Instructional Strategies | Ģ��ý

What Is a Summative Assessment? Definition, Examples, and Best Practices

Alisa Kaczorowski — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:41:12 +0000

Key takeaways

A summative assessment measures overall student achievement after learning. This may occur at the end of a unit, course, or semester.
Summative assessment data can measure student mastery of material, as well as the effectiveness of a teacher, curriculum, or specific instructional strategy.
As with any student assessment, summative assessments have pros and cons that educators should consider when deciding how to use them most effectively.

Even though the word assessment can easily spark fear in the hearts of students and teachers alike, student assessment, in its many forms, is a critical component of any effective teacher’s classroom. Teachers regularly collect student feedback through diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments to guide instruction and assess learning. Each form of student assessment is unique, and educators must understand the different types of student assessments, the role each plays, and how they work together to measure student learning.

This article focuses on summative assessment, a type of student assessment that measures overall student learning at the end of a unit, course, or semester and compares that knowledge to a standard or benchmark. Summative assessments serve several purposes and take several forms, and they differ from diagnostic assessments, which are given before learning to establish a baseline of students’ knowledge, skills, strengths, or weaknesses, and from formative assessments, which monitor learning during the learning process and drive daily instruction. You can find additional educational resources on the various types of student assessments online.

What Is a Summative Assessment?

A summative assessment evaluates overall student learning or achievement by comparing students’ knowledge of a taught topic or skill to a standard or benchmark. This type of assessment measures outcomes after learning and is typically done infrequently, at the end of a unit, course, or semester using a rubric or other consistent criteria. This form of assessment is high-stakes because it not only measures what has been learned, but may also determine a student’s final grade, as well as student advancement or placement.

Summative assessments can also measure the effectiveness of a teacher or curriculum and are often analyzed for comparison purposes.

What Are Examples of Summative Assessments?

Summative assessments can take many forms. Summative assessment examples include:

Midterm or final exams
Standardized tests
- State assessments
- National assessments (NAEP)
- College entrance exams (SAT, ACT)
End-of-unit tests
Capstone projects
Portfolios
Final papers, projects, or performance tasks

Why Are Summative Assessments Important?

Summative assessments are important for many reasons. Primarily, the information collected from a summative assessment helps teachers determine whether a student has mastered the material they taught. Using a rubric or other consistent criteria, a summative assessment provides a clear, objective snapshot of student achievement and mastery. This helps to ensure accountability and guides future instruction. Additionally, when students know the benchmark to which their understanding will be compared, student engagement often increases.

Summative assessments are also important because they can measure the effectiveness of a curriculum or specific instructional strategies and guide school or district decision-making and strategic planning. For instance, a high school biology department can use summative assessment data to determine which instructional strategies are most effective. Alternatively, schools piloting a new Science of Reading curriculum can use summative assessment data to decide whether the new curriculum is more effective than the previous one.

Summative assessments can provide many data points that can be collected, analyzed, and used to guide teachers and school or district administrators.

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What Are the Pros and Cons of Summative Assessments?

A summative assessment, like any other form of student assessment, has its pros and cons. Consider these pros and cons when designing instruction and aligned assessments.

Pros of Summative Assessments

Because a summative assessment relies on a rubric or other consistent criteria, the data it provides is consistent, valid, and reliable, and data reporting is typically straightforward and clear.
The uniform criteria that a summative assessment relies on reduce subjectivity and personal bias from the reporting process.
Summative assessment data is actionable. Whether measuring the effectiveness of a teacher, curriculum, or specific instructional strategy, the data will support decision-making and strategic planning.
Formative assessments can be easily aligned to summative assessments to provide teachers with ongoing benchmark data to guide instructional practice.
Knowing how and what they will be assessed on at the end of the unit, course, or semester helps students understand why learning matters and can increase engagement.

Cons of Summative Assessments

Cons

Summative assessments are often high-stakes and can affect students’ final grade or determine student placement or advancement.
Due to their high-stakes nature, summative assessments can result in high levels of stress or testing anxiety in students.
Because a summative assessment measures learning only at the end of a unit, course, or semester and compares student achievement to a set standard, it does not account for the learning process or student growth over time. It is simply a snapshot of student achievement but does not tell the whole story of what students have learned.
Data from a summative assessment is often used for comparison but should not be the only measure of achievement or effectiveness.
A summative assessment does not measure critical thinking, problem-solving skills, or creativity, which are important skills for students to develop.
A summative assessment does not measure whether a student can apply what they have learned, only that they have learned it.
Summative assessments can lead teachers to teach to the test or students to rely on rote memorization to pass.

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A summative assessment is a useful tool to incorporate into the classroom, but remember that assessment data often does not tell the whole story of any student, so use it with caution. Teachers must use a variety of assessment types and data points throughout the learning process to most effectively assess student growth and mastery. Using different types of assessments in the classroom ensures all learners have the opportunity to demonstrate what they know. A well-rounded classroom includes a variety of diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments and allows students to demonstrate growth and mastery in different ways and at different points in time.

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Teaching Styles: 5 Types & How to Choose the Right One

Kayla Terry — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 14:57:42 +0000

Key takeaways

Discover five teaching styles to cater to different student needs, subjects, and classroom goals.
The most effective educators blend multiple teaching methods rather than relying on one approach for every lesson.
Knowing the difference between teacher-centered and student-centered instruction helps you choose the right style for the moment rather than settle into a fixed identity.

Each teacher has their own way of conducting the class that comes naturally. This approach, shaped by education, personality, and teaching experience, is known as a teaching style. It can be seen in the little things the teacher does, for example, how much talking they do as opposed to the students, how structured a lesson plan is, and how long students have to solve something on their own.

Knowing the range of teaching styles available and when to reach for a different one is one of the most practical things a teacher can learn. No single approach works equally well for every subject, age group, or goal. A style that’s perfect for introducing new vocabulary can fall flat when the goal is deep, independent problem-solving. This guide breaks down what teaching styles actually are, walks through the five main types, examines the divide between teacher-centered and student-centered instruction, and explains why knowing your own style and stretching beyond it when needed makes such a difference in the classroom.

