude and achievement assessments are examples of standardized tests. Norm-referenced instruments are commercially published tests that compare a student’s test performance with that of similar students who have taken the same test.

Selecting Appropriate Assessment Approaches

Performance-Based Assessment

Performance-based assessments consist of performance tasks and task-assessment lists or checklists. In  performance tasks , students construct, demonstrate, or perform tasks that provide evidence of their knowledge, skills, and behaviors. Tasks may range from short activities to projects developed over several months or a year. Educators consider these tasks and their assessment as an integral part of student learning.

Performance tasks involve students in a variety of work formats, such as writing (an autobiography, a children’s book, a cartoon, or an essay); drawing and designing (a bulletin board, clothing from a certain period in time, or a technical illustration); composing (music, dance, or a song); developing (a graphic organizer to represent a concept, Web page, or slide show); or problem solving (creating a story problem or making a puzzle). Teachers may identify the task(s), or students and teachers together may identify performance task choices. Frequently, school or grade-level teaching teams identify a set of performance formats that all students will learn to use, ensuring that students will have opportunities to develop a variety of skills across performance tasks, such as speaking, conceptualizing information in a graphic, and writing.

Performance tasks that are completed in a real-life context are referred to as  authentic assessment . The conditions for authentic assessment, such as task complexity, motivation, and standards, are sometimes quite different from those of other performance tasks. Writing a children’s book and sharing it with younger children is an example of an authentic task.

BENCHMARKS.

To help students understand what they will be expected to do, teachers often provide  benchmarks —examples of performance tasks or products that other students have completed. Teachers use benchmarks to help students understand the types and quality of work that are expected. Over time, teachers can develop a collection of excellent and lower-quality examples of student work to use as benchmarks. Also, teachers can find examples of benchmarks on many national organization Web sites and other education Internet resources. By seeing examples, students not only develop an understanding of what is expected but can also use benchmarks to evaluate and improve their own work.

SCORING PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT: CHECKLISTS AND TASK-ASSESSMENT LISTS.

A  checklist  is a list of the elements, components, or steps that must be present in a performance or product. A student or teacher simply checks off whether the element, component, or step is present. One of the advantages of a checklist is that it can be used to show whether a student has performed a series of steps in the correct order. A checklist used by a student with a disability provides a way of organizing an assignment or a performance. For example, in teaching how to solve a mathematical word problem, a teacher shows a student how first to look for the key words and then to identify the mathematical operation indicated. By putting these steps together, the student and teacher can create a checklist for solving word problems. Later, the student uses the checklist as a guide in completing the homework assignment.

Checklists are useful if the components that make up the performance can be listed or if the performance behaviors are in a sequence (Nitko & Brookhart, 2007). Checklists do not include a description of the quality of a component but simply indicate the presence or absence of the item. Checklists are not appropriate when assessing performances that have a range of qualitatively different levels, such as a piece of writing (Arter & McTighe, 2001).

A  task-assessment list  not only identifies each component of a performance or product that must be present but also rates the quality of each component, rather than just indicating its presence or absence (as in a checklist). Educators can indicate quality by assigning a number of possible points, such as 10 out of 15, or indicating a numerical score on a rating scale, such as 4 on a scale from 1 to 5. Other rating scales can use graphics, such as a series of pictures or icons depicting a progression from poor to excellent or qualitative terms such as beginner, intermediate, and expert.

Teachers share the task-assessment list with students so that everyone has a written copy of the performance task and the expectations. Some areas of the assessment task list may be worth more points than others if a teacher is emphasizing certain skills. Alternatively, if the skill relates directly to a student’s IEP, a teacher may weight the parts of the performance task according to the special needs of the student. Figure 5.5 illustrates the task-assessment list for writing a newspaper article.

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS: PERFORMANCE TASKS AND SCORING PROCEDURES.

Performance tasks have been criticized for taking a large amount of class time and providing only limited opportunities for students to demonstrate what they know and can do. Much of this criticism is directed at educators who use only a few performance tasks for students to demonstrate their work. Incorporating a variety of smaller performance tasks may help reduce these problems.

Figure 5.5   Task-assessment list for a newspaper article

Source: Adapted from Performance-Based Learning and Assessment, Educators in Connecticut’s Pomperaug Regional School District 15, 1996. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Adapted with permission.

A special educator uses performance-based assessment.

Performance-based assessment, like other assessment approaches, may have problems of reliability and validity. The components of the performance task may not adequately cover the knowledge, skills, or behaviors that are to be tested. The performance task may be unclear to students. The scoring system may be interpreted in more than one way. Or, a teacher’s bias toward students can affect the assigned rating. A teacher may assign a higher rating than the student’s work indicates because the teacher “feels” that the student is capable; the converse also can be true. This bias is known as the  halo effect .

A teacher can address sources of error introduced by tasks that do not reflect the curriculum standards, inadequate rating procedures, or the halo effect by involving other professionals in the assessment. Other educators or paraprofessionals can assist the teacher in rating student performances or products. When their ratings do not match, they discuss their reasons for selecting a particular rating. Sometimes these discussions result in the teacher’s refining the description in the performance list or including a description that defines the task or performance in terms that can be observed; all these measures increase reliability.

The following guidelines ensure the reliability and validity of performance-based assessments:

• Performance tasks should be aligned with curricular goals or curriculum frameworks.

• Assessment task lists should be designed to reflect the knowledge, skills, and behaviors that students will demonstrate.

• Written scoring criteria should be clear.

• Students should understand what they are expected to do in each part of the performance task and how their performance will be scored.

• Students should have a written copy of the assessment task list with the scoring criteria.

• Students should have access to examples and benchmarks.

• Students should have multiple opportunities to participate in performance tasks throughout each school year.

• More than one teacher should be involved in scoring student performance-based assessments.

