Students Prepick Their Grade

Students in a class at the culmination of a unit were allowed to pick the level of a final project that would gain them a grade of A, B, C or D. This sort of contract with the teacher had t... See More

Students in a class at the culmination of a unit were allowed to pick the level of a final project that would gain them a grade of A, B, C or D. This sort of contract with the teacher had to be signed by parents. Students were then paired up and given a choice of topics to work on for one week. The final project assessment is laid out in this article and students could gain an A for an assignment that was considered higher order thinking skills, down to a D which was only knowledge skills. Suggestions at each level are presented for students to choose. I think this might be a good idea but I don’t see a parent signing off for a D level product.

Differentiated Assessment

The authors gave their students a choice regarding the level of authentic assessments that they would like to achieve on a menu of selection items. Findings indicated that 79% of the student... See More

The authors gave their students a choice regarding the level of authentic assessments that they would like to achieve on a menu of selection items. Findings indicated that 79% of the students selected the “A” category wit 57% of the total students earning A’s. The students selected their project level with parent approval; 98% of students selected projects that required higher level thinking skills. The article includes a thorough example of the student-selected assessments as well as a discussion of potential pitfalls. This method described is a great way to tap into student understanding of big ideas and move away from multiple-choice assessments