What Are Teaching Styles?

A teaching style is the overall approach you use to deliver instruction, structure a classroom, and interact with students. It’s about how much control you hold versus how much students direct their own learning, how you deliver information, and how the classroom runs day to day. Two teachers covering the same content can produce completely different classroom experiences, depending on the style each one brings.

Teaching styles relate to, but differ from, teaching methods—the specific techniques used within a lesson, like direct instruction, group work, or inquiry-based investigation. A teaching style is the broader philosophy running your classroom; a teaching method is a tool you use to carry that philosophy out. A teacher working in a facilitator style might use small-group discussion one day and a guided inquiry project the next, both consistent with the same underlying style.

Even very experienced teachers do not work in only one style throughout their whole day. Instead, they rely on their default teaching style and modify it depending on the subject, the students, and the requirements of a particular lesson. A teacher who naturally gravitates toward an authoritative style can switch to a facilitating style during class discussion when needed.

What Are the 5 Main Teaching Styles?

Different subjects call for different teaching methods. The five major approaches include:

1. Authority Approach

This approach, also called the lecture approach, has the authority figure deliver information to students. Students acquire knowledge through lectures or direct demonstrations. Expectations are clearly defined, along with practice and process. Classroom management is quite simply a matter of making expectations and practices explicit. Scaffolding guides the learner through their studies. It has proven incredibly efficient for covering large quantities of material in short periods. Each subject needs a set of facts to teach, including historical events, scientific concepts, or other appropriate subject matter. This approach doesn’t fit dense or extended lessons that include investigation, analysis, or complex scientific concepts.

2. Demonstrator Style

As a coach, the demonstrator combines lecturing with practical demonstration — doing something for students while encouraging them to do it themselves. You don’t just explain how you will solve the problem; rather, you think out loud while solving an example and give similar problems to the students, with immediate help from a teacher or aide

Characterized by disciplines that require applying theoretical knowledge in practice, such as science labs, problem solving in math, or writing instruction.

The concept involves demonstrating the procedure and having the students replicate it.
The teacher’s role in this type of lesson is to demonstrate the process.

3. Delegator Style

Students take on most responsibilities through group tasks, research, or peer teaching. The teacher is there to help, but not to tell students what to do. Students own both the process and the result.

This method encourages cooperation and independence in ways that extend beyond the classroom. It works well with older students who have experience with independent study. Still, it may fail to deliver the desired results when applied to younger students or those new to a particular topic.

4. Facilitator Style

This type of learning is based on reversing the conventional order of things – students come up with answers under your supervision without your participation in providing information about the subject. The emphasis lies on stimulating students’ critical thinking and independent resolution of the issue at hand.

The facilitator style gives students opportunities to practice critical thinking and independent problem-solving. At the same time, it takes considerable time and requires scaffolding because students need sufficient background knowledge to conduct research in a particular discipline.

5. Hybrid Style: Why adopt the hybrid/mixed model?

Some educators use a single teaching method, whereas others opt for a hybrid/mixed model, integrating two or more approaches into lesson delivery based on the topic and the group of learners. Educators become familiar with this strategy after a few years of teaching experience.

Characteristics of the hybrid/mixed model of teaching styles:

Unlike inconsistency, flexibility is a trait of a great educator, and this model requires it. You could teach one concept using an authority approach, which is necessary to establish shared knowledge among the class. Subsequently, you would change to a demonstrator style to introduce a new technique.

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Teacher-Centered vs. Student-Centered Teaching Styles

There are various teaching styles in education today, but nearly all of them lie somewhere on a sliding scale between the two ends of the spectrum. Intentionally aligning a lesson goal with a teaching style can improve student understanding.

Teacher-centered instruction, such as the authority style, places you at the center as the primary driver of classroom activity. Information flows mostly in one direction — teacher to student — and the structure tends to be efficient and consistent, though it leaves fewer chances for students to build their own understanding. This approach covers a lot of content quickly, which matters when foundational knowledge must be established fast and reliably.

Student-Centered Teaching Methods: The Facilitator and Delegator Models

Student-centered teaching methods empower students to take charge and actively participate in inquiry, investigation, questioning, and knowledge creation.

Student-centered learning leads to greater engagement and higher-level thinking, although it requires more planning, time investment, and classroom management to ensure exploration stays focused.
It takes more time to implement and guide. However, students have more opportunities to actively process, question, and apply what they are learning.

Neither end of the spectrum is automatically right. The strongest teaching methods usually combine teacher-centered instruction to build a foundation, then shift toward student-centered approaches once students have enough grounding to explore, question, and apply that knowledge on their own. A teacher who understands this spectrum can make deliberate calls about where a given lesson should land, instead of defaulting to the same spot regardless of what the lesson actually needs.

Why Are Teaching Styles Important?

It’s critical to consider several factors when deciding whether a teaching style will be effective for you and your students. When teaching a completely new topic for the first time, a teacher-centered, authoritative approach can provide the explicit instruction students need to build foundational understanding. However, when students already understand the material and are learning to apply it to a new situation, a facilitative style may be better, as it requires more reasoning skills. Using the wrong style with adequate content knowledge leads to frustration. An incorrect choice can overwhelm or underwhelm students at inappropriate moments.

Knowing your styles also drives real professional growth. A teacher who understands their own natural default and knows its strengths and limits is better positioned to deliberately reach for something different when a lesson calls for it, rather than relying on instinct alone. That kind of self-awareness usually builds over years in the classroom, but naming the styles explicitly speeds it up—giving newer teachers a vocabulary and a framework for reflecting on their choices rather than learning purely through trial and error.

That flexibility serves students better than sticking rigidly to one style, because it lets instruction shape itself around what a specific lesson and a specific group of kids actually need. Students benefit from seeing a range of teaching styles across their education, too — different styles build different skills:

Content retention under teacher-centered instruction.
Independent reasoning under student-centered instruction.

