Strategies for success
It would seem that our concern is on the product, that is, that all students operate at mastery level. How do we prepare our students to achieve that mastery? We should focus not only on the product but also on the process that learners go through to achieve excellence. My experience is that many students do not master the test because they are unaware of what they are required to do and how to do it. Students must be explicitly taken through the process of, for example, analysing a question, with the teacher/ parent/facilitator asking the relevant questions and providing the apppropriate cues to help the learners understand what is required of them. For example, help the learners to read the instructions, underline pertinent words and explain what they are required to do. Teach them to self question (Am I addressing the issues? Did I inclue examples,if that was asked of him, have I used the information provided? if that was required) In essence teach them to review/critique their work in light of what they required to do. (Perhaps a checklist would be useful) When they have grasped this kind of process they can transfer it to other learning/ testing situations. Our objective should be to make our students strategic learners by equipping them with the best instructional strategies and metacognitive processes that they can apply when they are required to work independently or otherwise. Maureen
Group Details
Recently Overheard
Hello Everyone,I have been following all the postings. Quite interesting the wide and varied areas for consideration.
Facilitators
Visit our Help Center to find answers to frequently asked questions.
Comments (3)
Examination Techniques
I strongly support this comment. Examination techniques (before and during the examination) are critical for good student performance on any test. Even where good teaching and learning strategies exist, students may still underperform if they are not adequately prepared to meet the specific demands of an instrument. To what extent do we prepare our students for these demands? Sometimes students get adequate practice on answering specific items or examples rather than on the range of competencies that may be examined. The suggestions supplied by colleague in the post above are quite instructive for all parents and educators involved in the process of adequately preparing students for the Grade 4 Literacy Test.
Successful Schools
In our discussion it seems clear to me that there is no one set of strategies that is 'foolproof'. Educators and policy makers will always try new approaches, but the success of these will always depend on finding the right fit for a particular context. Often though, we are unsure of what really fits becasue we tend to neglect the importance of continuous assessment in bringing about high performance. The report of the Chief Inspector, ( also on this website) clearly identifes the use of assessment data as the weakest link in all schools covered in the report; both primary and secondary. The importance of this is reinforced by a UK report on Removing Barriers to Lieracy ( also provided on this website) which notes that"The most successful providers emphasised that there was no ‘eureka’ moment, that is to say, specific or unusual practice. Rather, they made what one school described as ‘painstaking adjustments’ to what they did when their monitoring provided evidence of weaknesses and ‘stuck with what worked’.It goes on;The most effective providers visited reflected on and adapted their curriculum, including any intervention programmes, to meet changing needs. They taught literacy in contexts that were relevant and meaningful to their learners. The staff identified learners’ different starting points and needs accurately'In addition to the use of assessment data, successful schools also
Even with all this, successful schools were unable to completely close the achivement gap between children of different social classess. Interesting.
Stratgies for success
I agree with the comments I read above and as I stated yesterday everyone's context is different therefore no one size will fit all students. Schools have to become more scientific and data driven and use the data to support your overall instructions. It seems like hard work at first but after doing it a few times and if you see the success of your efforts you will continue. Preparing students for the GFLT is critical to performance as many students do not experience items set in a similar manner until the test is given to them. I remember when multiple choice items were becoming common place to Jamaica and how as a mature student I had to teach myself to analyse the questions and see what was being asked and which options were not important.It is also true that critical thinking skills are not given as much time as these should be given and so our students end up only thinking literally. Using a language based approach in all the content areas and teaching in themes will help students to make connections and see the interrelatedness of what is being taught. Relational understanding is what our students need help in developing and more meaningful learning will take place.Testing instrument really ought to be done to reflect the children's experience within their social environment and their academic context. Given the inequity in available resources in schools I wonder how fair it is to ask all students to sit the same test at the end of time!