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Learning: Assessment Driven Instruction

There is a large diversity to the students in every classroom. Each come from a different

life experience, having seen, read, and experienced different things. Because of this diversity, it

is important to tailor instruction to the students in your classroom. One way to do this is to

incorporate assessments throughout a unit, using the information provided to tailor instruction as

needed. This ​teacher work sample​, ​which is based on a unit on Pacific Salmon, used assessment

throughout to tailor learning to my students and to show that the unit was effective in meeting its

learning objectives.

The unit was created through a process known as Understanding by Design, which

includes Backwards Design. In this process, the first thing considered is what the students

should take away from the unit (the big understandings that they need to know for the unit to be

successful), then the ways in which students can show their understanding of these ideas, and

then the different lessons that can lead students to gaining the knowledge and big ideas wanted

by the end of the unit (Wiggins & McTighe, 2015). This work becomes a guide for how to get

students from their current understanding to the large, essential understandings that are the goal

of the unit. However, as no two classes are the same, it is important to consider this diversity as

you are developing the unit to make the teaching meet the needs of your class.

As the initial unit is being developed, it is important to keep in mind the academic

diversity that will be present in the classroom. Through Universal Designs for Learning

principles, which focus on designing for success for all students in the initial design stages of

creating curriculum, we can prepare to help each student succeed by providing multiple means of

engaging with the material, representing knowledge, and working with or representing learning
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(Rose, Meyer, & Gordon, 2016). Including these principles in the initial design of the unit helps

all students access the material presented and gain the essential understandings of the unit. This

built-in differentiation can help make sure the unit will meet every student’s needs. UDL

principles were used to design the assessments throughout the unit, including the final,

cumulative assessment that allowed students to differentiate how to present their learning.

However it is important to also remember that the unit is a guide. More flexibility might be

needed in order to make this unit meet the needs of the classroom as a whole.

One of the first places to gain information on your students to know how to tailor

instruction to them is through a pre-assessment. This data allows you to know what your

students already know and what they don’t or what they might have misconceptions about.

As Heacox (2017) explains, “You may need to include additional goals if students are missing

prerequisite content, skills, or processes. You may also add more advanced or complex goals if

you discover through pre-assessment that your students have a stronger knowledge or experience

base than you expected” (p. 9-10). In the attached unit, before teaching is started, the students

take a pre-assessment in order to find out what prior knowledge there is and what other

information may need to be introduced in order to support all the students in the classroom.

When I taught this unit, I discovered that a few of my students already knew all five types of

pacific salmon and many knew at least two types, so I modified my lesson plans to go deeper

into this area, teaching students both names for each type of salmon and how to tell them apart.

Throughout the unit, assessment needs to continue to occur, both formally and

informally. This data can be used to continue to differentiate to fit the needs of the classroom as

a whole. As Landrigan and Mulligan (2013) state, “Purposeful instruction is based on

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assessment...When we instruct, we watch how [students] respond and use these data to adjust our

instruction” (p. 9). Some students may require additional supports, reteaching, etc. in order to

gain the knowledge needed while others may need differentiation to go deeper into a specific

area that they already have a lot of knowledge about. Observations were very useful informal

assessments as many lessons required using knowledge from past lessons. By listening to

student conversation and seeing their approach to the lesson, I could see what information was

retained and what information needed to be covered again. I included a lot of reinforcement

during this unit, using extra time before specials or between activities to reinforce the material

we had learned in the unit so far.

Students also gain a lot from being able to work together. As Vygotsky (1978) describes,

learning happens in the zone of proximal learning, where students can accomplish difficult tasks

through working with stronger peers. By providing opportunities for students to work together,

discuss what they are experiencing, and practice academic speech with each other, students can

learn from each other, benefitting the entire class. In the attached unit, there are many

opportunities were students work together to collect information, research, and experiment.

These collaborative activities help each student grow and succeed. For example, students work

together to collect information on the different stages of the salmon lifecycle. By working

together, students were able to help each other clarify understanding and sort information into

different categories (food and shelter needs, environment and predator threats).

At the end of the unit, it is important to know what your students have gained from their

learning. Post-assessments can provide valuable information about what knowledge was gained

and where there might still be need for reteaching. Heacox (2017) argues for the following:
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Based on the student results [of the summative assessments], determine the next

appropriate steps in your instructional plans. Will further work be needed with some

students on particular content, skills, or processes? Will the skill or process “spiral” back

into the curriculum at another point so that students will have an opportunity to learn it

again later on? Planning for student needs does not end with summative assessment, but

rather continues to evolve based on data. (p. 11)

The data collected from one unit’s assessments can be used to inform the instructional needs of

another unit. This cyclical process persists as students continue to develop towards the standards

and goals of their grade level. By including the information gained from assessment and

tailoring our instruction to meet the needs of all of our students, our teaching can benefit

everyone in the classroom. This unit gave me a better understanding into which students

understood cause and effects, which informed my lessons later on in the year.
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References

Heacox, D. (2017). ​Making differentiation a habit: How to ensure success in academically

diverse classrooms. ​Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing.

Landrigan, C. & Mulligan, T. (2013). ​Assessment in perspective.​ York, Me.: Stenhouse.

Rose, D. H., Meyer, A., & Gordon, D. (2016). ​Universal design for learning - theory and
practice​. Cast Professional Publishing.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). ​Mind in society.​ (M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, & E.

Souberman, Eds.) Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2015). ​Understanding by design​. Alexandria, VA: Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development