Strategies in Teaching the

Least Mastered Skills

Dr. Carlo Magno

De La Salle University, Manila

Answer the following

questions:
What important skills should
be assessed in Mathematic?
How would you know if
students have mastered the
skill?
What do you do to teach for
mastery?

Advance Organizer
Standards for learning
Sources of Information for Mastery
Assessment literacy
Reading Assessment results
Assessment for Learning

Teaching Strategies
Formative Assessment
Mastery Learning
3

Why do we need standards?

To make sure that
everyone delivers
quality work
To produce quality
students
To deliver quality
programs

Mathematics Standards for Grade 5

Number and Number sense
Read and write large whole numbers and
round off whole numbers to the nearest
thousands and millions.
Find the greatest common factor and the
least common multiple of given numbers.
apply divisibility rules for 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8,
9, 10, 11 and 12 on different contexts.

Mathematics Standards for Grade 5

simplify a series of operations on whole
numbers and solve problems involving
these.
perform the four fundamental operations
on fractions and mixed numbers and
solve related problems.
investigate the relationship between
fractions and decimal numbers.
explore, know and understand the
concept and value of a decimal number.
6

Mathematics Standards for Grade 5

add and subtract decimal numbers with
values through thousandths and solve
problems involving these.
multiply decimal numbers of values up to the
hundredths and solve problems involving
these numbers.
divide decimal numbers of values up to the
hundredths and solve problems involving
these numbers.
manipulate ratios and solve problems
involving ratios and proportions
know and understand the concept of percent
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and to solve problems involving percents.

Mathematics Competencies for

Grade 5
Geometry
explore polygons with up to 10 sides.
explore circles.

Patterns and Algebra

solve for the unknown values in simple
equations involving one or more
operations on whole numbers and
fractions.

Mathematics Competencies for

Grade 5
Measurement
describe the circumference of a circle,
measure and use it to solve problems. the
measure of circumference, area of a circle,
volume of a cube and a rectangular prism and
temperature.
convert units of measure for area and volume
and select appropriate units and tools for
consistency and accuracy.
describe the area of a circle, measure and use
it to solve problems.
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Mathematics Standards for Grade 5

describe the volume of a cube and a rectangular
prism, measure and use it to solve problems.
describe temperature, measure and use it to
solve problems.
Probability and Statistics
construct, read and interpret a line graph and its
corresponding table of data and solve problems
involving data from a table and a line graph.
make simple predictions of events based on a
probability experiment.

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Sources of Information on Student

Mastery
Assessment Results
Classroom Assessment: Quarterly Test,
Quizzes
National Assessment: NAT Results
(Grade 6)

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Sources of Information on Student

Mastery
Forms
Formative
Summative

Types
Paper and Pencil
Alternative forms: Performance, authentic,
Portfolio

Approaches
Assessment of learning
Assessment for learning
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Assessment Literacy
(1) Assessment comes with a clear
purpose
(2) focusing on achievement targets
(3) selecting proper assessment
methods
(4) sampling student achievement

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Reading Assessment Results

Levels of
Proficiency

14

Reading Assessment Results

15

Reading Assessment Results

Beginni Developi Approachi Proficie

ng
ng
nt
ng
Proficienc
y

Advanc
ed

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Reading Assessment Results

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Reading Assessment Results

Mathematics NAT
15 items
Place value = 1
Fraction = 2
Measurement = 2
Multiplication = 1
Division = 2
Lines = 1
Addition = 3 (Problem solving)
Ratio and proportion = 1
Statistics = 2 (interpreting graphs)
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Approach in Assessment
Assessment of Learning

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ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING AND

ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING
Effect of Previous
Practices: rank students
on achievement by
graduation
New Expectation: Assure
competence in Math,
Reading, Writing, etc.
Implications?
Assessment and grading
procedures should help
students succeed.
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ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING

We need to close the gap
between standards and
students competencies
Risk: our society will be unable
to productively evolve in social
and economic sense.
Assessment is a tool to ensure
student mastery of essential
standards.
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ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING

Mistaken beliefs about how

to use assessment to
support school
improvement:
1.High-stakes tests are good for
all students because they
motivate learning
2.If I threaten to fail you, it will
cause you to try harder
3.If a little intimidation doesnt
work, use a lot of intimidation
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MISTAKEN BELIEFS

4. The way to maximize learning is to

maximize anxiety
5. It is the adults who use assessment
results to make the most important
instructional decision.
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MISTAKEN BELIEFS
PROFOUND MISTAKE
Teachers and leaders dont need to
understand sound assessment practices the
testing people will take care of us.

COUNTER BELIEF
They do need to understand sound
assessment practices.

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Assessment for Learning

Assessment Crisis: The Absence Of
Assessment FOR Learning
By Rick Stiggins

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Assessment for Learning

School improvement requires:
the articulation of higher achievement
standards,
the transformation of those expectations
into rigorous assessments, and
the expectation of accountability on the
part of educators for student
achievement, as reflected in test scores.

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Assessment for Learning

When they assess for learning,
teachers use the classroom
assessment process and the
continuous flow of information about
student achievement that it provides
in order to advance, not merely
check on, student learning.

