Fitting Everything in IS a Challenge!

A couple days ago I was asked a pretty big question about implementing the Assessments with Learning Goals and Scales in the classroom. I wanted to give it ample space because a few sentences just isn't going to cover it!

User 5th_is_Fab has written the following comment regarding 
"4th Grade Common Core Math Assessment with Learning Goals & Scales!":

This is AMAZING and the amount of time that went into creating this is also AMAZING. However, in a real classroom where I only have x amount of time to teach all standards, I am racking my brain trying to figure out how to use this in the full way it was intended. We do not just teach one standard at a time so to group standards as a complete test would take the students a very long time to complete and a very long time for me to grade. (I only teach math... so I have 90 students.) I was thinking about starting them early and educating the parents on the importance of these assessments. That way I can do this as somewhat of a flipped model and have the students complete at home so not a ton of class time is disturbed.

I couldn't find your name, but you have an impressive profile; Teacher of the Year twice in your county? You obviously know what you're doing, so I'll assume you have a very well-structured classroom. I can definitely relate to limited time. I also worked as a resource teacher for a multi-age class so differentiation was a necessity.  Covering 3 grade levels of content was a constant problem to solve. 

First, I would say that the tests can be time consuming, but since they take the same test twice, you are actually killing two birds with one stone. The kids get some of the test done the first time through and you get some valuable feedback about who is in the most need of remediation or enrichment. I found in my classes that there were actually lessons I could skip altogether or review really quickly because I had seen their pretest results. I never had 90 students, so that is a pretty big hurdle to get over, especially when you'd be grading them twice. Hmmm... 

     

If your parent population is really engaged you could try to educate the parents on understanding the Portfolio Pages and the Assessment levels and have them do the pretest portion at home. My concern would be that it could get really tricky if a student comes back with all 4 levels complete and correct and you didn't actually see them do any of it. Maybe have some kind of limit on it, like they can only complete levels 1 and 2, then be given the rest as a post-test. You could observe in class which students are really catching on and compare that with their results. 

If you can get a few parent volunteers that you trust completely, you could ask for help grading the pretests.

The pretest score should not affect their grade in class, it is only a starting point; so whether or not you actually correct every problem may not make a huge difference. Their starting place would then be an estimate that they are making and recording on their Portfolio forms. You have to decide based on your students age, maturity, and circumstances if this will still serve the purpose of helping them become aware of their progress and see their own growth. This is the most important thing and the purpose of using scales!

You could start out by asking the students to give themselves an informal pretest score without grading it. So, they get the test page for the first time and are given a time limit in class such as 10-20 minutes to complete as much as they can. Without grading it, they see how far they got and try to answer honestly, "Can I do the problems in this section?" If they feel confident and you can see by browsing their paper for 10 seconds that they got that far, then they can color in a pretest level on their Portfolio forms. Then when you actually give the post-test you are only grading it once. 

I stopped grading my daily practice work when I realized that my students had no safe place to make mistakes. I would grade projects and larger in-class assignments, but had my students check their own daily practice work in small rotating groups from the teacher manual. Meanwhile I was around helping other kids. I had smaller classes so maybe it was easier for me to keep an eye on them. They also had each other and the group kept them pretty honest. You could have them take the pretests and them come together in small groups with an answer key that only covers sections 1 and 2, so they can't cheat on the grade level content. Then they would also get immediate feedback on their starting point for that standard.

You could also have them do things like writing reflections at home after the post test. Then parents could see how their child is doing and have their own conversation with them. For 4th graders, writing reflections may be difficult and very time consuming so I would definitely save that for homework. 

I definitely clumped the pre-test and post-test standards into small groups when I was teaching them. Some of them are quick and easy to get through. I understand that most resources aren't designed to match the standards, so there's always an overlap in content. That's no problem because you want your students to learn the content for good, not for a week or two before you move onto something else. I would usually give 1-3 assessments at a time, teach my unit, etc., and then spread out the post-tests so they were a week or two apart from each other. It can feel like a lot to keep track of, but since my district aligned scales to our grading system, I wasn't grading any other assessment - rarely any class practice, a few quizzes, and homework grades were mostly completion points because our district policy did not support heavy grading of homework assignments. You may have to reprioritize what you're grading and how much grading you need to do to have grades that really represent your student's learning. Ideally, their scores in the scales become their grade because that is what really shows what they know! Check your district's policies and see what you're comfortable with. 

