Over the years, I've slipped on giving pre-tests because so many of my students have been traveling that it was hard to do even the unit tests. Unfortunately, the school had a 52% absenteeism rate and it got easier just to go through the material.
Next year, I've made a promise to get back to using pre and post tests because both provide useable data. The pre-test helps identify student weaknesses so the lesson can focus on that rather than what they already know.
This data allows the teacher to develop a lesson which incorporates both differentiation and scaffolding to meet the needs the different levels of proficiency. Most times when we discuss proficiency, we classify students as below basic, basic, proficient, or advanced. If students score at least a proficient on a topic, it means the teacher does not have to teach that topic since the students know it and the teacher can move on.
The advantages of a pretest include:
1. The pre-test shows the level of student understanding and knowledge while the post test shows how much the student learned over the course of the unit. The information on how much students learned in a unit can be compared to other years or other classes
2. Pre-tests do not only provide teachers with data but they also give the students a preview of the material being covered in the unit. Furthermore, the pretest exposes the student to vocabulary, key ideas, and concepts and the more exposure students get, the more likely they will learn the material and this is just the first step for the unit.
3. Pre-tests can also help identify any gaps the students how so the teacher can incorporate scaffolding in the lesson. Some of the questions can be on the new topic but be done in such a way as to incorporate some review.
4. Pre-tests can also be used to determine the effectiveness of the curriculum. It can also be used to see if any of the changes made to the curriculum is effective based on test results.
One of the biggest disadvantages to using pre-tests is that they must be well written or they will not provide effective data.
As stated earlier post tests help the teacher determine the amount of growth a student made during the unit. In addition, the post test gives information on whether the material needs to be retaught or the students learned it well enough to move on. Post tests can also help teachers determine what students still do not understand.
Teachers then use the data from the post test to write future lesson plans because they need to be focused on helping students become proficient in mathematics because post tests are a great assessment for identifying student misunderstandings or misconceptions, for finding additional gaps in their knowledge.
Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear. Have a great day.
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