Portfolio Assessment

A  portfolio  is a collection of student work that has been assembled systematically over a period of time (Cohen & Spenciner, 2007). Each of the  artifacts , or student products placed in the portfolio, demonstrates what the student knows and can do, providing concrete examples of progress. For students with disabilities, portfolio artifacts also can be linked directly to the IEP. The portfolio can be shared at parent conferences and during the IEP team’s annual review of the student’s program.

Educators use portfolio assessments for different purposes. A process portfolio illustrates a student’s progress in a specific area of study, such as writing or drawing. A best works portfolio contains examples of a student’s achievement in various areas of the curriculum assembled during the year, whereas a cumulative portfolio may be developed over several years and may be part of graduation requirements. Usually, the purpose of a cumulative portfolio is to provide evidence that a student has attained a specific achievement or skill level.

DECIDING WHAT TO INCLUDE IN THE PORTFOLIO.

Before portfolio assessment is introduced to students, individual teachers, curriculum teams, and districtwide educators put much thought into the purpose and development of portfolio assessment. Like performance-based assessment, the contents of the portfolio are associated with the school’s curricular standards.

For students with disabilities, portfolio assessment provides evidence of student work and progress. If the portfolio is a school requirement, the IEP team will discuss whether the student needs any accommodations or modifications to complete the requirement successfully. Let us visit with the IEP team for Jared to discover how the third-grade teachers are using portfolios and the modifications that they will make based on Jared’s needs.

During the IEP meeting, team members discussed the school’s portfolio requirements. To address Jared’s learning and problems, they decided that they would need to include two modifications in the portfolio sections Language and Literacy and Physical Education. The team added a portfolio section entitled Social Skills so that there would be a record of Jared’s progress in developing positive behaviors and working with others, as described in his IEP goals (Figure 5.6).

If a student with a disability is experiencing difficulty in achieving the portfolio requirements, the IEP team should consider what additional services, AT, accommodations, or modifications might be needed so that the student can participate in the portfolio-assessment process. Students with disabilities, like students without disabilities, may need additional instruction in reflecting on and judging their work and in understanding the rubric and how their work will be assessed. (Rubrics are defined and discussed further on page 143.) These IEP team decisions must be made early in the school year so that the student’s program can be monitored and adjusted if necessary.

Figure 5.6   A portfolio for elementary students modified by the IEP team for Jared

One of the advantages of portfolio assessment is that it provides an opportunity for students to reflect on their classroom progress over time. Students become part of the assessment process as they revisit, reflect on, and judge their own work (Airasian & Russell, 2008); students learn a great deal as they make selections, assemble, and review products for their portfolio. Teachers work closely with individual students, helping them select artifacts that represent a diversity of skills and achievement. In addition, teachers can discuss and model the process skills of reflecting and judging when students are not familiar with them.

A special educator discusses possible portfolio artifacts with a student.

EXPLAINING WHY AN ARTIFACT IS INCLUDED.

Educators strengthen portfolio assessments by designing learning activities in which students have enough time to reflect on their work. Assembling a portfolio challenges students to think about their learning and their progress. Using a self-reflection process with each artifact, students should include an explanation of why the particular artifact was chosen. Educators can assist students in reflecting on their works in progress and on their completed works by asking questions such as these:

• Why do you consider this an example of your best work?

• How did you accomplish this task?

• What might you do differently if you were to do this again?

Questions that help students to think about their group work might include the following:

• What were the points made by the group as it reviewed your work?

• Describe your response to each point. Did you agree or disagree? Why?

• What did you do as the result of their feedback (Arter & Spandel, 1992, p. 40)?

In addition to recording their reflections, conversations with others regarding their work give students the opportunity to think about what they are learning. Students can discuss their work and share observations and reflections with the classroom teacher, the special educator, and their parents. Parents, too, can share their observations and reflections. Therapists, school counselors, social workers, rehabilitation counselors, and others also add rich perspectives. A student might, for example, share with the counselor a written reflection regarding progress in using appropriate behaviors that are tied to the student’s IEP and ask the counselor to add comments (Figure 5.7).

Figure 5.7   Student questions for reflecting on classroom behaviors

Source: Adapted from Implementing Student-Led Conferences (p. 50), by J. M. Bailey and T. R. Guskey, 2001, Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. Adapted with permission.

DISCUSSING PORTFOLIOS: STUDENT-LED CONFERENCES.

Teachers use portfolios to provide concrete examples of student work in discussions with parents; sometimes teachers involve students in these discussions and conferences. Although the teacher traditionally takes responsibility for planning and conducting conferences, portfolios actively involve students in the parent-teacher conference. Students can participate in conferences by explaining their portfolio artifacts and responding to questions regarding their participation and behaviors.

Teachers may ask students to take the lead during conferences, assisting with conference planning and organization, sharing the contents of their portfolios, discussing their work with their parents, asking for parent feedback, and, finally, evaluating the conference. Bailey and Guskey (2001) describe student-led conferences as one way of increasing student responsibility for learning. When students know that they will be reporting to parents or other significant adults, they see the importance of making a good effort, completing their work, and being able to discuss what their work demonstrates.

Teachers who incorporate portfolios in the classroom often observe positive changes in the learning, behavior, and academic achievement of students (Gordon & Bonilla-Bowman, 1996). In many circumstances, students increase their own awareness of how they are learning. They become more sophisticated in revising and reflecting on their work and progress. They are able to talk about and comprehend their thinking processes. When portfolios are involved, much of the students’ assessment is also instruction; as students discuss the merits of their work with teachers, they often learn how the work may be improved.

ASSESSING PORTFOLIOS THROUGH RUBRICS.

A rubric is similar to a task-assessment list in that it is an assessment scale that identifies the component(s) of performance and the various levels of achievement. However, rubrics consist of narrative statements, or  descriptors , that provide detailed information about the quality of each achievement level. Because the areas and descriptors identified in the rubric define what the students should know and be able to do, these areas should be tied directly to the curriculum. Rubrics are used to assess various types of student work and performance, including portfolio and performance-based assessments.