I spent about a year and a half writing the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade Assessments for my multi-age math class. I spent another half a year at least trying to implement them routinely. It is a work in progress so I would encourage you to be patient with yourself. You're taking on the work to do something that could enrich your students, and that is admirable!  Keep trying to prioritize your class time by asking what activities will help your kids take ownership of their learning and make the most progress? You can trust your professional judgment and make modifications as needed. As long as you see your students progressing, you don't have to pressure yourself to do every assessment, lesson, or "good idea" that comes along. Marzano's research indicates that using learning goals and scales can make a huge difference in student growth because they help kids to become aware of their own learning and feel like they have some control over it. Otherwise you really are the one doing all the work for them. It's a lot of work when you first start using scales; writing them, implementing them, and tracking them, but it can also save you some wasted time teaching lessons you don't need or explaining to parents what their child is doing all year! Once it's a routine, it gets a little easier. 

Dear "5th is Fab" I hope you found some helpful ideas to try. Please keep in touch and let me know how it's going for you! I really commend you for trying to make this work smoothly in your situation.

Sincerely, 

Melanie LiCausi :)

Games in the Classroom! FUN! FUN! FUN!

This time of the year with test pressure behind us, lots of teachers are looking for fun ways to review or unwind. I have always loved using games in the classroom, but they can easily get out of hand or become huge time-wasters if not structured the right way. The best way I've found to structure game times is to use a timer!! This is very simple, very effective in getting a cooperative response from your students, and keeps you in a facilitative role instead of looking like the bad guy for stopping the fun!
These games are intended for grades 3-8 and include:
1. Math Madness: An Interactive Power Point Quiz Game.All answers are linked to a "Correct!" or "Oops!" page so students can play independently. (Grade Level Specific)
2. Overloaded Liters where students work through a visual representation of the place value system while earning cash for answering simple conversion problems.
3. Metric Mountain, a more advanced game that I developed for my high and gifted elementary students to practice metric conversions with decimals. This game helps students to develop an understanding of the inverse relationship between the size of pieces and amount of pieces being compared in equivalent decimal numbers such as 5 decimeters and 50 centimeters.

Sorry, this Raffle has ended, but you can still find these games by following the links below.

No Prep Math Madness Interactive Power Point, Overloaded Liters, and Metric Mountain! 

(These games were designed for grades 3-8 aligned to the Common Core Standards).

Visit my online store to download a free copy of Equivalent Fractions Games, a Power Point presentation that will teach your students how to add and subtract unit fractions using blocks. Templates are included so you can print your own blocks if you don't have plastic ones.

             

Thanks for stopping by!

4th Grade Common Core Math Quizzes - Freebie Frenzie!

Last week's freebie was the 3rd Grade Common Core Math Quizzes, this week 4th grade is done and posted!

Grab the 4th Grade Common Core Math Quizzes for ALL Standards for FREE before they become a paid product. 4th grade is one of those tough years where you are covering skills like measuring angles, for the first time ever, and your students may need a little extra practice to ensure mastery. The Quizzes can be used as another document of mastery in your Student Portfolio Binders, or sent home to share progress with parents.

         

            

The 3rd Grade Bundle is also ready and will be published tomorrow on my TpT store.

I really want to give a gift to those of you who have already been using the Math materials with Learning Goals and Scales. You shouldn't have to buy another item when new buyers will get it all in one discounted bundle.
I will announce each grade level set as it is finished, so please KEEP in TOUCH!
The quizzes will only be free for a few days, and then they will become paid products. You can see the updates on my Facebook page, my Pinterest boards, or here. Just click the "Follow Me" buttons.

                                              Thanks for stopping by!

Do Your Students Act Like Getting an A is a "Lucky" Day?

 Linking up with Getting Nerdy with Mel & Gerdy today for Secondary Sunday FREEBIES!

Click my FREEBIES tab above to find free samples of every resource I use to help 

kids assess and track their own progress with Learning Goals and Scales. 

Sometimes kids act like getting a A+ is like hitting the jackpot, and I would think, Wow It's great to see them light up and get so excited! They are so proud of themselves, and so happy with their accomplishments. Usually it was the same kids over and over. Then there were the other ones who never received As. I could see in their faces that they stopped getting excited a while ago. What's the problem with this picture?

I realized that my students had NO IDEA 

where their grades came from! 

