For stage 3 I have looked at all of my assessment techniques listed here and tried to decide if I needed to change anything. I wish I would have taken the advise of one of my colleges who suggested that I lie or under emphasis in stage one, so that it would really show improvements by stage 3. Over the years I have evaluated my assessments and this chart represents the best for me so far. However, I decided to get a more concrete feel for what the class was absorbing during the walk around by doing some random sampling of written responses to some of my oral prompts. I haven’t tried this yet so I will let you know how it goes. The biggest change is in the lab reports. Lab reports really link up with Illinois state goal 11 and 12. However I was not doing a good job of communicating the goals and the expectations to the students. Therefore I have designed a chec bric (rubric) to better challenge the student, but in a way that communicated the expectations to them. To see this rubric click on the link in the Lab reports row.

Assessment Technique	Function	Category	Stage 3 alternate assessment
Questioning	After given some basic facts students should be able to apply deductive thinking skills to go one-step further. There are no wrong answers; the object is to get students to infer something that makes sense from what is given.	Placement	No change
Walk around	Always used when students are working in groups at their desks and more often at the lab stations. This allows the students to ask me questions or me to give guidance. Usually I will make a few comments or suggestions and check back later to see where they take it.	Formative	Randomly ask 3 students to write out the focus of the day’s lesson.
Content related activities	Allow the students to practice on their own and reinforce class material. These are often math activities that verify the science.	Diagnostic	No change
Quizzes	I give frequent quizzes in which I orally ask the questions and the students write the answers. These are only 10% of their grade and the main purpose is to get the students to keep up with the material.	Formative	No change
Written Lab Reports	Reinforces scientific method and allows the student to express what they are learning in their own words. This assessment more than any other tells me which students are mastering science thinking skills.	Summative	I modified this assessment dramatically. Click here for details.
Written tests	Mostly multiply choice tests but written at an application level. Being able to transfer the knowledge gained in class to a novel situation is stressed. Whenever math is applicable it is applied.	Summative	No Change
Lab practical tests	Performance assessment as students move from station to station. Given about 4 times a year and include things like measuring, correct lab usage and technique, making percent solutions. and identifying form and function for dissection tests.	Summative	No change at this time