Using an Internet search engine, educators can find examples of rubrics across the curriculum. Having good examples to follow helps teachers develop new rubrics. Teachers may work together in workshops or staff-development trainings to develop rubrics for particular curriculum units or they may include students in a classroom activity to create a rubric. Teachers discuss the rubric with students so that they understand the levels of achievement and how their work will be evaluated.

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS: ASSESSMENTS USING RUBRICS.

The scoring system must be both reliable and valid so that educators, students, and parents can have confidence in the assessment results. Students need to understand how performances and products will be scored. The rubric should include well-written, detailed descriptors that clearly specify each level of achievement. Poorly written rubrics consist of descriptors that are ambiguous or unclear. When teachers use poorly written rubrics, they may score student work inconsistently.

Using rubrics to assess student work and guide instruction takes much practice. Arter and McTighe (2001) offer the following guidelines for effective rubrics:

• The rubric helps teachers think about what it means to perform with high quality.

• The rubric is written so clearly that different teachers would assign the same rating.

• A single teacher would be able to provide consistent ratings across assignments and students over a period of time.

• There are several examples of student work that illustrate each rating or score point.

• The language used in the rubric is appropriate for the variety of students in typical classrooms, including English language learners. (Adapted from pp. 45–51)

Online Assignments and Products of Student Work

Having information about assignments available on the class Web site helps all students, especially students with disabilities. Students can check assignment descriptions and due dates. They can review benchmarks that provide examples and review the scoring systems (checklist, task-assessment list, or rubric, for example) that will be used. Having this information readily available in one place helps students who have difficulty organizing information. Parents, too, can refer to the information and learn more about the expectations for their child.

Considering Cultural and Linguistic Perspectives

 Using Appropriate Assessment Practices

Throughout the school year, educators identify learning goals and link instruction with information gleaned from various assessment approaches. Students may be asked to compare, analyze, and evaluate and then communicate or convey information in these types of assessments. Teachers provide many opportunities for students to perform meaningful tasks and create quality products that demonstrate their progress.

Because educators must be sensitive to classroom diversity, they take into account students’ cultural and ethnic heritages, home languages, and prior knowledge and experiences during the instructional planning process. In delivering instruction, educators incorporate diversity perspectives and viewpoints, and they consider diversity preferences as they carefully review assessment approaches to make sure that they are appropriate.

Sometimes performance differences lie not only in the task itself but also in how individuals interpret the task (Garcia, 1994). When educators begin planning a performance-based task, they may identify an individual from the community who can provide a perspective on the community’s culture, language, beliefs, and traditions. This individual can give advice on interpretations of various assessment tasks and review performance tasks to ensure cultural sensitivity.

Questions for Reflection

1. What are some of the historical problems with assessment of students from nondominant cultures?

2. What criteria would you use to evaluate the appropriateness of an assessment approach?

Many of the assessment approaches described in this chapter can readily be shared with parents, family members, or individuals within and outside the community. Because the Internet reaches so many individuals, teachers can create classroom Web sites or sites specific to projects for the purposes of displaying student work. Students believe that by creating Web portfolios, they develop a greater awareness of their own learning and achievement (Chen, Liu, Ou, & Lin, 2001). In using the Internet to display student work, teachers first obtain parental permission and then protect the confidentiality of student information by not placing identifying information about individual students on the site.

At Henry M. Jackson High School, educators teaching music, visual arts, and language arts use the school’s Web server to post course projects, student portfolios, teacher comments, and peer reviews. English teachers require students to review and evaluate the work of other students using an online rubric. After reading another student’s work, the reviewer scrolls down the screen to the project rubric. Over each rubric row is a slider with values from 0 to 10 where the reviewer can compare and score student work against the standard. At the bottom of the rubric is a text box for further comments. This feedback by the reviewing student is turned in as a review assignment to the instructor. This has two purposes: (a) students are accountable for the quality of their feedback to peers and (b) all students receive thoughtful, constructive comments regarding their work (Duxbury, 2000, p. 30).

5.4 State and Federal Mandates

District and Statewide Assessment

Teachers must measure students’ progress in meeting local, state, and national content standards in general education. No Child Left Behind legislation requires that all students in Grades 3–8 be tested in both reading/language arts and mathematics. High school students must be tested sometime during Grades 10–12 in both reading/language arts and mathematics. In science, students must be assessed once during Grades 3–5, once during Grades 6–8, and once during Grades 10–12. IDEA aligns with this legislation and further mandates that all children and youth with disabilities must be included in state- and districtwide assessment programs, with appropriate accommodations and alternative assessments if necessary.

Many states have developed assessments that school districts throughout the state must use. These assessments measure a student’s progress in the academic content areas and, in some states, are used to determine whether a student should pass to the next grade, attend a summer school program, or receive a high school diploma.

A student’s IEP team is responsible for making decisions regarding how the student will participate in these assessments. During this process, team members consider questions such as, Will the student need accommodations to take the districtwide (or statewide) assessment? If the IEP team determines that the student needs one or more accommodations to participate in the assessment, team members identify and describe them in the student’s IEP. Typically, students use the same accommodations for district- and statewide assessments as they do in the classroom when taking quizzes and exams. For example, a student may use a laptop computer to complete written answers or have a teaching assistant record the answers.

Even with accommodations, some students with disabilities are unable to demonstrate what they know because the grade-level assessment is too difficult. IDEA allows states to develop an assessment that is appropriately challenging for this group of students. The number of students who will take a modifed assessment is typically a small percentage of the student population. (No Child Left Behind allows a 2% cap on the number of proficent and high-achieving student scores that can count toward adequate yearly progress.) These students will have IEPs that include goals based on grade-level content standards and provisions for monitoring student progress in achieving those goals.