Exposure to a range of approaches better prepares students for the varied demands they’ll encounter throughout school and beyond. Ģ��ý’s educational resources are designed for teachers to incorporate into their instruction. The resources are standards-aligned to support guided exploration, direct instruction, or independent student work.

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A Guide to Career Interest Assessments

Michael Healey — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 14:10:42 +0000

Key takeaways

Career interest assessments can help students understand their interests, strengths, and preferences, and connect them to careers they may want to explore.
No assessment should tell a student what career to choose. Results are most useful as a starting point for conversations, research, and real-world exploration.
Schools can make assessments more meaningful by connecting results to courses, career pathways, workplace experiences, and conversations with professionals.

Schools do more than teach academic content. We also help students understand their interests, recognize their strengths, and think seriously about life after graduation.

Career interest assessments give students a practical starting point for exploring possible careers and making more informed decisions about their future.

Students often know what they like and dislike, but they may not know how those preferences connect to the world of work. A student who enjoys solving problems may never have considered engineering, cybersecurity, or the skilled trades. A student who enjoys helping people may immediately think of nursing or teaching without realizing how many other careers involve those same interests.

A well-designed career assessment can help students make those connections.

Career assessments should help students explore possibilities, not decide their future. Students are still developing their interests, gaining new experiences, and learning about careers they may not even know exist. The value of these tools is that they help students better understand themselves and begin exploring what might come next.

What Is a Career Interest Assessment?

A career interest assessment is a tool designed to help individuals identify interests, preferences, strengths, values, or other characteristics that may connect to different types of work.

Depending on the assessment, students may answer questions about activities they enjoy, subjects that interest them, problems they like solving, environments where they feel comfortable, or things that matter to them. The results generally identify broad areas of interest or suggest occupations and career fields that share characteristics with the student’s responses.

For example, a student whose results show an interest in healthcare should not be directed toward one specific career. The results simply provide a broad field to explore, which may include physical therapy, medical imaging, health information technology, laboratory science, healthcare administration, nursing, or medicine.

For schools, career interest assessments work best as one part of a larger approach to career exploration for students. The assessment provides information; what happens after students receive that information is where much of the learning takes place.

What Are Examples of Career Interest Assessments?

There are many different career assessments available to schools and students.

Career assessments can examine different parts of a student’s interests and preferences. Some group responses into broad areas, such as working with people, solving problems, creating, leading, organizing information, or working with tools and technology. Others focus on skills, work values, personality, or preferred work environments.

Some career platforms combine several types of information and use the results to help students explore related career fields.

Schools can also use simpler career-interest inventories with younger students. Students might consider what they enjoy doing, subjects they like, whether they like working independently or with others, or whether they enjoy creating, building, organizing, helping, or solving problems.

The goal, particularly with younger students, should be exploration. An assessment should help students identify new interests and possibilities, not make them feel like they are being placed on a particular career path. At this stage, the results should give students more options to explore, not narrow their choices.

Assessment results reflect a student’s interests at a particular point in time. They should expand a student’s options, not limit them.

What Are the Different Kinds of Career Interest Assessments?

Career assessments can measure different things. Understanding those differences helps educators select appropriate tools and students make sense of their results.

Interest Inventories

Interest inventories focus on the activities students enjoy and the kinds of work that interest them. They can help students see whether they enjoy things like solving problems, working with others, creating or building things, staying organized, or leading others.

These can be especially useful for students who say, “I have no idea what I want to do.” Instead of starting with thousands of occupations, students can begin with a few broader areas that match their interests.

Skills and Aptitude Assessments

Skills assessments focus on what a student can currently do, while aptitude assessments may identify areas in which they demonstrate particular potential.

They can help students recognize strengths they may overlook, such as communication, spatial reasoning, mechanical ability, organization, or problem-solving.

A student’s current skills should not limit future options. Skills can improve with teaching and practice, so assessment results should help students explore possibilities.

What Students Value in a Career

What students value in a career is also important. Some may value helping others, while others prioritize independence, stability, creativity, income, or flexibility.

A career can align with a student’s interests and still be a poor fit if the work environment conflicts with what that student values. These assessments encourage students to look beyond job titles and think about what they want from their work.

Personality and Work-Style Assessments

These assessments look at how students prefer to work, including whether they enjoy working independently or with others, following a routine or trying new approaches, and working in a structured or changing environment.

The results can help students better understand their preferences, but they should not be treated as fixed. Like interests and skills, work styles can change as students gain new experiences.

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What Are the Pros and Cons of Career Interest Assessments?

Like most educational tools, career interest assessments are only as useful as the way schools use them.

One of their biggest advantages is that they give students a place to start.

Students have more career options than they can reasonably explore on their own. Asking a 13- or 16-year-old to consider careers without providing some direction can be overwhelming. An assessment can narrow the initial search and introduce students to possibilities they may not have considered.

Assessments can also build self-awareness by helping students think more intentionally about the types of work they enjoy, the environments where they are most comfortable, the strengths they already have, and the skills they want to develop.

Assessment results can also help students make more informed academic choices. Once students identify areas of interest, teachers and counselors can connect them with relevant courses, career clusters, CTE programs, and work-based learning opportunities that allow them to explore those interests further.

There are limitations, though.

Students may answer questions based on how they feel that day, misunderstand a question, or have limited knowledge of the careers included in their results. More importantly, an assessment can narrow a student’s thinking if they take the results too literally.

A student who receives a list of suggested occupations should not assume those are the only careers that fit. Likewise, a career that does not appear in the results should not automatically be dismissed.

This is why I would never want a school to administer an assessment, hand students a report, and consider career exploration complete.

The assessment should start the conversation.

Turning Assessment Results Into Career Exploration

The most important question for educators is not which assessment students take, but what happens after they receive the results.

Give students time to review and think about their results. Ask which results seem accurate, which surprised them, and which they disagree with. Even disagreement can be productive because it requires students to think more carefully about their interests and goals.

Then have students choose two or three careers to investigate.

What does someone in that career actually do? What education, training, credential, or experience is typically required? What skills are important? What does the work environment look like? Are there related occupations the student had not considered?

