I was talking to a teacher who has been reviewing for the state assessment (New York State Regents) since January. I asked what he has done. He has taken a part of the regents exam and has had students do some practice activities. When I asked how his students were doing, he responded that they seemed to be doing fine. I asked how he knew and he answered that they did all the activities.
I suggested a different approach. He can pre-assess each part of the regents to find out in which parts the students presently do well and in which parts they need improvement. If all students can do a part well, then they do not need to practice it. Then once the teacher knows which parts are areas of weakness and determines what the actual gap is, the teacher finds a new strategy or a new way of thinking about that specific learning goal. The students use the new strategy on practice activities. One or more of the practice activities become a formative assessment to determine well they are doing. The teacher diagnoses whether students have learned the goal to the desired level or whether they need another strategy if the initial strategy has not work. When the teacher constantly is monitoring, diagnosing, giving feedback, and allowing time for improvement, students move forward. Students who use formative assessment in their state exams will score much higher!
How do you “review” for the big state test or the final?
Formative Assessment books by Harry Grover Tuttle
Education with Technology Harry G. Tuttle 
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