Assessment

Most people are familiar with the same old routine that takes place in too many math classrooms. You lecture on a section, students do worksheets on the section, students turn in homework from the problems at the end of the section, you repeat for all the sections in the chapter, at the end of the chapter you give the chapter test that came with the book, and deal out grades which are more or less a bell curve. This unitary instruction works well for some students, but for most it is miserably deficient- in fact it is the reason why so many people openly say "I hate math." The effective math classroom needs to incorporate a variety of differentiated learning activities, and a variety of assessments. High quality assessment occurs at all phases of learning- exploration, concept development, and concept application. It is also valid and fair. This means that the assessment provides a true picture of student mastery, and students are not punished for cultural or linguistic differences, or other qualities which have no impact on mastery.