From there, schools can make the exploration more real.

A student interested in healthcare might speak with a physical therapist or medical technician. A student interested in technology might meet a cybersecurity professional. Someone interested in construction could learn from an electrician, architect, or project manager.

Schools can use a to connect students with industry professionals and real career experiences. Career conversations, job shadowing, internships, career fairs, CTE programs, and work-based learning can help students decide whether an initial interest continues after they learn more about the work.

An assessment may identify a possible area of interest. Further exploration helps students decide whether they want to learn more, while firsthand experience helps them determine whether they could see themselves pursuing that career.

Using Career Assessments as a Starting Point

From a district perspective, I would not measure the value of career interest assessments by how many students complete one. Completion rates are easy to track, but they do not show whether the experience was meaningful to students.

I would want to know what students did with the information.

Schools should look at whether students discovered new careers, discussed their results with a counselor, teacher, family member, or professional, explored related education and training options, and developed a clearer understanding of their interests and goals.

A career assessment should not be expected to give students a final answer about their future. That is unrealistic for most young people.

We want students to leave with better questions, more options, and a clearer understanding of themselves.

When schools combine well-designed assessments with meaningful career readiness experiences, students can connect their interests and strengths with opportunities they may want to pursue.

Our responsibility is not to choose a path for students, but to provide the resources, experiences, and guidance they need to understand their options and make informed decisions about what comes next.

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Elementary Classroom Management: 10 Strategies That Work

Alisa Kaczorowski — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 13:28:11 +0000

Key takeaways

A strong and effective classroom management plan is key to a successful year in an elementary classroom.
Clear expectations, communication, and consistency are critical components of a proactive and effective elementary classroom management plan.
A strong elementary classroom management plan helps students develop the foundational habits and skills they need for middle and high school.

In an elementary classroom, your classroom management plan can either make or break your entire school year. Recognizing the unique needs and developmental milestones of elementary schoolers will go a long way toward creating a calm, safe, and predictable learning environment where students can thrive. Your elementary classroom management plan should focus on learning and on helping students develop a strong sense of belonging and felt safety, while giving them opportunities to practice important social and life skills in a low-stakes environment.

Start building your elementary classroom management plan with these ten strategies, and tap into the educational resources available online.

10 Effective Elementary Classroom Management Strategies

Relationship Building

Building strong relationships with students is the most important proactive strategy for elementary classroom management. Start on the first day of school, as many teachers do, with traditional “getting to know you” activities. Keep the momentum going throughout the school year by asking questions, having informal conversations with students, and following up on what they share. Use this background knowledge when planning lessons to connect learning to their real lives and increase student interest and engagement. Making your students feel safe, seen, and valued will go a long way toward building the intrinsic motivation they need to make thoughtful choices in the classroom.

Clear, Specific Routines and Expectations

From the very first day of school, create and communicate clear, specific routines and expectations for students. Do this for every aspect of the school day, from entering the classroom in the morning to transitioning between activities to walking through the hallways of the school building. Help students understand why these routines and expectations matter, and build in time to practice them throughout the year, as needed.

Consistency

Consistency really is the key to effective elementary classroom management. Kids thrive on routine. Communicate expectations at the beginning of the year, and be consistent in following through and holding students accountable for their actions. If students see inconsistency, they will take every opportunity to take advantage of it. Minimize downtime, as this almost always leads to disruptions and other behavior issues.

Morning Greetings

Standing at the door to greet students as they arrive each day is a great elementary classroom management strategy. It makes students feel welcome, and it’s also a good time to gather information about and chat with your students. As students arrive at school, greet them by name, engage them in informal conversation, and make them feel welcomed back into the classroom.

Morning Meetings

Morning meetings are a terrific way to build acaring classroom community. Typically, a morning meeting happens at the beginning of the day or class period and lasts about 10-15 minutes. During a morning meeting, students might answer a question of the day, participate in a role play or team-building activity, or listen to a book and discuss a related social-emotional learning skill. The overarching goal of a morning meeting is to give students opportunities to get to know one another better, get to know you better, and practice important social skills.

Mindfulness Practice

Implement a daily mindfulness practice into your classroom. Choose a time of day that is often chaotic, such as when students return from gym or recess, and explicitly teach students a mindfulness strategy. Practice it each day for a week or two, before moving on to a new strategy. Help students understand that mindfulness is a proactive way to keep their bodies and brains calm, and that they can use these same strategies reactively to calm down when they feel escalated. This practice helps students build the self-regulation skills they will need as they get older.

Brain Breaks

We all need breaks throughout the day. Recognize this need and plan for it by scheduling brain breaks into your instructional day. Brain breaks are short breaks that let students stand up, move around, stretch, and turn off their brains for a few minutes. Incorporating a few brain breaks into your day ensures students’ brains are ready to learn and reduces disruptions and behavioral issues. Be flexible in incorporating brain breaks into your day. You know your students. When they look like they need a break, they probably do.

Calm Down Space

If you’ve ever needed a space to retreat to for peace, quiet, and time to think, you understand the importance of a calm down space. Intentionally plan a space in your classroom for this very purpose. It should be within eyesight of classroom instruction, and might include sensory tools, visual reminders of strategies students have learned, comfortable seating options, and low lighting. Set clear expectations for the calm-down space, and teach students how and when to use it, as well as the tools available to them.

Positive Reinforcement

Consistent positive reinforcement is an important part of your elementary classroom management plan. Provide this feedback not only to students who consistently make smart choices and often don’t get the recognition they deserve, but also to struggling students when the opportunity arises. Celebrating small wins as a normal part of your classroom culture gives students the affirmation many need and models how to encourage peers.

Have Fun!

When students see you having fun in the classroom, the feeling becomes contagious, and that’s a win for everyone.

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Why is effective classroom management in elementary school important?

Effective classroom management is critical in the elementary classroom. At this age, students develop the foundational habits and social behaviors that will carry them through the rest of their lives. They need strong teacher control and structure, along with simple processes and routines, to learn these skills and build the independence and autonomy necessary for middle school.