An additional small number of students with significant cognitive disabilities need further modifed assessment. These specially designed alternative assessments are also developed by the state department of education or the local school and measure individual progress (IDEA 34 C.F.R., Sec. 300.138). According to Thompson and Thurlow (2000), who conducted a national survey of alternative assessments for students with disabilities, the most common alternative approach is a performance-based assessment that measures indicators of progress toward state standards or a set of separate standards not linked to general education standards.

Research (Johnson, Kimball, Brown, & Anderson, 2001; Karkee, Lewis, Barton, & Haug, 2003) regarding the use of accommodations in statewide assessments indicates that more accommodations were provided for elementary school students than for students in middle school. Crawford (2007) found that the use of test accommodations various greatly across states. Other research (Cox, Herner, Demczyk, & Nieberding, 2006) found that states with unrestricted accommodations tended to have a higher percentage of students with disabilities participating in regular state reading and math tests. These research findings raise many questions. Should there be consistency among states in accommodations offered? How are IEP teams trained in understanding accommodations and their application? Much additional research is needed in this area as students with disabilities strive to meet high academic standards.

IN PRACTICE

Assessment approaches such as performance-based tasks and portfolios allow students to showcase their achievement. These assessment approaches also can increase a student’s motivation by applying knowledge and skills to a “real” problem or to an area of special interest.

Classroom Focus

Kathleen should be entering her senior year in high school; however, she has several credits to make up, one of which is math. Kathleen has a diagnosis of other health impairments, including acute anxiety, which keeps her from attending school on a regular basis. She reports that math is her least favorite subject. She works best in a small-group setting with frequent breaks. Kate is artistic, loves color, and is great working with patterns; she is passionate about horses. She would love to attend college majoring in equestrian studies. Someday she wants to work with children with disabilities and horses.

In planning a unit on geometry, special educator Rosemary Bennett wanted her to understand how we use many geometric principles and concepts in our everyday lives. She began with a pretest, but after a fairly brief period of time, it was apparent that Kathleen was becoming anxious. Shortly thereafter, she shut down and could not continue. Thus, although Rosemary had some information, the pretest did not provide a full picture of Kathleen’s areas of strength and need.

Working Toward Solutions

Rosemary explains the first day of instruction, “The first lesson began with a question-and-answer review of the skills and concepts she would need to know in order to begin work on the unit on perimeter, area, and volume. This provided me with basic information regarding what I would need to teach. When I handed her the Performance Task Assessment, her culminating project for the unit, she became enthusiastic about the work that we would be doing. She had a few questions about the assignment and then asked if we could get started. We began by visiting the Web site I suggested to find out how much land is recommended for pasture for one horse. She read the information and took some notes, and we ended our lesson at that point.”

Rosemary continues, “On the following days, I began with a lesson, building on the concepts from the previous day, and then left time for Kathleen to work on the performance task.” Here is the description of this final project:

Performance Task Assessment

More than anything in the world you want a horse; however your parents are concerned about how they would set up an area for the horse and what the cost will be. You have agreed to put together the information that they will need before they will agree to let you have a horse.

Step 1. ~ Research the minimum paddock area need for one horse. Visit Virginia Cooperative Extension—Virginia’s horse pastures; grazing management.

~ Based on the required area, locate a section in your yard that can accommodate the paddock.

~ Using graph paper, sketch a scaled design for the paddock, indicating the dimensions.

Step 2. ~ Using the Web, research the different kinds of fencing available for horses.

~ Points to consider:

• perimeter of the paddock area

• how many strands of the fencing are recommended

• cost per unit

Step 3. ~ Research the approximate number of bales of hay an average horse eats daily and annually.

~ Find the approximate measurements of an average bale of hay.

~ Calculate the volume that you will need to store at least six months’ worth of hay.

Step 4. ~ Present your findings in an organized attractive manner.

Here is an excerpt from Kathleen’s presentation:

What the Research Says

Graham (2000) examined how student self-beliefs affect math performance and whether these self-beliefs change throughout the middle school years. In a 3-year longitudinal study, she found that students describe mathematics as less valuable from the start of grade 6 to the end of grade 8. Students reported diminished engagement and low self-concept regarding their math achievement. Other researchers (Pell, Galton, Steward, Page, & Hargreaves, 2007) found similar results in student attitudes and motivation among adolescents ages 12 to 14 years. Yet can teachers make a difference? Friedel, Cortina, Turner, and Midgley (2007) found that the achievement goals emphasized in mathematics by the teacher and parent predicted children’s personal goals and self-efficacy.

 MyEducationLab: Your Turn

Begin by investigating other formative assessment approaches. Go to MyEducationLab and select the topic Assessment. Then read the articles entitled “Making Benchmark Testing Work” and “Using Data to Differentiate Instruction.” After reading these two articles, be prepared to share your answers to the following questions: Describe two ways that teachers might assess student knowledge prior to the beginning of instruction. Which assessment approaches would you prefer to use and why?

Next view the artifacts entitled “Science Fiction Book Project (Science 6–8)” and “Colonial Economies (Social Studies 6–8)” in the Assessment section and select one artifact to explore in depth. Answer the questions associated with that artifact.

Preparing for District- and Statewide Assessments

In order for a special educator to assist a student with a disability in preparing to participate in district- or statewide assessments, special educators must first become informed of any district- and statewide assessments that students take, including the grade levels at which the assessments are given. Special educators should then review examples of test items, including not only the content but also the types of questions that are asked. For example, questions in the mathematics section may not require the student to actually calculate the answer but only to describe the steps that would be used to find the answer. This way of responding may be very different from the response that is expected of the student in the general education classroom or resource room.

