How might the use of pre-assessments and differentiated instruction during math impact first grade student achievement?

Hanna Olinger


Seminar Title


How might the use of pre-assessments and differentiated instruction during math impact first grade student achievement?


Concept/Strategy

Focus of the Research


Differentiation


Grade Level

Research Was Applied


1st Grade


Relevant Grade Level

Connections


Elementary


Discipline

Where Research Was Applied


Mathematics


Additional Discipline Areas

I see Application to


Reading


Invitation/Commercial


Receiving your class list at the beginning of the year is exciting! However, then you start to wonder if you are going to be able to adequately meet all of the learning needs of those students. You wonder what level they are at and if they are going to be successful in your classroom. This year, I have been striving to meet those individual needs of each of my 19 students. By using information from pre-assessments and differentiated work during station time, I have been able to meet my students at their level and see growth in their math learning so far this year. If this is something you are thinking of implementing into your classroom, this is the session for you.


Abstract


Every child comes to school each year expected to learn the exact same thing. Minnesota State Standards are required for all teachers to give instruction for in their classrooms. However, students are not all at the same level when entering a grade level. As educators of these students with all different backgrounds, finding a way to instruct them appropriately can be a difficult task. With the hopes that they all learn the standards, the goal is for all students to be at grade level. Teachers have the decision to make whether whole group or small group instruction would best benefit their students’ success in math. Cox (2014) states, “Differentiated instruction strategies allow teachers to empower and engage students by accommodating each of their different learning styles. These stations offer young minds the opportunity to learn independently while keeping them engaged in the process”. I decided to see if this would prove true in my first grade classroom this year. Before starting this small group instruction strategy, expectations and practice needed to be set in stone. Jumping right into something like this would lead to chaos and distractions of students’ learning. We took a lot of time to practice each job that would be given during differentiation time as a whole group. Once I could see that they were able to work independently and know how to do what was expected of them, I knew I could start pulling students to work with me on skills. By giving a pre-assessment before starting new instruction for the unit, it gave me time to find work that would fit all of my students’ needs for each skill that would be taught. This allowed me to work with students one-on-one or in small groups to practice certain skills that were above, at, or below grade level. Once a post-assessment is given, I collect the data and compare it to my last year’s class to see if improvement was made from this type of teaching. I then compared the scores to the other first grade sections where teachers are giving whole group instruction to their class. I am using NWEA scores to look for overall student growth. So far this school year, using differentiated guided math in my first grade classroom has shown success. I am going to continue this throughout the school year with hopes that my data trends will continue upwards. I will continue to seek new ideas and ways to instruct and challenge my students.