DIAGNOSTIC

       

As per Laureate Education 2012, I assess my students utilizing a variety of methods to meet the strengths of all of my students. Diagnostic assessments are a form of pre-assessment that allows me to determine students' personal strengths, weaknesses and knowledge on a topic prior to being taught the content. I use diagnostic assessments in my classroom to diagnose student misunderstandings and difficulties engaging with content and to inform my planning process. Diagnostic assessment is a useful tool for both teachers and students to gauge what students already know on a given topic. In my classroom this allows me to take a snapshot of student starting points to help me group students for differentiation to chart the most efficient course to student mastery of standards.

All of the diagnostic assessments below were pulled from one particular unit on the foundations of American law. The diagnostic assessments below include analyzing a political cartoon with prompting from a recent vocabulary lesson, student bell work journals and a teacher annotated clipboard based on student question and answer activities. 

 

 

Unit Diagnostic Assessment: Political Cartoon Analysis

 

Political cartoons are cartoons that make an encrypted point about a political issue. As an instructional tool, political cartoons are a useful way to challenge students with a topic they have not formally learned before because they offer evidence that students can build ideas upon through analyzing the details of the cartoon. I instruct my students in the beginning of the year to utilize a strategy called P.O.S.E.S. that guides students towards detailing the people, objects, setting, engagement and significance of the cartoon before drawing conclusions. Political cartoons are an excellent way to broadcast student creativity and ability to make predictions and draw inferences about content. Since political cartoons also play a large role in state-standardized assessments, using them as a diagnostic tool gives students ample time to practice analysis skills. This particular assessment includes analyzing a political cartoon with prompting from a recent vocabulary lesson. In this diagnostic assessment, I felt that it was important to logically sequence questions to build onto larger ideas for students since I had not covered any of the topics formally in the class yet. I did not want my students to get discouraged because  the topic may appear abstract so it was important to ask questions that I felt were both challenging and attainable at the same time. For this benchmark, students were prompted with a cartoon depicting Lady Justice and her relationship to the Rule of Law. Students were only introduced to the definition of Rule of Law before being challenged with the cartoon below. 

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Daily Diagnostic Assessment: Bell Work Journals

 

Journals are a tool to engage students in opening routines and bell work in my class. Bell work is work that students are directed to complete immediately upon entering the classroom as the bell is ringing, hence its name. These forms of diagnostic assessments take place right when students enter my classroom everyday and draw on new material that students have not previously been exposed to in my class. Students have an opportunity to interact with the day's topic in an informal method while drawing connections to their personal lives. Typically students are posed with situations that ask for their opinion or proposed solution to a conflict. I try to vary the different tasks that I give to my students from sketching images, creating lists, writing personal narratives, writing poetry and more. Students demonstrate high levels of engagement during this form of diagnostic assessment as it calls on them to be creative and for their voice to be heard. Although bell work journals are only assessed informally through a cursory check, it gives me a quick glance at how students are feeling that day and what kind of work they are going to put forth. Additionally it gives me an idea as to what perspective students are approaching a given issue with. After a short daily writing period, students are invited to share aloud so that perspectives can be shared and I can clear up any major misconceptions in approaches before diving into the content. In the specific journal below, students were asked to create a "Meme Alignment Chart" ("How society sees me, how my parents see me, etc.). The goal of this assessment was for me to measure whether or not students were equipped with the idea that our self-image is a result of multiple perspectives on us at all times. Students who were successful on this assessment drew cartoons in their chart that reflected varied perspectives on what kind of person they are. Using this understanding, students would be engaging in a formative assessment later in the day that described the different points of view that colonists had towards the British during the Revolutionary War period. This assignment helped to shape later instruction by giving me data that showed which students might struggle with the upcoming content.

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Daily Diagnostic Assessment: Clipboard

 

In order to informally assess student bell work, stop and jots and verbal responses to teacher prompted guiding questions, I assign scores on my clipboard based on journal entries and student interactions. In this way I use these daily diagnostics to guide my instructional decision-making throughout the lesson. For example, based on how well I feel a student understands the topic, I might make a make an annotation to remind myself which students might need additional prompting and assistance throughout the days lesson. This can be useful as I am aware which students have particular needs in any given area. I may make a note signifying that a student requires a few extra minutes after class to finish an assignment or cue me to make a parent contact if I feel that a student needs extra support at home.