Examining the assessment also includes looking at the figures and diagrams involved. If a student receives specialized instruction in a content area covered by the assessment, the special educator must be sure that the student is familiar with and has opportunities to interpret information displayed in figures and diagrams. This does not mean that special educators take valuable instruction time to teach to the test, but, rather, that they expose students to similar experiences within the context of the curriculum.

Students with disabilities frequently experience difficulties in taking quizzes and exams or large-scale achievement tests, which may lead to diminished self-confidence and lower expectations on test performance. In addition, students with disabilities may miss the explanations general educators provide other students in the classroom who are preparing to take the district- or statewide assessment. To ensure that all students have the same access to information about the assessment, the special educator must work closely with the general educator to see what information is presented in class. Next, the special educator discusses and reviews the information with the student with a disability. When students in the general education classroom have opportunities to take practice tests, the special educator needs to be aware of scheduling so that a student with a disability will have those opportunities as well.

Sometimes educators use classroom discussions, demonstrations, or practice tests to teach students test-taking strategies. These strategies may include previewing the test times, organizing the time spent on each section of the test, or following specific rules in answering a test item. For example, students are taught that they should answer only questions in which they can eliminate two of the five possible answers. Later chapters elaborate on how to teach test-taking strategies.

Finally, special educators can talk with students about the test, encouraging them to develop confidence and realistic expectations. For example, a teacher can explain, “On the mathematics section, you will find some questions that seem relatively easy to you. Other questions may require more thought, and you will need to follow the steps to solving problems that we have learned in class. Because this assessment is designed for a large number of students, you will find some questions that you don’t know how to do. Don’t spend time worrying about these.” Figure 5.8 summarizes how special educators help students with disabilities prepare for district and statewide assessments.

Figure 5.8   How special educators help students with disabilities prepare for district- and statewide assessments

Research to Practice

 Large-Scale and High-Stakes Assessment

Federal legislation, including IDEA and No Child Left Behind, requires that all students, both with and without disabilities, participate in large-scale assessments. Many advocates view these requirements as equal opportunity and access for students with disabilities (National Center on Educational Outcomes, 2003). Analyzing results from large-scale assessments such as districtwide assessment of student achievement can help improve teaching, learning, and equality of educational opportunity (Heubert & Hauser, 1999). Educators analyze these results to monitor student achievement in reading, mathematics, and other areas of the curriculum. They also use the results to make improvements in the districtwide curriculum. These assessments measure how well all students—both with and without disabilities—are meeting curriculum standards.

But sometimes large-scale assessments include a high-stakes component.  High-stakes assessment  is the process of using test information, such as scores, to make significant decisions about individuals. These decisions have important consequences for each student. A student’s scores can be used in making decisions about tracking or assigning a student to a particular level. A student may be promoted to the next grade or retained in the same grade for another year. Sometimes a school uses high-stakes assessment scores to determine which students will receive high school diplomas.

Because accountability is becoming more important at the national, state, and local school district levels, large-scale assessment results may trigger rewards for schools and staff when student scores are high; other schools may receive sanctions when student scores are below expected levels. These consequences have generated much controversy as to whether students with disabilities should be included in the scoring; many educators do not want to be held accountable for students who do not reach expected levels (National Center on Educational Outcomes, 2003).

Some research suggests that students with disabilities tend to score lower on large-scale assessments than students without disabilities. For example, during field testing of the New York State Regents Comprehensive Examination in English, researchers found that students with disabilities scored roughly one standard deviation below students without disabilities and did very poorly on open-ended-response questions (Koretz & Hamilton, 2001).

Some evidence suggests that in order to ensure that their students do well on these tests, teachers change the curriculum based on the assessment and spend time teaching to the test content and format (Swain, 2006). Instruction may involve reteaching of skills as well as teaching specific strategies for students to use. Much research remains to be completed concerning the effects of high-stakes assessment, instruction, and students with disabilities.

Questions for Reflection

1. What information is available from your state department of education regarding statewide assessments and students with disabilities?

2. How have large-scale assessments affected the work of special educators?

Snapshot: Mariah and Assistive Technology

Mariah is an eighth-grade student who has cerebral palsy and a learning disability that affects her written language and organizational skills. Like many of her classmates, she completes all her writing assignments using her laptop and word-processing software. However, for Mariah, the technology is essential because her learning disability affects her ability to write legibly. Word processing allows her to record her ideas and display the information with adequate spacing between words and lines so that she can read what she wrote more easily. Tools such as a spell checker help her identify words that she has difficulty spelling.

When her IEP team met earlier in the year, they discussed Mariah’s participation on the statewide assessment for all eighth-grade students in the school district. After careful consideration, her team decided that Mariah will need to use her laptop and word processing, the same accommodations that she is using in the general education classroom, when she participates in the districtwide assessment in the spring. The IEP team facilitator noted this decision on Mariah’s IEP.

Laptops and software are not the only AT devices that support the participation of students with disabilities in taking district- and statewide assessments. Depending on a student’s needs, the IEP team may decide that a student needs one or more AT devices. Some examples include the following:

•  Pencil grip:  supports and helps a student maintain a correct grasp on a pencil or marking pen

•  Place finder:  marks the current line of text (A ruler is an inexpensive place finder.)

•  Mask:  blocks out additional material on the page (A page-length piece of light cardboard with a window cut out to view a section of text is an inexpensive mask.) Some software programs have a masking option that the user selects, such as to view one sentence or paragraph at a time. The masking option blocks out other text on the screen so that the student is not distracted and can focus on the relevant text.

•  Electronic dictionary:  allows the user to type in a word and select an option to hear the word spoken, to hear the definition, or to find a word with a similar meaning

Figure 5.9   Standards for teacher competence in educational assessment of students

Source: From Standards for Teacher Competence in Educational Assessment of Students, by the American Federation of Teachers, National Council on Measurement in Education, and the National Education Association, 1990.

