** This post is part of a larger post: Developing a Gifted and Talented Program. **

Why Preassess?

When teachers preassess their students, they are able to see what level the students are at with the material that is going to be taught in the unit. This allows the teacher to see what his/her students’ prior knowledge, experience, and skills are. Preassessing helps teachers to see who already knows the information so they can plan other activities for the students to do that will enhance their learning instead of having them sit through material they already know.

How to Preassess

Before a teacher begins preassessing his/her students, it should be explained to the class the purpose of the preassessment. This will help alleviate some of the stress students put on themselves to do good on the test. It is important to stress that this will not be counted as a grade in the gradebook, so it will not be counted against them if they do not do well on it. Explain that the purpose of the preassessment is for the teacher to see what the students already know in order to help them be more successful throughout the current unit. It is also a great preview for the students to see what they will be learning.

When it comes to preassessing, it is important to remember that what may work for one subject, unit, etc. may not work for another. Due to this reason, having a variety of options to choose from for preassessing can be helpful for a teacher so he/she can decide what works best for that purpose.

One way way to preassess before beginning a unit is having the students complete the unit’s final assessment. If a student gets 80% or higher correct, then he/she does not need to do the unit because they already mastered the material.

There are a variety of other ways teachers can preassess their students. Below are just some of the different strategies that can be used.

• 5 Most Difficult First – Choose five of the hardest questions from the unit. If a student gets four or five of them correct, they do not need to do the unit. (This also works well with assignments – if they know four of the five questions, then they do not need to complete the rest of the assignment.)
• KWL or OWL Charts
  • KWL
    • What do you already KNOW?
    • What do you WANT to know?
    • How do you want to LEARN? or What did you LEARN?
  • OWL
    • Observe
    • Wonder
    • Learn
• Have students write down what they know about the topic.
• Have an informal discussion with the student.
• True/False questions
• Multiple choice questions
• Writing prompts (for writing samples)
• Small group discussions
• Entrance/exit tickets
• Anticipation guide
• Open-ended questions
• Defining vocabulary terms
• DRA/Running records
• Create a drawing related to topic or content
• Student products and work samples
• Observations/checklists

Here’s a resource with other ideas one can use for preassessing.

What to Do After Preassessing

One mistake many teachers make is having students complete the preassessment and then not doing anything with it. It is important that one follows through so the students’ time is not being wasted both by completing the preassessment and by having to do work throughout the unit when they already know the material/skills.

After receiving the results, teachers should think about how they can differentiate the content, lessons, etc. For example, students who score 80% or better on the preassessment could complete an independent project or participate in another experience that would meet the assignment’s objectives.

Does the whole class already know the skills or concepts? If so, skip it! Move on to the next skill/concept or extend the lesson to make it more beneficial for everyone.

Tips

• Give the preassessment a few weeks before the start of the unit in order to make sure there is time to look them over and decide how the lesson/unit will be taught.
• Make sure the preassessment is created to help distinguish what students should be able to do and know at the end of the unit/lesson. If it does not do this, then it will not help with differentiating the unit.
• Teachers should make sure their students know they are not using the preassessment as a grade. Students should understand that the teacher does not expect them to know the information, rather it is to help the teacher plan for the lesson/unit.
• After the lesson/unit is done, compare the final assessment with the preassessment to see how the students did learning the materials.
• Remember that preassessments do not need to be done for every new unit.
• Preassessments can be short, such as having five questions for each standard that will be taught in the unit.