Ryan Lucas

University of Colorado-Denver

Information and Learning Technologies Portfolio

We the People...
American Government Pre-Assessment

Problem Statement (top)

Situation Analysis (top)

Unfortunately in this "No Child Left Behind" era, Jefferson County Public Schools has had to forget about the real purpose of assessment. The real purpose of assessment is not to meet a goal set by an accountability committee. Assessment should not be used to determine whether teachers are doing their jobs. The purpose of assessment is to drive instruction. pre-assessment, therefore, is crucial to teaching and to students' learning. Imagine a building contractor showing up to a worksite with wood to build a frame and ignoring that the foundation has not been poured (or poured incorrectly) and beginning to frame anyway. This is what teaching without pre-assessment is like. My goal was to create an interactive Web site that served as a pre-assessment to determine what students already knew about American government.

Rationale for Approach (top)

Using the CourseBuilder extension in Macromedia's Dreamweaver, I used the questions provided by the Center for Civic Education, which are the same questions provided by my school district for the district-wide embedded assessment, and created a Web site that students use to determine what they know about American government. I use this information to guide my instruction. By knowing what general areas students already know about, I tailor my instruction so that it builds off what students already know. At the end of the unit, students use the information that they got from the pre-assessment to tell what they have learned.

Results (top)

The first version of the pre-assessment Web site contained a large graphic and the 30 multiple choice questions for the first level were divided and on three different pages. Students were confused because when they clicked on the link to go to the next set of questions the new page looked very similar to the old page. After helping 116 students work through a Web site that I designed, I decided to change the format so that it was less graphic intensive. I also put all 30 questions on the same page so students continuously scroll down (the same is true for the level II pre-assessment which has 50 questions and the level III pre-assessment which has 60 questions). The result is that this year when students took the pre-assessment they did not have any navigation questions and were able to focus on the pre-assessment content itself.

This year, as I did last year, students took the pre-assessment on the first day of school. In addition to the Web site stating that their grade was not determined on how well they did but rather on completing the pre-assessment, I also tell students that they should record their answers, even if they get the question wrong. This is important because while students are taking the pre-assessment they are recording what their first answer was and then what the correct answer is (if they did not get it right the first time). Taking the pre-assessment usually takes 45 minutes and students are completely engaged since this is the first time that they have taken a test online and taken a test that "doesn't count."

Evidence of Value (top)

After taking the pre-assessment, students turn in their recording sheet so that I can review how well they did and determine if there are specific questions that were missed more frequently than others. This allows me to make sure that I spend extra time on topics that students have had little exposure to or have misconceptions about. Additionally, while students could take this test the "old fashioned way" (paper and pencil), I have found that students are more engaged and excited to learn about American government after taking the pre-assessment online. For many, this is the first time that they have use the Internet for anything but surfing or email. Additionally, students, particularly my gifted and talented students, also enjoy trying their hand at the more advanced levels, either when they are finished with the level I pre-assessment or even later at home. Finally, by comparing what they knew at the beginning of the school year with what they know when they take the district's embedded assessment, students are more aware of what they have learned and how they have grown.

Overall, the benefits of my We the People... Pre-Assessment Web site are as follows:

• Student enjoy taking the pre-assessment online
• Having the pre-assessment online capitalizes on many students' interests in computers and technology
• The pre-assessment provides me with valuable data that helps guide my instruction
• The interactive nature of the online assessment engages students more than answering questions the "old fashioned way"
• The data collected by students about what they know before the unit helps them understand what they have learned after the unit.

Reflections (top)

I was amazed at how eager students were to take a test. Students even when home and showed their parents the Web site and were proud to report back to me that they outscored their parents! An unexpected positive side effect was that parents were engaged in their child's learning. Instead of parents hearing "Fine" when they asked, "How was school today?" students showed their parents my Web site. Parents loved taking the pre-assessment, and one even admitted that she only got one more right than her daughter.

Looking forward, I had the foresight to incorporate a graphic to a post assessment. In the future I would like to learn how to have students take the post test (possibly instead of the "fill in the bubble" test that the district requires) and have their scores reported directly to me. Additionally, if I could learn enough programming (possibly php) I could create a database that could store student's pre-assessment scores, determine which questions were the most missed, and finally compare students'; pre-assessment scores to students' post assessment scores.

Overall, I am pleased with the results that my pre-assessment Web site has created. Seeing students thoroughly engaged in an online activity and know that the results of the pre-assessment will serve to direct my instruction is a teacher's dream!

Responsibilities Fulfilled (top)

Responsibility 4: Understands how to capitalize on the capacities and abilities of each learner

Since students record both their first answer and the correct answer while taking the pre-assessment, I have valuable data about what students know and misconceptions that they have. With this information I plan my instruction to build on what students know. In this way, I assess students' capabilities and capitalize on what they already know.

Responsibility 6: Uses incisive and relevant assessment and evaluation techniques

Using my online pre-assessment to direct my instruction demonstrates my awareness of the role of assessment in support of students' learning. Furthermore my pre-assessment Web site is an appropriate assessment tool because it correlates to the district-wide embedded assessment. Since the questions are the same on both assessments, students can directly compare what they knew to what they know. The possibility that the embedded assessment results are contaminated because students see the actual questions is minimized because students take the embedded assessment four months after the pre-assessment. Additionally, since students take the test the first day of school, the likelihood that they will memorize the correct responses for 30 questions is not great given that they are still struggling with opening their lockers and finding their way to their next class. Finally, I further demonstrate my knowledge of the role of assessment by recognizing that the embedded assessment is not useful unless there is a valid pre-assessment to determine what student already know.