5.5 Professional Standards and Ethical Considerations

Because assessment is closely linked to instruction, special educators have an obligation to meet the standards for teacher competence in educational assessment. Developed by several professional organizations (American Federation of Teachers, National Council on Measurement in Education, & National Education Association, 1990), these professional standards describe the skills and knowledge that educators should have regarding assessment practices. Figure 5.9 illustrates these educational assessment standards for all educators. In becoming skilled in assessment, beginning teachers learn about various assessment approaches and their advantages and limitations. They learn how to use assessment to make instructional decisions and how to communicate the results to students and their parents.

Summary

• Contemporary views focus on high-quality assessments to provide the foundation for planning effective instruction.

• Special educators can select from a variety of assessment approaches to identify a student’s areas of instructional need and to monitor student progress in acquiring new skills and knowledge.

• Federal mandates require that all students including students with disabilities participate in assessment of academic progress at specific grade levels.

• Professional standards and ethical considerations hold special educators accountable during assessment procedures.

Extending Learning

Previous section

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Extending Learning

1. Consider the various assessment approaches discussed in this chapter. Have you experienced any of these approaches as a student? Select two of the approaches and describe their advantages and disadvantages for you as a learner.

2. Working with a small group of colleagues, develop a set of 10 selected-response and 10 constructed-response questions for the first few chapters of this book. Which types of questions were easier to develop? Exchange your teacher-developed test with that of another group and answer the questions. What were some of the difficulties that you experienced? Score your test. Do you think the scoring system was reliable? What suggestions do you have for improvement?

3. The Internet is a rich source of rubrics across the curriculum. Select an area that is of interest to you and use a search engine to locate examples of rubrics. Print out a copy of one of the rubrics and analyze its components. Do you think that it is a well-developed rubric for that curriculum area? Why or why not?

4. Contact a special education administrator to obtain a copy of a CBA. Review the assessment to determine the curriculum content that is assessed. What question formats are used? How many types of response formats are used?

5. A local parent organization has asked you to make a presentation about the portfolios that students in your class are developing. Some of the parents are concerned about validity and reliability issues. Prepare an explanation of how you will address their concerns.

6. What are some of the ways schools are coping with confidentiality issues when posting student’s work on the internet? For example, do school personnel create policy statements?

7. What information does your state department of education provide educators and parents regarding district- and statewide assessments, students with disabilities, and the provision of AT?

Answers to the teacher-developed CBA in Figure 5.1:

Questions 1 and 4: Literal-level questions

Questions 2 and 3: Inferential-level questions

Questions 5 and 6: Application-level questions

,

ESE645: LESSON DESIGN FOR STUDENTS WITH MILD TO MODERATE DISABILITIES

Instructor Guidance

Week 1

A warm welcome to ESE645: Lesson Design for Students with Mild to Moderate Disabilities!  Please be sure to review the Week One homepage for this course to see:

1. The specific learning outcomes for the week

2. The schedule overview

3. The required and recommended resources

4. The introduction to the week

5. A listing of the assessments

Next, be sure to read this entire Instructor Guidance page.

Overview

This guidance begins with a few words about the importance of reading the weekly Instructor Guidance pages. Next, this overview provides a section about the course learning outcomes and their relationship to the weekly outcomes and program outcomes. It concludes with helpful information about career goals using the Master of Arts, Special Education (MASE) degree and monitoring student progress.  Finally, this section provides an overview of the assessments (discussions and assignments) for this week, which can a beneficial part of your study plan for the week. Each week before beginning your assignments and initial discussion board post, it is necessary that you review the Instructor Guidance. The Instructor Guidance is an integral part of the course because it is intended to supplement the required and recommended readings, videos and multimedia webpages for each week of material and also provides important and required resources for your success in this course and beyond. Supplemental resources are also included in the Instructor Guidance. You are encouraged to consider using these resources to support your completion of the weekly assessments beyond using the required and recommended resources provided on the weekly unit homepages and in the consolidated list of resources on the Course Materials page.  Not only does the Instructor Guidance offer you insights and assistance with the weekly topics and activities, it models effective academic writing, which is expected of you in all of your coursework in this graduate-level course. Additionally, the Instructor Guidance can be considered a scholarly resource for your own work in this course. The Scope and Outcomes of ESE645 The MASE program has been designed to develop your capacity as a leader in the field.  In this course and the program as a whole, you will focus on the process of instructional planning, including the design of lesson plans that are in alignment with a student’s present levels of performance and their individualized education program (IEP) document for the purpose of creating differentiated instruction. The summative, or final project, in this class is a lesson plan portfolio, which can be a wonderful tool in your current work or a resource from which to build. As you may recall, the MASE program is founded on the following assumptions a) all children can learn; b) children have diverse learning styles; c) and the teacher’s belief in each child’s abilities supports the child’s success. As with all of your courses, it is imperative that you embrace the premise that, regardless of ability level, cultural background, or learning differences, in physically and emotionally safe environments, all children can learn. In this course the practical applications are found within the scenarios and introduction in each week. This information is equivalent to what is presented in a face-to-face learning environment where the Instructor presents new information.  The Instructor Guidance should be used to support your discussion posts, responses, and other required assignments. The course learning outcomes guided the design of this course and all align to one or more of the weekly outcomes, which are more specific about what you will do each week and are listed on the weekly unit homepages. The course and weekly outcomes are aligned to the Master of Arts in Special Education Program Learning Outcomes. If you have questions about the scope and outcomes of ESE645, please contact the instructor in the Ask Your Instructor discussion. Next, please continue reading to learn about several of the key concepts in this week’s work.

