Planning, Preparation, Instruction, and Assessment

Parker Thoroughgood

Regent University
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Planning, Preparation, Instruction, and Assessment

Introduction

When starting with a unit where a new subject is introduced it is important to administer a pre-

assessment. Going into a new unit without administering a pre-assessments is like going into a

lesson blind. It is important to know where your students are at pertaining to their understanding

of the content. If teachers are unaware of their students' knowledge of the material there is no

way of knowing where the students are at before the start of the unit. Having prior knowledge of

where your students are at gives teachers the power to tailor the content in the lesson to give the

students the best chance to be successful in assessments. Also, the knowledge that a pre-

assessment gives you allows the teacher to not waste time on content that is strong with the class.

The Rationale of Selected Artifacts

Pre-Assessment

I feel that pre-assessment is a tool for teachers to use not only to gather data on their students but

can be an exciting and creative way to introduce a lesson. An article written from the University

of Kentucky by Thomas R. Guskey states that pre-assessments should be exciting tools for

learning “the pre-assessment should emphasize “Here are the exciting things you’re going to

learn.” (Guskey, 2016) The pre-assessment that I gave to my fourth-grade class in my first

placement. This was a pre-assessment that assessed students' knowledge of the difference

between fiction and nonfiction. This pre-assessment aligned with Virginia SOL standard 4.4 a-b.

eIn this assessment students were given a group of text and were required to sort the different

text into their appropriate sections. This was a great pre-assessment for my students because it

had a very informal feel which made it less of a stress on my students. I have noticed that with

different assessments and even more so with pre-assessments where students for the most part

have no idea what the content is there are some anxieties with taking these assessments. To
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Planning, Preparation, Instruction, and Assessment

negate that issue I was able to create an informal assessment, unlike a normal quiz that makes it a

creative way to assess students. 

Post-Assessment

The next assessment that I chose is a post-assessment that I used to gage my 5th-grade students'

understanding of the content in a science lesson. For this assessment, I used a Google Form to

assess my students' understanding of the content that I had taught throughout the unit. My

purpose for giving the assessment was to gather data for remediation review before the had a

main assessment for the whole unit. I was using the Google Form to get fast and accurate data on

how my students performed. I used the data to then form remediation groups to help support my

students as they reviewed for their final assessments. 

Reflection on Theory and Practice

Pre and post-assessments play a big part in the way that I teach because it affects the way that I

make my groups for both small group activities and reviews. It is important for me to always be

pulling data on my students in every lesson that I teach. I feel that understanding the exact

information that you need to teach not only at the beginning of the lesson but at the end

for grouping in different review and remediation settings. It is important to understand the

importance of regular data collecting to help guide instruction and give the best learning

experience to the students.

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Planning, Preparation, Instruction, and Assessment

References

Guskey, T. (2016). PRE-ASSESSMENT: Promises and Cautions. Educational Leadership,

73(7).