Creating an elementary classroom management plan that maximizes learning time, builds a positive classroom environment, and relies on clear, consistent routines and expectations will help students thrive academically, socially, and behaviorally. This can lead to fewer disruptions, smoother transitions, stronger student engagement, and improved academic performance. This puts the focus on learning rather than constantly addressing classroom behaviors and disruptions.

Take the time at the beginning of the school year to develop your elementary classroom management plan. Consider the boundaries, expectations, and routines that are a priority for you, and how you can explicitly communicate them to students. Think about the classroom environment you hope to create, and identify the components needed to make it happen. Be flexible as the year progresses and you get to know your students better. Most importantly, have fun, and your students will too.

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What Is Formative Assessment? A Complete Guide for K-12 Educators

Dr. Becky Cahill — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:50:33 +0000

Key takeaways

With formative assessment, a teacher can gather evidence to guide their decision-making, rather than waiting until teaching is complete to know whether a student understands the content.
Formative assessment methods are powerful because they are quick and easy for teachers to use. This is not a tedious or labor-intensive process that will overwhelm educators or students.
Using formative assessment is more than gathering student responses. A teacher will need to incorporate specific feedback into their practice to ensure that changes in student understanding can occur quickly.

Assessment of student understanding is a cornerstone of the educational system. Educators can teach content and skills, but if the students do not actually learn, then nothing is gained. In the history of American public education, assessments were completed at the culmination of a unit, semester, or school year. At the point the tests were completed, the learning either happened or it did not.

The push for formative assessment is an attempt to gather information about student learning and understanding during instruction. With this approach, teachers can make adjustments to ensure that students move successfully toward mastery.

What Is Formative Assessment?

Formative assessment is a different way of thinking about testing. The emphasis is not on a numerical grade but on a low-stakes approach during the teaching cycle, in which teachers gather data to support their instructional planning and strategies.

The timing of formative assessment is ongoing and happens frequently; this provides teachers and students with opportunities to analyze their thinking before a final grade. Formative assessment methods can be qualitative or quantitative, but they should be quick to create, implement, and analyze.

It can be tempting to treat formative assessment practices as the same as checks for understanding. When a teacher plans a check for understanding in their lesson, they hope to discover what students know. Although checks for understanding can be a part of a formative assessment plan, the goal is to gain insight into student cognition.

Formative assessment is more than ensuring students know the answer; it is about creating opportunities for teachers to see patterns and trends among their students. The data collected should yield valuable insights into how students think, not just whether they have memorized an answer.

Formative Assessment vs. Summative Assessment

A formative assessment plan includes multiple opportunities to gauge student understanding throughout the learning process. With each formative assessment, a teacher can correct misunderstandings and provide immediate feedback to individual students, ensuring they provide personalized guidance when needed.

A summative assessment is a one-time test or project that is used to measure a student’s final understanding of a concept or topic. Often, this type of assessment results in a numerical or letter grade that reflects a student’s mastery. Summative assessments have an important place in education because they provide a way to measure a student’s overall grasp or performance.

Key Differences and When to Use Each

Formative assessment should be used throughout the teaching and learning process to support growth. A teacher will want to have a multitude of small formative assessments planned out daily or at least weekly. These should take a short period and be limited in their scope to allow an educator to make immediate adjustments.

Summative assessment should be used to evaluate a demonstration of understanding at the culmination of a learning unit or other complete cycle. A teacher will typically have one or two summative assessments based on the skill required. These are often measures of overall achievement or performance evaluations.

Why Is Formative Assessment Important?

The use of formative assessment is important because it allows teachers to discover what students do not know, rather than only what they do. Often, educators can learn more from incorrect or partially correct answers because they can identify where students are confused and make decisions moving forward. The use of formative assessment provides a students’ thought processes, which is vital for teachers to intervene appropriately.

Benefits of Formative Assessment for Teachers and Students

There are numerous benefits to using formative assessment in the classroom.

For teachers, gathering and analyzing the data from an individual formative assessment provides an in-the-moment view of student understanding. This is important so that teachers can adjust their instruction before moving forward, preventing student misunderstandings from becoming permanent. Teachers can immediately address misconceptions through feedback or can offer interventions to support student learning.

When a teacher provides feedback from formative assessment, a student can understand where they are in their learning before a culminating project or summative assessment. In this period before the end of a unit of study, students are provided with information, time, and space to update their understanding. Along with learning content, they are practicing important executive functioning skills.

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Types of Formative Assessment

When considering the use of formative assessment, a teacher should view their full unit to create an assessment plan. They can decide when, where, and how they will build individual formative assessments into their instruction. Even with a plan in place, teachers should demonstrate instructional agility to make quick decisions based on their observations during each class period.

Pre-Assessment, Self-Assessment, Peer Feedback, and Feedback Breaks

Although most formative assessment use will relate to academic growth, it can be used effectively to support student behavior, social-emotional learning, and overall well-being.

Pre-assessment is a traditional measurement technique in which teachers assess students’ understanding prior to the start of a unit. Data gathered will inform the teacher about prior knowledge and the areas where students will need the most support.

Self-assessment is a valuable tool for teachers to collect data about a student’s thought process and their perceptions of their own learning. It is also great practice for students as they develop skills that will support them throughout life.

Peer feedback can be helpful for all students involved. However, there should be prior learning and procedures in place to ensure that students understand how to provide and receive feedback. They will need clear guidelines and time to practice.

Feedback breaks should be built into teacher planning and instruction. These are the moments when a teacher plans ahead to provide feedback to individual students or a class as a whole. There will be times when an educator decides to implement an unplanned formative assessment based on their observations, but most should be strategically planned.

Formative Assessment Strategies and Examples

A teacher can conduct a quick internet search and discover hundreds of pre-existing formative assessments. However, over time they will begin to develop their own based on their classroom practices and unique students.

Exit Tickets, Think-Pair-Share, and Other Classroom Checks

When selecting a formative assessment option, a teacher should consider the method for collection and the specific data they hope to obtain.