Some kids might attribute it to "being smart" or say that "school is just easy for me." Other kids would say that they were dumb, or that I didn't like them as much. Getting an A was "lucky" and some kids were just never that lucky. I wanted to communicate to them that getting an A has nothing to do with luck - it has to do with CHOICES.
"I choose to...

...pay attention in class."
...use my time productively."
...ask questions when I don't understand."
...learn from other students who do get it."
...ask myself questions about what I understand."
...complete practice assignments like homework, before the test date!"
...be aware of my strengths and weaknesses so I know when I need help and when I don't."
...persevere when something feels tough or takes a long time."

Notice, none of these statements have anything to do with intelligence! Of course it can be a factor, but most of the time these choices have become habits of good students; and unfortunately aren't practiced by their lower-performing peers.

How can we help kids make this connection that their accomplishments 

are directly related to their choices, and not luck?

Marzano & Haystead's research shows that students perform up to 34 percentiles more when they have clear and specific goals and track their progress in some progressive way.

 This graph was taken from The Department of Safe Schools Single School Culture © for Academics The School District of Palm Beach County, Fl .

I noticed a difference in my student's attitudes as well as performance when we began using specific learning goals with scales and tracking their progress in student portfolios. The kids got to SEE their progress, specific examples of the content they were expected to master, and how each level in a scale related to their grades. My district had assigned a specific grading percentages to each scale so that grading became really quick and easy as well! Read more about Grading Scales here.

If you click on my FREEBIES tab, you'll find FREE copies of the Student Portfolio pages, and some Posters and Assessment samples with scales as well. These free materials are a great way to get ideas and get scales going in your classroom!

Thanks for stopping by!

What Can Marzano Scales Do for Gifted and Talented Students?

This week I am attending the 41st Annual AAGT Conference in Phoenix, AZ! 

I had the pleasure and sometimes anxiety of working with gifted and advanced students for 5 1/2 years in my last school district. It was a unique position because I was traveling between two Title I schools where the qualified gifted populations were small, and sometimes struggling to sustain services. In order to keep classes large enough, we experimented with adding high-ability students who weren't scoring high enough to have "gifted" status, but seemed to have a lot of potential to advance.

When I started using learning goals and scales with my 4th & 5th grade multiage math classes, I felt like they were helping me more than the kids. Defining each level of a scale meant that I could quickly plan differentiation for the limited class time I had. Having students who were gifted and high, for two grade levels meant that I had a wide variety of skills, even in these advanced classes.

After we established a routine of referring to and tracking the kid's progress in scales, I saw the benefits for them as well.

1. Accountability- Unfortunately not all children capable of learning quickly are motivated to work! There are multiple reasons and theories why this can be true, but if you've worked with gifted kids, you know that they aren't always the best students. Finishing assignments, staying organized, coping with challenges or perfectionism, emotional or social troubles, can distract them from achieving as much as they are capable of, or mastering the skills that you are interested in having them focus on (primarily the standards).

2. Differentiation- Sometimes teachers assume that a qualified gifted or talented student will be good at everything. They may even assume that they don't have to worry about their progress all year because they will do fine no matter what - not so! These kids are as varied in skills and strengths as anyone else in their classroom and have to be treated as individuals. Even a student who is "gifted" in a specific area, such as math or language arts, they may not have mastered every skill in that area. I had gifted language kids who had amazing vocabularies and profound comprehension, but they really struggled to write fluently. I had math students who were so quick with figures and mental computations, but struggled with word problem application or isolated topics like algebra or geometry. They need differentiation too, and being able to specifically identify their areas of need saves valuable classroom teaching time and can keep them motivated. They get the chance to consistently work on things that they really haven't mastered. This could mean that they move into a scale from the next grade level, or deepen their knowledge and application of grade-level skills.

3. Affirmation! Most gifted and talented kids know that they are smart, but outside of individual projects they don't often have opportunities to display how much they've learned! Sometimes a really advanced student will enter your room already knowing most of the grade-level curriculum, meaning that the usual curriculum and assessments aren't going to show their true growth as a learner. These kids deserve resources to keep them moving forward just as much as any other student. I have found that the scales, which include advanced skills, help these students to pin point where they are going next and affirm that they are learning new things too!

If you'd like to learn more about using Learning Goals with Scales in your room,  there is a quick video tutorial available on my YouTube Playlist -
How to Use Learning Goals with Marzano Scales.

Below are examples of the Student Portfolio Binders I used to track and sort students' Assessments and work. You can get these Portfolios by following the link to my "FREEBIES" page. Grades 3-8

Geometry with Origami - Movie Clip Monday Linky!

