Grade: 8

th
grade
Unit: American Antebellum Reform Movement
Lesson 1: Education Reform
Students will read about what the education system was like prior to reform and reflect on why
changes were necessary. Then, they will read selections about the reforms made to education
by people like Horace Mann. Then, they will analyze two speeches about the importance of
education by Frederick Douglass and President Obama. Lastly, they will write a graduation
speech discussing the importance of education in their life as well as the meaning of a quality
education.

Explanation: For the true/false questions, I chose questions that had clear answers with little
room for misinterpretation. To me, these questions are the quick, basic questions. My goal was
to word them in a way that would require the student to really think about what they learned.
Assessment: True/False
1. _______Horace Mann is often called, the Father of Public Education.
2. _______Horace Mann opened teaching colleges for teachers.
3. _______Prior to the reform movement, education was mandatory for everyone under 16
years old.
4. _______Slaves received a basic education.
5. _______Horace Mann convinced legislatures to put more money into education


Lesson 2: Temperance Movement
Students will read about the Temperance Movement and fill in a graphic organizer. After
researching more about it, and more current examples, they will do a panel discussion
answering the question, when should a government regulate consumption?
Explanation: For the short answer, I wrote questions that would only have one to two word
answers. These questions hit the lower levels of Blooms taxonomy, as they require the
students just to recall the fact. Since the students will be demonstrating the information in a
deeper way in their panel discussion, I am comfortable assessing these ideas in this manner.
Short Answer
1. What did the Temperance Movement want to control or end? ________
2. What was the name of the laws that ended the sale of alcohol in Maine? ______
3. One reason the Temperance Movement wanted to get rid of alcohol is because people
were drinking it _______________
4. The Temperance Movement blamed alcohol on the breakup of _________.




Analyzing the characteristics of good true/false questions and short answers, both are clear and
concise. Also, both require answers that are straightforward, with no room for interpretation or
explanation.

For the true/false questions, I chose to ask questions about matters of fact. That is, the
information in the lesson that is important, but at a very basic level. Looking at the true/false
checklist in Effective Assessment (Nikto & Brookhart, 2011. P. 161), my true/false hit each
requirement. In writing them, I looked for recall of facts, but also generalizations about
education reform. The question about educating slaves requires the students to make a
generalization about the education of slaves and then evaluate the assessment question to
answer it. Ultimately, any true/false question requires the student to compare what they know
about a subject and then evaluate the statement as either true or not (Nikto & Brookhart, 2011.
P. 158). .
Usually, I use true/false for a formative assessment because they are so easy and quick to
score (Nikto & Brookhart, 2011. P. 158). In a lesson, Ive used flip cards, small strips of paper,
hands raised and other quick activities with true/false. If 80% of my students have seemed to
master the content, I feel comfortable to keep moving. If not, I can go back and re-teach (Rick
Wormeli: Formative and Summative Assessment, 2010). Another way Ive used true/false is for
pretests. Again, true/false is a very quick formative assessment.

For the short answer questions, I chose to ask lower level, recall questions. For example,
What did the Temperance Movement want to control? is simply recall of facts. This question is
important though, because without proving they understand what the Temperance movement
did or wanted the higher order thinking isnt possible. I see short answer questions as
foundational, that is the questions that assess the foundation of a topic. Important, but much
lower leveled than the essay questions or performance tasks.

In Effective Assessment, Nikto & Brookhart (2011) discuss the variety of student answers,
legibility and spelling being a short coming of the short answer assessment. For this, I have the
possible answers in mind when creating the assessments. During scoring, if a student answers
with something that is true for the question, I also give credit. For example, in the question,
One reason the Temperance Movement wanted to get rid of alcohol is because people were
drinking it _______, I would accept everywhere, at work, at funerals, at weddings, etc.
So, being flexible with scoring is important (Nikto & Brookhart, 2011. P. 155).

Assessment is undoubtedly important for schools to gauge learning and teaching. What is also
clear, is that those assessments must be valid and effective at measuring learning. By following
guidelines in writing questions, it can help ensure we are measuring the correct information. For
example, if a question is poorly worded, it could evoke a wrong answer, when the student truly
understands the material. Particularly with true/false questions, if an idea is assessed that is not
a 50/50 idea, the question wont measure anything, except possibly frustration.


References

Nitko, A. J., & Brookhart, S. M. (2011). Educational assessment of students. Boston, MA:
Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.

Stenhousepublishers (2010, November 10). Rick Wormeli: Formative and Summative
Assessment [Video file]. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJxFXjfB_B4&feature=related.