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Assessment for Learning

understanding and articulating in advance
of teaching the achievement targets that
their students are to hit;
informing their students about those
learning goals, in terms that students
understand, from the very beginning of
the teaching and learning process;
becoming assessment literate and thus
able to transform their expectations into
assessment exercises and scoring
procedures that accurately reflect student
achievement;
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Assessment for Learning

using classroom assessments to build
students confidence in themselves as
learners and help them take responsibility
for their own learning, so as to lay a
foundation for lifelong learning;
translating classroom assessment results
into frequent descriptive feedback (versus
judgmental feedback) for students,
providing them with specific insights as to
how to improve;
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Assessment for Learning

continuously adjusting instruction based
on the results of classroom assessments;
engaging students in regular selfassessment, with standards held constant
so that students can watch themselves
grow over time and thus feel in charge of
their own success; and
actively involving students in
communicating with their teacher and
their families about their achievement
status and improvement.

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Teaching Approaches
Formative Assessment

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Formative Assessment
Need not be graded as summative
assessments (end-of-unit exams or
quarterlies, for example) are.
They serve as practice for students
They check for understanding along the
way and guide teacher decision making
about future instruction;
they also provide feedback to students
so they can improve their performance
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Formative Assessment
For assessments to be accurate, teachers need
multiple measures of student understanding.
Teachers need evidence gathered over time in
different ways to evaluate how effective the
teaching and learning process has been.
Tomlinson and McTighe (2006) suggest that
when teachers gather a "photo album" rather
than a "snapshot" of our students, we can
differentiate instruction based on a more
accurate evaluation of our students' learning
needs.
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Formative Assessment
1. Student friendly targets from the
beginning
2. Models of strong and weak work
3. Continuous descriptive feedback
4. Teach self-assessment and goal
setting
5. Teach one facet at a time.
6. Teach focused revision.
7. Teach self-reflection to track

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Formative Assessment
Group Assessment - allows you to
quickly identify problems or
misconceptions, which you can address
immediately.
Individual assessment - Provide some
feedback to the learner, perhaps in the
form of a brief comment or, at the very
least, a check, check-plus or check-minus,
with a brief verbal explanation about what
each symbol indicates
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Formative Assessment
Summaries and Reflections.Students stop and reflect, make sense of
what they have heard or read, derive personal meaning from their learning
experiences, and/or increase their metacognitive skills. These require that
students use content-specific language.

Lists, Charts, and Graphic OrganizersStudents will organize

information, make connections, and note relationships through the use of
various graphic organizers.

Visual Representations of InformationStudents will use both words and

pictures to make connections and increase memory, facilitating retrieval of
information later on. This "dual coding" helps teachers address classroom
diversity, preferences in learning style, and different ways of "knowing."

Collaborative ActivitiesStudents have the opportunity to move and/or

communicate with others as they develop and demonstrate their
understanding of concepts.

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Formative Assessment
Formative Assessment can be an
integral part of instruction (Guskey,
2007):
(1) use assessments as sources of
information for both students and
teachers,
(2) follow assessments with highquality corrective instruction, and
(3) give students second chances to
demonstrate success

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Formative Assessment
By varying the type of assessment you use over the
week, you can get a more accurate picture of
what students know and understand, obtaining
a "multiple-measure assessment window' into
student understanding" (Ainsworth & Viegut, 2006).
Using at least one formative assessment daily
enables you to evaluate and assess the
quality of the learning that is taking place in
your classroom and answer these driving
questions:How is this student evolving as a learner?
What can I do to assist this learner on his path to
mastery?
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Formative Assessment
Response to Intervention (RTI) model
Tier 1 interventions include monitoring at-risk
students within the general education classroom,
ensuring that each student has access to a highquality education that is matched to his or her
needs.
RTI focuses on improving academic achievement by
using scientifically based instructional practices.
Use alternative assessment which utilizes quality
interventions matched to student needs, coupled
with formative evaluation to obtain data over time
to make critical educational decisions.
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Mastery Learning
Internalization of learning resulting in
automatic or habitual change in
behavior through repetition and
application.
Shift from short term to long term
memory

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Mastery learning
Mastery learning breaks subject matter and learning
content into units with clearly specified objectives
which are pursued until they are achieved.
Learners work through each block of content in a
series of sequential steps.
Students must demonstrate a high level of success
on tests, typically at about the 80% level, before
progressing to new content.
Those who do not reach the required level are
provided with additional scaffold, peer support, small
group discussions, or homework so that they can
reach the expected level.
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Stages of mastery learning

Stage 1: Unconscious incompetence
Student does not know at all

Stage 2: Conscious incompetence

Student discovers that he does not know and
realizes he needs to know

Stage 3: Conscious competence

Learner receives instruction, tries to do it, does
it again and again.

Stage 4: Unconscious competence

Proficiency, executing task without effort.
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Teaching for Mastery

Teacher direction
(1/4 of instruction
time)
Explanation, which
includes:
motivation
presentation
Examples through:
demonstration
concrete examples

Students selfactivity
(3/4 of instruction
time, time-on-task)
Exercise,
oral work
board work
seatwork
drill
homework
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Workshop
Role playing
Focus on one mathematics
competency/standard
Demonstrate how to teach formative
assessment and mastery learning to
develop the competency selected
Before you begin the demonstration
tell the audience the topic and the
competency
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