Methods for formative assessment should be quick and usable at any point in the lesson. One example that works in any setting is a parking lot. A teacher creates a designated area in the classroom for students to place their responses; typically, students use a sticky note. Another method is think-pair-share, wherein students work individually, with a partner, and then with a larger group. At the end of a lesson, many teachers use exit tickets. These are collected as students leave the classroom.

With each of the methods mentioned above, a teacher has myriad options for addressing the content itself. One might consider asking students to craft a one-sentence summary for a read-aloud chapter. Students could be challenged to provide examples and non-examples for that day’s learning. Another effective strategy is to use inverted questioning. With this approach, a teacher makes a statement and then asks a student to explain their thinking. For example, rather than asking whether basalt is an igneous rock, a teacher could state that basalt is igneous and ask students how they could prove it.

How to Implement Formative Assessment in Your Classroom

The most effective way to implement formative assessment in a classroom is to plan ahead. A teacher will need to identify where in their instruction they will gather data, how they will collect it, and their process for analyzing the data. When first starting, a teacher can consider areas for pre-corrections based on when students typically struggle or demonstrate common misconceptions.

Aligning Assessments with Learning Objectives and Providing Feedback

It can be easy to utilize formative assessment daily; however, this should become a practice once a teacher has a clear plan. Including formative assessments but not using the data is not a productive use of teacher time. It is best to start with a few points throughout the week to gather student responses related to specific learning objectives. The process should be a quick cycle that includes student answers, teacher analysis, teacher feedback, and adjustments to instruction the next day. As confidence grows, educators will be able to organically add formative assessment throughout their instruction.

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Middle School Classroom Management: 10 Strategies That Work

Alisa Kaczorowski — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 16:16:18 +0000

Key takeaways

Effectively managing a middle school classroom means recognizing and adjusting for the rapid developmental changes students are experiencing.
Building and maintaining strong relationships with students is the most effective classroom management strategy for any grade level.
Effective classroom management looks very different at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Middle school students require greater independence and autonomy.

Middle school is a time of rapid developmental change for students. While teaching middle school students can be exhausting and challenging at times, it can also be incredibly rewarding. Recognizing these developmental changes and the resulting need to treat students a bit differently than elementary schoolers is key to effective middle school classroom management.

Like elementary students, middle school students need clear expectations, positive reinforcement, and explicit routines. These things, along with a caring and empathetic teacher, help build the sense of felt safety and belonging most students need at school. However, middle school students need more independence and autonomy to thrive at school, as well as a teacher who approaches classroom management through an empathetic rather than compliance lens.

A variety of educational resources can help teachers navigate the tricky waters of middle school, but these 10 strategies for middle school classroom management are a great place to start.

10 Effective Classroom Management Strategies for Middle School

Morning Greetings

Standing at your classroom door to greet students as they enter the room, rather than sitting at your desk frantically finishing the last items on your to-do list, is an effective way to build relationships with students, show them the “human” side of you, and get class started on a positive note. Use this time to strike up conversations, ask questions, and get to know students. Building and maintaining strong relationships with students is the foundation of any effective classroom management plan.

Morning Routine

Create a morning or beginning-of-class routine that stays the same day to day. Students should know exactly what to expect when they enter the classroom, including tasks to complete and procedures to follow. You might communicate this through an anchor chart on the wall or a morning message on the board. The goal of this routine is to create a calm, welcoming, predictable classroom environment that helps students ease into the day or class period. Consider lowering the lights or playing soft music to help students focus.

Relationship Building

Building and maintaining strong relationships with students is the most effective middle school classroom management strategy. All kids want to feel safe and known at school, but these feelings matter especially during the tumultuous middle school years when confidence levels drop and peer pressure rises. Take every opportunity you have to engage students one-on-one and get to know them on a personal level. Implementing the 2×5 conversation strategy is a great way to facilitate these relationships. With this strategy, you choose a student to have a 2-minute conversation with for 5 consecutive days, and the conversation is NOT about schoolwork or behavior. Start with students who are shy or may be trickier to involve in conversation, as they likely need to connect most with a trusted adult at school.

Student-Centered Learning

Student-centered learning puts students in the driver’s seat and gives them more autonomy over their learning by allowing them to choose what they learn and how they learn it. In this classroom model, the teacher becomes more of a facilitator of learning, sparking curiosity, encouraging critical thinking, and providing opportunities for inquiry-based, project-based, and collaborative learning. Because the learning interests students, they naturally become more engaged and motivated, leading to fewer disruptions and off-task behaviors.

Thoughtful Interactions

Remember that you are 50% of every interaction you have with a student. A large component of middle school classroom management is being intentional in how you interact with students. Avoid unnecessary authoritative directives, shaming, power struggles, and known triggers. Provide reasoning or context for your directions or requests, and consistently give students choices. Rely on nonverbal cues and redirections as the first line of defense, and be sure to include affective statements when redirecting verbally.

Provide Choices

The more choices you can offer middle school students, the better. Developmentally, they are ready for increased independence and need opportunities to practice thoughtful decision-making in a low-stakes environment. Allow ample opportunities for student choice throughout the day. This might mean choosing how to demonstrate understanding of a topic or which flexible seating option works best for them on a given day. Be sure you can live with the options you’re offering to avoid undermining them.

Establish Clear and Consistent Routines

Establishing clear, consistent routines from the first day of school is one of the best ways to reduce classroom behavioral issues. Clearly communicate these routines to students and allow them ample opportunities to practice. Minimize distractions and downtime in the classroom, as these almost always get students off track.

Incorporate Brain Breaks

We all hit the point in the day when we just need a break. Our brains are tired, and our bodies need to move. Make brain breaks a regular part of your middle school classroom management plan by intentionally scheduling them into your instructional day. Additionally, become proficient at reading students’ cues and body language to recognize when they need a break. Allow five minutes of movement, stretching, or sensory tools to help students regulate so they are ready to learn again.