Techie Turtle Teacher has started a fun new linky party called "Movie Clip Monday." I loved using video clips in my classroom because it helps students to visualize concepts and reinforce verbal explanations. What a great idea to share ideas and save each other some time scanning the web for the best ones.

A few days ago I posted my FREE Geometry quizzes for Grades 3-8. I wrote about a vocabulary illustration assignment that I used in my classroom to help students make creative associations between the plethora of vocal terms, and the visual geometric representations for each one. Follow this link to read my previous post and enter my weekly Raffle!

Today I'd like to share a website with multiple video clips that illustrate folding techniques for origami projects. Kids LOVE this!!!! I have always loved origami, but in the past teaching my students with the step-by-step diagrams was very difficult for most. These video clips are awesome because they animate each fold and you have the option of repeating the demonstration, speeding it up, sowing it down, or playing it in reverse!

Here are some project ideas for Valentines Day from Origami Club. The stars indicate the level of difficulty. The menu to the left gives other categories of projects. (animation) means there's a video.

Things to keep in mind when using origami for geometry:

1. Know what you want to teach! The Common Core Geometry standards vary widely for each grade level and aren't necessarily in sequence; meaning 4th graders for example, are learning about angles for the first time with little to no prior knowledge or vocabulary. I always found it helpful to have a list of vocabulary words or concepts posted along my front board so I could remind myself what to refer to.

Your vocal/concept list might include: symmetry, lines, angles, polygon shapes, or transformations. There are so many things you can point out while working through the steps!

2. Partner kids with different competencies. Some kids really take to the 3-D visualization of paper-folding, and others do not get it. There's no way to get around the room to help every kid who gets stuck on the first step. Partner them with a peer or in small groups so that there's at least one confident student who can help the others. You can simply ask kids who has done origami before, or do a few quick test directions to see who is following along quickly and easily. 

These are a couple of origami models I would keep in the classroom to spark curiosity. The cube required 12 pieces of paper, and the star polyhedron required 30!

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy trying these videos with your class!!!

Pre-Algebra Manipulatives and Apps

So, a few days ago I linked up with Teaching Trio for the Sunday Scoop and shared some example slides of pre-algebra problems from Common Core. The examples are from an interactive whiteboard application from Hands-On Equations. I accidentally deleted it - a long annoying story. I was going to repost it anyways and thought Tech Thursday would be the perfect opportunity! It relates to so many grade levels, whether you're teaching Common Core math or not.

I used Hands-On Equations with my 3rd-5th grade gifted and advanced students, but I also taught the basics to regular 3rd-5th grade classroom teachers from my two elementary schools. Your students do not have to be gifted to use it, and the program itself is developed with many levels, some of which I will illustrate below, so the exact same resources can be used from grades 2-8, and the students just work up to their own capacity.

The image above will give you an idea of how the materials needed, you will basically use the manipulatives to set up any problem involving a variable (missing number). The actual materials are very simple to create yourself using blocks, markers, or digital images, but the instructional progression of skills and problems for teachers and students come with the program. The examples below will show how the manipulatives can be used at various grade levels.

There are a few basic rules to using Hands-On Equations that come form the Properties of Operations. The first and most important one being, "Whatever you do to change the problem on one side, you must do to the other side." The second one is that you want to use inverse operations to simplify your equations! Subtraction should be used first, to get rid of extra values and simplify the equation, and then multiplication or division of values can be applied if necessary. Addition really doesn't enter in until the negative values are present; then students are adding values to both sides to make zeros, which are easier to work with.

The blocks are used to set up the equation or story problem. Red blocks represent positive integers. Blue markers represent positive variables. Green blocks represent negative numbers. White markers represent negative variables. The negatives become useful in the middle school standards. The red lines mean that values are being changed. If you use actual blocks, then you'd simply trade them for whatever you need next.

2.OA.1: 2 is subtracted from both sides. x = 5; 7 = 7.

The "Check" is part of the problem-solving routine. Kids have to redo the original problem with the new x value they've just found. It gets them in the habit of checking their work!

3.OA.4: Divide by 3 on both sides. x = 4; 12 = 12

 4.OA.3: Subtract 22 on each side. Divide by 3 on both sides. x = 12; 58 = 58.

