How to Look at Student Work Phoenix AZ

Steps

1. Organize a group of people (teachers, assistants, support providers, administrators, etc..) that will meet on a consistent basis to look at student work. Members should have a common understanding and vocabulary relating to the content area being looked at.
2. The group decides which academic area they will focus on; reading, writing, math (journals), etc.
3. Each member of the group brings three samples each of student work. A high, medium, and a low student. The same child's work should be used through out the school year.
4. A member of the group is chosen to record findings on a chart.
5. The chart is divided into three sections:
6. a) What they see (evidence in student work),
7. b) They make interpretations about the work of the student-the
8. group makes inferences on what the student did and what the teacher
9. may have taught.
10. c) They make implications for future teaching: mini-lessons
11. After making implications, group members collaboratively create mini-lessons to support the students learning.

Tips

• Remember to focus on what the student can do as opposed to what they cannot do.
• The purpose of looking at student work is to improve the student as a writer, a reader, a mathematician, a scientist, etc., not just to improve the work sample brought to the group.
• Looking at student work should be used to improve student learning and teacher practice, it should not be used to issue a grade or make judgements about what the teacher has or has not taught.

Sources and Citations

• This process is from "Atlas Communities: Authentic Teaching, Learning and Assessment for all Students (Learning from Student Work)" 1996

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Look at Student's Work. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.