Practice Mindfulness

Practicing mindfulness in the classroom is not only a fantastic way to set the tone for the day or class period, but it is also a great way to fill students’ toolboxes with the emotional regulation skills they need to de-escalate on their own. Explicitly teach students a variety of mindfulness strategies and allow ample time and opportunity for practice in the classroom. Post visual reminders of these strategies around the classroom or in a calm-down area, and encourage students to use them reactively when necessary.

Reward Positive Behavior

Students who typically do the right thing and make the right choices are often the ones who are rarely recognized in the classroom. Don’t let students with higher-need behaviors overshadow those who consistently behave and make positive choices. These students need positive reinforcement just as much, and often never receive it. Have a plan to regularly recognize, reward, and celebrate these students. This kind of affirmation is just what many of those students need to continue on this trajectory.

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How is middle school classroom management different from elementary and high school?

Middle school classroom management differs from that of elementary and high school in many ways. In elementary school, students build foundational habits and social behaviors, such as basic sharing and listening skills, that require strong teacher control, structure, and support. Teachers spend a lot of time modeling behaviors, redirecting students, and addressing off-task behavior. Additionally, teacher support for students’ emotional regulation through modeling and co-regulation is critical as young students build self-regulation skills.

During middle school, students need more independence, autonomy, and support navigating tricky peer dynamics, complex social drama, and peer pressure. Teachers continue to spend a lot of time helping students build self-regulation skills and a sense of responsibility while maintaining a positive attitude. Preserving student dignity is central to effective middle school classroom management, as others’ opinions play a vital role in a middle school student’s sense of self.

By high school, teachers can spend less time on students’ emotional regulation and more time building a culture of mutual respect and autonomy. Although external factors like college entrance exams and scholarships influence students’ motivation, high school teachers still spend a lot of time addressing motivation and apathy in the classroom.

There are many ways to manage a middle school classroom so that students’ developmental needs are recognized and met, they feel a sense of safety and belonging, and they thrive academically, behaviorally, and socially.

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What Is Instructional Design? A Complete Guide for K–12 Educators

Michael Healey — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 12:38:36 +0000

Key takeaways

Instructional design starts with what students need to learn and how they will show what they know.
Models such as ADDIE, Bloom’s Taxonomy, Universal Design for Learning, and Gagné’s Nine Events can help educators plan and make instructional decisions.
An effective design provides direction while giving teachers the flexibility to respond when students need additional time, support, or challenge.

There are lessons that look great on paper but still don’t connect with the students sitting in front of you. It is aligned to a standard, the materials are engaging, and every minute is accounted for, yet students might still leave without being able to apply what they just learned.

The problem may not be the activity itself. Instead, the different parts of the lesson may not work together in ways that help students build and apply their understanding.

This is where instructional design matters. It asks educators to think deliberately about the students, the learning goal, the evidence that will demonstrate success, and the experiences that will help students reach that goal.

Teachers have always done this work, even if they have not called it instructional design. However, today’s classrooms include a wider range of student needs, instructional resources, technologies, and expectations. Having a thoughtful process for connecting those pieces has become increasingly important.

What Is Instructional Design?

For educators asking what instructional design is, the clearest answer is that it is the process of creating a connected and effective learning experience. It begins by identifying what students need to learn and ends by examining whether they actually learned it.

In a school setting, instructional design may be used to develop a lesson, unit, intervention, or even professional development for staff. It includes decisions about goals, assessments, content, sequence, instructional strategies, accessibility, resources, and feedback.

Instructional design overlaps with lesson planning and curriculum development, but the terms are not interchangeable. Curriculum establishes the broader content and learning expectations across a grade, course, or subject. A lesson plan generally outlines what a teacher and students will do during a particular class. Instructional design examines how each part of the learning experience works together for a particular group of students.

For example, consider a middle school science lesson on erosion. A video and stream-table investigation can both be useful, but effective lesson design is about more than choosing engaging activities. Teachers also need to think about what students should learn, how they will demonstrate their understanding, what they need to know before the lesson begins, and what support will help them succeed without making the work less challenging.

Once those questions are answered, the video, investigation, discussion, and assessment are no longer separate activities. Each serves a clear purpose within the larger learning experience.

Why Is Instructional Design Important?

Teachers make hundreds of decisions during a school day. Effective instructional design does not remove that complexity or try to predict everything that will happen in the classroom. It provides a dependable structure that helps teachers make those decisions with a clear purpose.

When the learning goal, instructional approach, and assessment are aligned, teachers can focus more closely on what students are showing them. They can determine whether students are ready to move forward, need another example, require additional practice, or would benefit from a different approach.

Instructional design also helps teachers make better use of learning time. Students can be engaged in an activity without necessarily doing the required thinking. Starting with the learning goal helps ensure that each part of the lesson moves students toward that goal.

Instructional design also helps schools make better use of resources. A textbook, primary source, lab, simulation, video, or digitaleducational resource only adds value when it is selected for a clear reason, and students know what to do with it. The same is true of high-quality instructional materials. Strong materials matter, but implementation still requires planning, professional development, time, and teacher expertise.

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Instructional Design Models: The Most Common Frameworks

Teachers do not need to use one model for every lesson. Different instructional design models help answer different planning questions. One may guide the development of a unit, while another helps teachers examine rigor or lesson sequence.

The model should serve the work. If completing the framework becomes more important than improving learning, it has become another compliance exercise.

The ADDIE Model Explained

ADDIE is one of the most widely recognized instructional design frameworks. Its name represents five phases: analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation.

Analysis focuses on the students, their needs, and the context. Teachers may review prerequisite skills, student work, assessment results, misconceptions, resources, and instructional time.

Design establishes the learning objectives, evidence of success, sequence, and instructional approach.

Development turns those previous decisions into materials teachers can use, including texts, tasks, examples, questions, supports, and assessments.

Implementation is putting the plan into action by teaching the lesson, observing students, providing feedback, and adjusting instruction as needed.

Evaluation examines whether the design produced the intended result and what should change.

ADDIE is often presented as a sequence, but it should not be treated as a one-way process. Information gathered during teaching may require a return to an earlier step. If students lack a prerequisite skill, for example, the teacher may need to adjust the sequence or provide additional instruction.