For story problems and problems with large numbers, the pictorial method that allows students to draw out the blocks on paper, if they can't use real manipulatives at the time. Filled triangles represent positive variables; empty triangles would represent negative variables. Squares represent positive integers; circles would represent negative integers (see 7.NS.3 and 8.EE.2. below).

 5.OA.1: Add 15 to both sides. Divide by 3 on both sides. x = 11; 48 = 48.

6.EE.3: Subtract 6 on both sides. Divide by 3 on both sides. When 0 = 0, x can be any number!

                  7.NS.3: Add 7 to both sides. Divide by 12 on both sides. x = -12; -151 = -151.

             8.EE.2: Take the cubed root of both sides. Add 10 to both sides. x = 3; -343 = -343.

I have chosen a few examples based on the Common Core Standards for each grade level, but the complete program includes 26 different levels of increasing difficulty. It's a fantastic resource for differentiation or small group work with your higher students! Again, if buying a new program is not a possibility for you right now, you can definitely create your own materials and use it with your regular grade-level problems.

The materials you will need per student or pair are:

workman or model of a balance
2 dice with digits 0-5 (2 of each color)
2 dice with digits 5-10 (2 of each color)
8-10 colored markers (for each color)
(The actual colors are not important, as long as you have equal numbers of both.)

Hands-On Equations, the official program, can be found at http://www.borenson.com. Please visit the homepage and browse through some of the research and examples. I love this program so much, because as a visual-spatial learner, I always had trouble remembering the rules of equation transformation and equality. I was always taught Algebra as if it were just a big "to do" list of rules. The rules were hard for me to remember because I didn't have a concrete understanding of why we had to do it this way.  Consequently, I failed Algebra two different semesters, in 8th grade and in 10th grade. My mom hired a tutor and I started getting As again. My tutor didn't know about this program, but she did know how to explain concepts with concrete images instead of just rules.

I hope you found this helpful and will try using manipulatives for your pre-algebra lessons. If you're looking for more apps from Hands-On Equations, you can visit their Products page.

This month's Follower Freebie is a "Who Has" Game for practicing Pre-Algebra Expressions. Different sets allow differentiation for Grades 3-8! Sign up for my email Newsletter to get this exclusive offer! This offer will expire by Dec. 15th, 2014. Sign up today!

5 Steps to Creating Successful Common Core Scales for Student Learning

Linking up with Middle School Math Moments for Working on It Wednesday!

Is it just me, or is it a little bit time-consuming to create unique scales? The following article gives a 5-step process to create your own scales for any learning goal you choose.  This might be helpful if you're just starting out and trying to understand what each scale means.

5 Steps to Creating Successful Common Core Scales for Student Learning - 
                                         Learning Sciences Marzano Center

What I find much most difficult is deciding what content or sub-goal should be at each scale under the primary goal. When I am developing assessments, I usually define each sub-goal as a sub-skill or previous grade level skill that they would've needed to master first.

I have completed Grades 4-8, 

including the FREE Standards sets, Posters, and Portfolio pages! Yeah! 

I am still working on third grade. Here's some examples of 3.OA.6 and 3.OA.7.

I liked the ease of using a general scale, but felt like it wasn't enough for my students to be clear about how much they knew. I wanted to create specific scales as suggested in the article above. The Assessment helps to define each level with examples for the students. The posters give students a visual reminder of the scale for each standard.  By the end of this month I will be done with the Assessment, the Posters, and the FREE Portfolio Pages for tracking student progress. If you click the "Follow Me" star you will receive notices when products are published or revised.

Visit my store for a free sample of the Assessment with Common Core Standards 3.NBT.1, 3.NBT.2, & 3.NBT.3!

Thanks for stopping by!

Need Help Using Learning Goals and Scales? - FREE Resources To Get You Started!

Everyone, kids and adults, need time to try new things out for themselves to see how it "fits." I know for me reading directions from other people, or seeing sample pages can give me good ideas, but I may or may not interpret them the same, or be able to apply them in the same classroom contexts. We all have different student demographics, cultural norms, and personal tendencies that add variety to every teaching experience! This can be rich and exciting because we get great ideas from each other, but also disappointing if we don't see the same results. SO, I have re-organized my FREE Assessment & Poster previews with Learning Goals and Scales to be separate documents with more content for you to try before you commit to using them yourself. 

If you are new to using Learning Goals and Scales, or you are being forced to use them by your district/administration, you may feel reluctant or overwhelmed. Getting organized always helps me feel more comfortable. Click on my FREEBIES tab to find free samples of the resources mentioned below.