Intellectual Elaboration

The focus for the week is the foundation for designing meaningful and relevant lesson plans.  You will be introduced to the concept of assessment as it relates to monitoring student progress and in the incorporation of specific accommodations or modifications.  Understanding the differences between accommodations and modification is important to your overall application when developing lesson plans.  Also, the topic of Common Core State Standards will be explored.  This is an action packed week, so let’s begin! Twenty-first century special education and general education classrooms include diverse student needs and thus the challenges of working in the special education profession are significant.  Many students not only demonstrate learning differences but may also be bilingual and represent different cultural backgrounds.  As you have learned in ESE634 Education-Based Collaborative Relationships and other previously completed courses, instruction for students with disabilities can take place in a variety of settings necessitating the educators to be knowledgeable and prepared to support all students. Monitoring Student Progress and Present Levels of Performance One important aspect of supporting students in the educational setting is to engage in frequent informal assessment of student performance.  As previously discussed in this program, the individualized education program (IEP) team is charged with the responsibilities of determining the student’s present level of performance in a variety of academic and non-academic areas that have been identified as areas of need.  These areas provide the justification for the development of individualized goals that become part of the written document, which is required for every student who qualifies for services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Polloway & Polloway, 2013). The IEP is the “primary document that outlines specific plan for services, placement, transitional planning” and provides many other assurances for the individualized program designed for an eligible student (Polloway & Polloway, 2013, p. 33). Technically, this document is a type of written contract, renewable at least once per year, to ensure that the student is receiving the most appropriate support in order to make sufficient progress. It is a blueprint for the educational support that is designed for the student.   Special educators, who may also be called, “Case Managers”, or “Case Carriers” have a special responsibility to frequently monitor student performance in an informal manner so as to support the determination of the present levels of performance and subsequent development of goals.  The required textbook for our course provides a discussion of this process in Chapter 5:  “Linking Assessment and Instruction.”  This section mentions formative assessment, which is a type of informal monitoring of student performance to measure ongoing progress or in some cases, a lack of progress.  It is focused on content and performance. Observations and checklists are effective methods of informal evaluation. Informal evaluation procedures actively involve the student in learning tasks and other activities as part of the assessment process.  The chart presented in the online article, “Informal Methods of Assessment (Links to an external site.)” is a helpful tool in providing many options for additional informal regarding assessment methods and offers specific guidelines for implementation.  Be sure to take a look at this resource.  You may also elect to add this to your link-library.

Figure 1.  Performance gap derived from assessment data. This visual demonstrates the range of present levels of performance, desired level of performance, and how to establish a reasonable goal.  Source: http://performancexpress.org/0802/ (Links to an external site.)

The results from these activities will provide information that will support the present levels of performance (PLOP) statements that are a required part of the IEP.  The purpose of the PLOP is to identify the child's needs and establish the student’s performance in appropriate activities  ("Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance," n.d.)  Further, this same source states the following:

The PLAAFP statement is a brief and understandable narrative accurately describing the child's performance in all areas of education and functional activities that are affected by the child's disability. It is an objective synthesis of all information relevant to the child's development and educational performance, and serves as a bridge between the evaluation process and the measurable annual goals….By summarizing the data, and establishing a baseline, a solid framework is established from which measurable annual goals can be created (para 2).

Identifying specific needs begins the process of developing meaningful and measurable goals.  We will explore the development of goals later in this course.

Accommodations and Modifications   Any student who has an active IEP will have as part of this document the required accommodations or modifications that must be provided.  These concepts are common in education and sound similar but they serve very different functions.  Accommodations may be changes in the classroom environment that do not fundamentally change the curriculum but enhance student learning. Alternatively, modifications may be changes that lead to differences in the curriculum. Neither accommodations nor modifications lower expectations.  Instead, these changes address the student’s learning needs that cannot be met within the regular curriculum or instruction.  The authors from the text used in ESE601, Henley, Ramsey, and Algozzine (2009) state, “effective teachers need to know what each of these terms means so that the accommodations, modifications, and strategies can be successfully utilized with students in whatever educational setting they are being taught” (p. 271).  The following website (Links to an external site.) provides a simple chart demonstrating the differences between accommodations and modifications.  This can certainly be a useful tool now and in the future! Figure 2.  Common Core State Standard Initiative. Source: http://education.vermont.gov/common-core

Common Core State Standards An educational standard provides guidance as to what students should know and be able to demonstrate in each subject and in each grade.  The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are rigorous expectations that have been adopted in most states and are designed to prepare students for college and the workplace (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2015).   Lesson design requires the use of standards in which to base the instruction.  Lesson plans focus the educator to identify what will be taught and how.  A typical lesson design is included in this course so that you have a systematic format in which to develop your plans.  It is required that you use this document for this week and all subsequent weeks.

Assessment Guidance

Assignment: Designing Lesson Plans:  Common Core State Standards The Week One assignment is an opportunity to demonstrate your ability in developing accommodations or modifications for lesson plans that are aligned to the Common Core State Standards.  Here, you will use the lesson plan template to revise an existing lesson plan and to incorporate specific accommodations or modifications.  Then, you will provide a justification explaining the reasons why you selected the particular accommodations or modifications.  This is good practice for what you will actually do in a real-world work environment such as a classroom setting!.

Reference

Common Core State Standards Initiative (Links to an external site.). (2015). Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/ Henley, M., Ramsey, R. S., & Algozzine, R. (2009). Characteristics of and strategies for teaching students with mild disabilities. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Morrison, G. S. (2013, July 7). Informal methods of assessment (Links to an external site.) Education.com. Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/informal-methods-assessment/ Polloway, E. A., & Polloway, E. A. (2013). Strategies for teaching learners with special needs. Boston: Pearson. Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance (Links to an external site.). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www2.ku.edu/~kskits/ta/Packets/CreatingIEPs/KITSecIEP2.html

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This is a sample lesson plan based upon information gained from EDSITEment! The Best of the Humanities on the Web:

http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/aesop-and-ananse-animal-fables-and-trickster-tales#sect-introduction

