Supporting Diverse Learners with ASSISTments

Let’s face it.  Teaching is hard.  Every child on your roster has unique and individual needs which make your classroom a dynamic and diverse learning environment.  To support the needs of every learner, it is essential for teachers to have a consistent assessment routine to help monitor progress and target instruction.  ASSISTments is most often used by teachers to support formative assessment; assessing student understanding of new content.  To facilitate instruction this school year, through our partnership with the Louisiana Department of Education, we have made powerful diagnostic assessments freely available to all educators in our content library.  These assessments have been designed to assess students' prior knowledge on pre-requisite standards in advance of teaching grade-level material; and are also available as tutoring exit tickets to assess progress against those standards. 

Using the information gained from diagnosing student readiness, teachers can provide students with just-in-time support before teaching grade-level concepts, and then monitor progress with the corresponding tutoring exit tickets.  

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What is available and where can I find it? 

In our content library, you’ll find the LDOE Acceleration Resources folder.  This folder is broken down by curriculum and grade level.  Diagnostics and tutoring exit tickets for grades 1-8 can be found in the Eureka Math and Illustrative Mathematics sub folders. For Algebra I and Geometry teachers, these assessment tools are located in the High School sub folder.

Click here to learn more!

How can I best leverage this content in my instruction? 

Diagnostics

To maximize the effectiveness of classroom instruction, teachers need insight into student readiness.  By utilizing our diagnostic assessments, you are able to reveal the previously unseen terrain of each student’s mind.  Accessing the Assignment Report and analyzing the Standards View helps you quickly identify which students need intervention and on which standard(s).  With this actionable information, you can deliver targeted intervention to shore up learning gaps and prepare students for grade-level content mastery.  

Exit Tickets 

Though labeled Tutoring Exit Tickets, these targeted mini-assessments measure student progress as a result of any intervention teachers provide.  Designed to be an efficient measure of growth, these exit tickets provide perspective into lingering misconceptions and areas in need of refinement.  The perspective gained from exit ticket data provides valuable guidance on how to design instructional experiences for impact.

In most cases, it isn’t necessary to assign these exit tickets to the entire class.  Recently, we released a feature that allows you to assign to a subset of students.  

Check out Carrie’s video about this cool new capability of ASSISTments!

Equipped with rich data insights, you can now begin each new unit of study with full knowledge of your students’ needs and understanding.  This data can also be shared with your students, empowering them to take ownership of their own learning.  This practice establishes a culture of excellence in the classroom rooted in co-facilitated learning and expertly crafted lessons that accommodate the needs of all learners.

Ready to accelerate math learning at your school?  Contact Us to learn more about how ASSISTments can help you meet the diverse math learning needs for your students.

Keep the conversation going on Facebook!  Jour our ASSISTments Teacher User Community Group for exclusive content and expert advice!