Watch a Quick Video Tutorial on YouTube

Step 1: Know Your Learning Goals!

Learning Goals are simply statements of what the students should learn. It helps them and you focus on what's most important to spend time on. They can be versed a number of different ways, and range from small discreet skills, to large sweeping generalizations. This was hard for me to wrap my head around at first, so I started simple, I wrote sentences on the white board everyday at the beginning of class.  The kids would copy them down on a weekly "Reflection Sheet" or learning log.

Step 2: How will you present your Scales?

These learning goals and scales are based on the research and suggestions of Robert J. Marzano, in The Art and Science of Teaching: A Comprehensive Framework for Effective Instruction. Learning Goals and scales follow this basic structure;

I found it easiest to start with a general scale for every learning goal since I hadn't had the time to create unique ones for different subjects. I posted this in my classroom for the kids to refer to.

Once the kids know the scale, they can talk about where they think they're at. Some of my fifth grade colleagues had the great idea of having kids write on the reflection sheet, where they started and where they ended for each unit or lesson so they could document their growth. This is an informal approach because the students are assessing themselves according to their own interpretation. Below you can see what this might look like.

If your students don't have reflection sheets, you can also ask them informally; you say something like "Show me on your fingers where you think you're at right now." (You might want kids to do this on their chest or under their chin for more privacy.)

I wasn't as comfortable with the informal method. I felt like it is important for kids to learn to assess themselves, and it's great for making snap decisions about what to do with my next few minutes of instruction; but kids this age are still learning to be self-aware, and they don't often have the background knowledge to be objective; some are overly confident, and some will feel insecure about their learning no matter how smart they are! So, I continued to use the informal scales on the board, and fingers in the air, but I also developed a concrete scale for the grade levels I taught so I could feel organized and give the kids real examples of what it means to make progress! Below are the posters I made for a few math standards. 

Follow the link to Mrs. L's Leveled Learning Store get FREE sets of Assessments, Posters, and Student Portfolio pages. Just click not he grade level you need under the "Custom Categories."

Grades 3 -8 Available.

Step 3: How will you Assess kids with Scales?

These learning goals and scales are based on the research and suggestions of Robert J. Marzano, in The Art and Science of Teaching: A Comprehensive Framework for Effective Instruction. Learning Goals and scales follow this basic structure;

These posters align with grade-level assessments I created so that I could present a consistent and concrete way of presenting each standard to students. The grade-level tabs for this blog will give you some more examples of the assessment pages and student work.

3rd Grade

4th Grade

5th Grade

6th Grade

7th Grade

8th Grade

              

 

Step 4: How will you track kids progress with Scales?

My first attempt to create a tracking sheet for the scales was very old-school. I made a simple chart in a word doc. This summer I upgraded the word docs to color-coded excel spreadsheets with links to the common core standard descriptions for quick reference. Now they look like this...you can use the sorting function to group your students for differentiation.

Follow this link for your FREE Excel Spreadsheets! Search for Grades 1-8 in my store.

Step 5: How can kids track and record their own progress with Scales?

Portfolios were something I always wanted to incorporate in my classroom because they are so awesome when parents and administrators come in with questions like "What are your kids doing all day?" But getting organized was another story. I only got as far as math before I had my second baby, but below are some examples of the portfolio dividers I made for kids. Each kids received a binder at the beginning of the year with their own copy of the Assessments (This binder NEVER left my classroom!), and these portfolio pages to divide each cluster. I would copy the binder pages onto colored paper, and the kids would cut out the portions that needed removing. We would skim through it a the beginning of the year, so they could see what was coming. After I gave the assessment as a pre-test, we would record the kids' initial scale scores and make 1 personal goal for growth. Initially I made a space on the back to make goals for every standard, but this was way too time consuming and too huge to give the kids a realistic focus for improvement. This summer I revised them to include 3 goal spaces for each cluster. After the post-test (I used the same exact test because it is scaled!), we recorded their final scale scores and reviewed their goals. Some kids will still need time to master every standard. That's okay. At least they have a concrete way to flip through the standards and see where they left off o each one. The Assessment were sorted and filed according to cluster with the binder tabs. Parents LOVE this for conferences!! It also saved me some explaining.

Follow this link for your FREE Student Portfolio with learning Goals and Scales! 

Search for Grades 3-8 in my store. 

Step 6: Enjoy feeling organized!