Assessing Struggling Students

As I mentioned a few posts ago my Pre-Calculus students are struggling a bit through a unit on Trigonometric Identities. I know that through my teaching career I will have units that my students struggle through, which makes me wonder what a teacher should do for a summative assessment in these circumstances. There are several things that could be done.

In "Dr. Smith's" classes he makes the test more difficult believing that the students would learn more from a difficult test. I talked to the student that I tutor again last night and he said that his final exam in math for all 7th graders will be more difficult than usual because the 7th graders are struggling in math. To me this doesn't seem like the environment that will help students learn.

Before I present the other two options that I can think of, I would like to remind you that I don't know what is best. The purpose of this blog is for me to reflect on my teaching and collaborate with other teachers. I am interested to know how other teachers assess their students when they are struggling through a unit.

Another option is to maintain the expectation I have for my students but put off the test a few days to help my students meet this expectation. I usually try this one if my students are close to meeting my expectation and I am only putting off the test up to two or three days. If I need to put the test off longer or if I am not able to put it off, then I use a third option.

The third option is to adjust my expectation of my students. In simple terms, I am making an easier test. I know this isn’t the ideal, but I try to be very aware of where my students are at. If I know that they are struggling, I accept that it would be difficult to help them meet the expectation that I previously had. I adjust that expectation and give them a test based on this new expectation. This third option is the one that I am using with my Pre-Calculus class because today is the end of the grading period and I don’t want to put off the test.

I would love to hear your ideas.