Content Area or Developmental Focus: ELA

Age/Grade of Children: Second Grade

Length of Lesson: 1 hour

Goal	Students will become familiar with fables and trickster tales from different cultural traditions and will see how stories change when transferred orally between generations and cultures.
Objective	· Identify the definition and understand elements of fables and trickster stories · Recognize Aesop's fables and Ananse spider stories · Identify the specific narrative and thematic patterns that occur in fables and trickster tales across cultures · Compare and contrast themes of fables and trickster tales from different cultures · Differentiate between the cautionary lessons and morals of fables and the celebration of the wiles and wit of the underdog in trickster stories
Standards Included	CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.2 Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3 Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.5 Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.
Materials	Print or online versions of the following stories: Set A · The Lion and the Mouse (Aesop) · Mr. Buffu and the Snake (Ananse) Set B · The Fox and the Crane · Anansi and the Turtle
Introduction	Begin the lesson with a game of telephone. The students will sit in a circle, in close enough proximity that they can whisper to their neighbors. You start the message be stating a one sentence message to the first student (just make up anything but be sure to remember it). Then the first student will whisper the message to the next person and it continues on in this fashion until you get to the last person. Have the last student write the message on the board. You then write the original message as well. They will be different, which is the point. You will then have a conversation about how oral storytelling allows for interpretation and change as it is told from person to person and travels to different locations.
Lesson Development:	Review the vocabulary and elements of folktales from previous lesson: Direct Instruction · Vocabulary Words: Folktale Fable Trickster Story Oral Tradition Moral Folk Wisdom · Elements of Folktales: Folktales…  … are very old stories  … have special beginnings (such as "Once upon a time…" or "There once was…") and endings  … often repeat words or sentences  …have characters, settings, problems, and solutions Guided Practice: · Read aloud the first two stories (Set A) to students and stop to check for understanding and questions. · Ask students to compare the animals and their behavior in the fable and the trickster tale. Why do the types of animals change from one culture's fable to the next? How does the behavior change according to the type of animal? What types of behaviors lead to what types of endings in these stories? · Then fill a Double Bubble Thinking Map that compares/contrasts the characters, setting, problem, solution, and morals/lessons in both stories (you will be modeling the skill that the students will then do in pairs). Check for understanding- Whole Group (Informal Assessment). Pose the following questions to the students: · What is a fable, and how are fables different from other types of stories? · What is a trickster tale, and how is it different from other types of tales and from fables? · What are the elements common to fables and trickster tales? · What kinds of wisdom about human nature and human behavior do we learn from fables, and how is this wisdom relevant today?
Differentiation	· Frontload vocabulary with English Language Learners before the lesson · Seat the two students with attention issues close to teacher and ask for their help with materials · Plan student groups based on levels: Ensure that the ELL students are paired with a competent student [These are generic ideas. You will base modification/accommodation/differentiation on the specific needs of your students]
Assessment (Practice/ Checking for Understanding)	Independent Practice: Collaborative Groups: · Group students in 2s or 3s · Students will partner read the stories in Set B · They will create their own Double Bubble Thinking Map using the same elements you modeled with the first set of stories. · If time permits, students can present their maps and discuss any similarities and/or differences between the groups Written Response: · The students will write a journal response answering the following question: · Describe a real-life situation that applies to one of the morals presented in the four stories. · Student work will be graded based on a rubric. Students may share their journals as the introduction to the next lesson.
Closing	Close lesson with a review of vocabulary, elements of folktales, and the following questions: · Which characters did they like best? · Which did they like least? · Which story had the best ending and why?

Developed by Kristina Bodamer and Jennifer Zaur, Full-Time Faculty, College of Education, ECE/CD Department

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Content Area or Developmental Focus: Math- Geometry

Age/Grade of Children: 7th grade

Length of Lesson: 50 minute class/3-5 days

Goal	Students will create a city, park, or other structural plan using geometry
Objective	Identify the total number of degrees in supplementary and complementary angles Describe the relationship between vertical and adjacent angles Explain how the volume and surface area would be affected when dimensions of a figure are doubled and/or tripled Identify acute, obtuse, straight and right angles Identify perpendicular, parallel, and intersecting lines Work collaboratively Create and conduct an oral presentation
Standards Included	7.G.2: Draw (freehand, with ruler and protractor, and with technology) geometric shapes with given conditions. Focus on constructing triangles from three measures of angles or sides, noticing when the conditions determine a unique triangle, more than one triangle, or no triangle.
Materials	Digital Cameras iPad/Computer Projector/Smartboard Pencils Paper Self-Assessment Rubric that assesses the final project as well as the presentation skills (can be created by the students or teacher-made)
Introduction	Introduction will take one class period · Pose the following question and discuss: Where do we find geometry? · Place students in groups of 3-4. Go outside and take pictures of any shapes that you see in the neighborhood, paying particular attention to different shapes and angles: acute, obtuse, right, straight angles, and triangles · Have students share some of their findings with the projector or smartboard
Lesson Development	Students, in groups of two to four, will create a city, public park, or other structure using geometry · Students will need to create a paper blueprint as well as one using technology (they can start with whichever version they feel comfortable exploring) · Their creations must include: · acute, obtuse, straight, and right angles · adjacent and vertical angles · perpendicular, parallel, and intersecting lines · triangles and quadrilaterals · Students will name their city and label all the building, streets, etc. appropriately · Students will present their design to the class with a thoughtful explanation of how they derived their design · Students will self-assess themselves with a quick checklist to determine how well they think they did working in a group, collaborating, designing, and presenting
Assessment (Practice/ Checking for Understanding)	· Project Finished to Completion · Successful Presentation of Project · Self-Assessment · Traditional quiz based on math terms and concepts included in the project
Closing	· Use Virtualnerd.com to highlight/review the essential math concepts · Ask for student feedback · Teacher self-reflection: · What went well? · What needs to be changed? · What should be reviewed? · Possible extension activities

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