If teachers know what they want their students to know, recognize, understand, communicate

and be able to do, their students should know too.

Before discussing chapter/unit tests, I think we should know and understand that students who
dont graduate high school are typically credit deficient. Students are credit deficient because
they dont pass their classes. Students who dont pass their classes are typically failing teacher-
made unit or chapter tests. y point, to increase the graduation rate, students need to pass
teacher made unit/chapter tests.
y recommendation to classroom teachers has been to create a parallel constructed practice test
before instruction begins on a unit. !hat falls under the heading of preparation. By creating the
parallel constructed test before instruction begins, that suggests that teachers truly know what
they e"pect their students to know, recognize, understand, communicate and be able to do. It also
affords their administrator an opportunity to determine consistency of content in grade or sub#ect
le$els, consistency in difficulty le$els, and to determine if the teachers are embedding common
core type %uestions &'()** or SB(*+ in their assessments.
I ha$e suggested that these parallel constructed practice tests be distributed to students about half
way through a unit so students clearly see what is e"pected of them.
I ha$e also recommended a test template to be used to set students up for success. !hat template
usually has three sections. !he first section is the first , to - %uestions on a test &./-0/1 of the
test+. 2sing our highlighting system, those are what we referred to as three star %uestions. !hose
%uestions consist of definitions, identification, procedures, and formulas that students need to
know to be successful doing the math. !hese three star %uestions contain no computation or
manipulation. 3hile we would e"pect understanding, these items must be memorized to be
successful in math.
4or instance, if students do not know the distance formula, the probability of them finding the
distance between two points is not great. So, ask the students to write the distance formula in the
first part of the test template. If they do, they earn points for learning the formula. If they know
the formula, they will ha$e a higher probability of being able to find the distance between points
on later %uestions. !hat results in more points earned, higher grades, and less failures.
Instruction atters5
athematics
Southern 6e$ada )egional 'rofessional 7e$elopment 'rogram
Setting Struggling Students Up for Success
Using
Assessments
Bill Hanlon
!he second section of the template contains items that are composed of skills. !hey are what we
ha$e referred to as . star %uestions. 8uestions that you told students during your lesson that you
will ha$e problems 9like: this on your test.
!he third section of the template consists of conceptual de$elopment and problem sol$ing type
items, we ha$e identified those as ; star %uestions &including '()** or SB(*+.
!he ne"t recommendation dealt with test prep. I ha$e recommended that two or three days before
the actual test < not the day before, that teachers pace their students through the test one %uestion
at a time. 3hile teachers monitor student learning daily, this instructional practice pro$ides a
teacher one last opportunity to monitor student progress. It was recommended that this
monitoring take place by ha$ing the students do problem ; followed by the teacher doing
problem one. !he teacher then asks the entire class to do number ., the teacher paces them and
then the teacher does number .. !he same process is used all the way through the test < one
%uestion done at a time by pacing the students through the test.
By using the parallel constructed practice test in this manner, teachers can readily identify where
students are showing hesitancy or are e"periencing difficulty with a problem. !hat identification
allows the teacher to address that deficiency the ne"t day so student grades are optimized on the
test.
I ha$e also recommended student accountability. !hat is, since the three star %uestions ha$e been
identified in the instruction, in student notes, on their homework assignments, and on the practice
test, that it is 26(**='!(B>= for students to miss these items. (gain, these items ha$e no
computation or manipulation. !he students need to know this information to be successful on the
rest of the test. I ha$e recommended that if students miss three star items, they write them a
number of times so they learn them, ha$e less of chance of forgetting them, and we send a
message to them and establish a culture that we e"pect no less than their best efforts or we will
pro$ide them further opportunities to learn and be successful in math.
y e"perience with parents is when the highlighting system and test prep are e"plained to them,
they are $ery supporti$e. !hat is, the three star %uestions represent information students need to
know to be successful in math and there is no computation or manipulation, that the information
was pro$ided in the instruction, notes, homework, and practice tests, and if it was item , on the
practice test, it will be item , on the real test, parents ha$e been $ery supporti$e of ha$ing
students write what they missed on the test.
Some teachers ha$e argued that this is teaching to a test. I would hope assessments would
measure what was taught. In my opinion, all students, not #ust struggling students, should clearly
know what we e"pect them to know, recognize, understand, communicate and be able to do.
(ssessments should not be a game of 9gotcha:.