Over the summer we heard from an Edulastic Innovator who shared the following message with the Edulastic Innovator Team:
“I recently received my state test scores from the 17-18 school year and I crushed it! Seriously, my scores were so high I thought it was a glitch in the score report and spent a good half hour staring at the numbers in awe. In reflection, I feel like I owe it all to Edulastic. Truly. The data I got from the assessments I gave allowed me to really focus my instruction on my students’ needs. No need to teach to the test, just met my students were they were.”
Of course we were thrilled to hear how well this teacher had helped her students rock the tests! And we were overjoyed to hear that Edulastic had played some role in the success.
We wanted to learn more so we reached out. Lucky for us, we were able to link up and chat with her in person!
Watch the video below and read on to learn more!
Finding a way to create flexible grouping and customized instruction
Meet Angie Wright, Elementary School Teacher in central Ohio. Wright first came across Edulastic when a teacher friend introduced her to it as a formative assessment tool. At first Edulastic seemed a little overwhelming because there were so many questions and she didn’t know where to start. But then she found how she was able to search by standards and began using it to inform instruction and teaching.
Wright checks student results from an online formative assessment. She uses this data to form flexible student groups throughout the year.
Wright uses digital formative assessments to understand how students are progressing with their learning. Throughout the year she creates and adjusts learning groups based on what students need to focus on. With these groups she can provide customized instruction to her students. Leveraging digital assessment provides her instant feedback that lets her know whether students are on track. “I can use Edulastic as a summative assessment as well to see how students have grown based on my teaching with the formative assessments.” said Wright.
Tracking standards mastery and saving time
On Edulastic, each question is tied to a standard, which helps track standards mastery. “Using the standards to know what you need to teach and guide you through the way is an amazing feature,” says Wright. Immediately after students take a test, she is able to glance at which questions students got right and wrong to see what concepts students have mastered, and which students are still struggling to grasp. This also helps her make sure that students are mastering the standards needed to perform well on the Ohio AIR state test in the spring.
Because Edulastic autogrades questions for the teacher, she is able to save time she would otherwise spend grading and can immediately put those instant insights to use. Plus, because the assessments are all online, Wright saves time she would otherwise spend at the printer or copier. “A lot of tests, especially if they have images or other elements, would take pages and pages to print.” says Wright. With Edulastic, she loves how she doesn’t need to worry about the logistics of printing or making copies anymore.
Anyone can learn from Wright’s success
Wright made the time to share her story with us in order to help other teachers. We hope you’ll watch the video to get the full scoop, but essentially, she developed a method of instruction that was simple and effective. Her strategy showed incredible results that were reflective of the work that she and the students had done in class that year.
Wright tailored instructions to students based on regular formative assessments. The assessment data and reports guided her instruction and the formation of student groups. The flexible student groups she formed throughout the year allowed her to provide targeted support, and the students had the online practice they needed to feel comfortable with online assessment. Her strategy resulted in improved test scores that left her blown away and in disbelief. And the growth was so high that she knew her strategy had worked.
“I love the success that I’ve had and I want to share it with other people,” says Wright, “If I’ve had this success, I think that other people can too.”
Shout out to the teachers who share in the Edulastic Public Assessment Library
On top of the digital assessment functionality, Wright says the shared content in the Edulastic assessment library has been an incredible resource. In particular, there was a teacher from Cleveland who shared science questions that were a huge help to her. (Shout out to that teacher!) When teachers create assessments, they have share options that allow them to share with the public Edulastic community. When content is shared publicly, other teachers can search for and access those assessments to use with their students.
More assessment sharing on Edulastic means more item availability. “If you are using it, add more questions to the question bank. The more we can add to it the better it will be. We are all spinning our wheels doing work. One of the greatest joys I’ve had with Edulastic is finding other teachers in Ohio that have put in some of the work on there for me by sharing content so I don’t need to make my own assessments all of the time,” says Wright, “This is a great way to connect with colleagues and share with teachers all over the place.”
Share in Angie’s success.
- Edulastic is free for teachers. Sign up and try it out for yourself!
- Help a teacher out! Share your assessments to the Public Assessment Library. Here’s how you do it.
- Inspired by Angie’s story? Learn from other teachers who are using Edulastic.