Other Key Instructional Design Frameworks

Bloom’s Taxonomy, Universal Design for Learning, and Gagné’s Nine Events of Instruction offer different ways to examine a learning experience.

Bloom’s Taxonomy helps educators consider the level of thinking required by an objective. Its revised levels, remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create, can reveal a mismatch between the standard and the student task. If students are expected to evaluate competing claims, an activity limited to recalling definitions will not be enough.

Universal Design for Learning, or UDL, recognizes that students learn in different ways. UDL encourages teachers to provide multiple ways for students to engage with content, understand information, and demonstrate what they know; these might include text, visuals, or hands-on activities. The goal is to remove unnecessary barriers while still keeping expectations high.

Gagné’s Nine Events of Instruction offers a general sequence for planning a lesson, from gaining students’ attention and connecting to prior learning to practice, feedback, assessment, and application. The framework reinforces the need for our students to connect, practice, receive feedback, and apply what they learn.

Teachers do not have to choose one framework and stick with it. They might use ADDIE to shape a unit, then Bloom’s, UDL, or Gagné’s when thinking about rigor, access, or how a lesson should unfold.

The Instructional Design Process: Step by Step

These models can be translated into a practical planning process.

1. Define the Learning Need

Begin with the students, not the resource or activity. What do students already know? Where are they struggling? What background knowledge, vocabulary, language, or skills will they need? Base those answers on student work, observation, assessment results, and teacher experience rather than assumptions.

2. Set the Learning Goal

Be clear about what students should know or be able to do by the end of the lesson. The goal should guide the lesson, provide students with a way to show what they learned, and align with what the standard asks them to do.

3. Decide How Students Will Show What They Learned

Before choosing activities, consider how students will demonstrate they have met the learning goal. This might be through an explanation, a discussion, an investigation, a project, a performance, or an assessment.

This is part of effective curriculum planning. Start with what students need to learn and how they will show it, then plan the instruction and activities that will help them get there.

4. Build a Logical Learning Sequence

Organize the experience so students can move from what they know toward what they need to learn. Depending on the content, this may involve modeling, guided practice, discussion, feedback, and independent application. Over time, more of the thinking and responsibility should shift from teacher to student.

5. Choose How Students Will Learn

Select teaching strategies based on what your students need to learn. For example, a teacher might first explain a new idea, then give students time to explore it, ask questions, and make sense of it on their own.

Discussion, group work, and project-based learning can all be useful for different purposes. The key is to choose an approach that supports the learning goal. Technology should also have a clear purpose and help advance learning.

6. Plan for Different Learning Needs

Plan ahead and consider where students will need additional support. Things like vocabulary support, clear directions, guided notes, teacher-selected grouping, or extra examples can often help students better understand the work.

Teachers should also think about students who are ready for more. Differentiated instruction can provide extra challenge or support without lowering expectations.

7. Teach, Check, and Adjust

Use questions, observations, student explanations, and exit tickets to determine what should happen next. The evidence may show that the class is ready to continue or that students need clarification, reteaching, regrouping, or additional practice.

8. Review What Worked

After the lesson is completed, look at what students learned and compare it with what you wanted them to learn. Identify where students did well, consider where students struggled, where the lesson may not have connected, and which supports were most effective. Revising a lesson based on what you learn is part of the process.

Instructional Design Strategies and Best Practices

Effective instructional design starts with alignment. The learning goal, practice, and assessment should all fit together. Students should practice the same kind of thinking they will be asked to use at the end of the lesson.

The lesson should also have a clear focus. Too many goals or activities can make it harder for students to see what is most important. A few well-connected activities can be more effective than trying to do too much in one lesson.

Students should be actively thinking. They should explain, compare, question, investigate, practice, create, or apply. Meaningful student engagement involves what students are thinking and experiencing, not only whether they appear busy.

Feedback should be provided while students still have an opportunity to use it. It has limited value when the class has already moved on and students have no time to revise, practice, or try again.

Key Principles of Effective Course Design

Whether teachers are planning a lesson, unit, or course, a few basic principles can help:

Start with what students should know or be able to do.
Make sure the goal, instruction, practice, and assessment work together.
Build learning step by step.
Keep the work challenging while removing unnecessary barriers.
Give students time to practice, get feedback, and use what they learned on their own.
Review what worked and make changes when needed.

School leaders can support this work by giving teachers time to plan, providing useful instructional materials, and makingprofessional learning relevant to what teachers are teaching. The process should also stay practical; a lengthy planning template or extra paperwork should not become the focus.

Keep the Focus on Your Students

At its best, instructional design gives teachers a clear plan for learning while leaving room to respond to what happens in the classroom. It helps teachers focus on what matters, connect the different parts of a lesson, plan for possible challenges, and see whether students are making progress.

No instructional design model can predict every question, misunderstanding, or need that may come up. The plan provides direction, but what students say, do, and produce should help guide what happens next.

The most important test is whether the learning experience makes sense from the student’s point of view. Students should understand what they are learning, engage in activities that prepare them for what they are expected to do, receive useful feedback, and have opportunities to apply what they have learned.

When those pieces come together, instructional design has done its job. Standards, materials, strategies, and activities work together to create a learning experience that helps students succeed.

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Classroom Community Building Activities for Every Grade

Alisa Kaczorowski — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 13:19:56 +0000

Key takeaways

Classroom community building activities are a great tool for helping students get to know one another better throughout the school year.
Integrating classroom community building activities can increase a sense of safety in the classroom.
Incorporate one or two classroom community-building activities, and build slowly from there based on your students’ needs.

Most teachers look forward to the fresh start of a new school year – a tidy and carefully curated classroom, sharpened pencils, and the excitement of getting to know yet another classroom full of students. We have high hopes for making this the best school year yet and look forward to building a sense of community or family in our classroom. We want our students to respect one another, be engaged, and play a critical role in building a collaborative classroom.

Classroom community-building activities are the perfect way to achieve these goals. These simple, daily activities not only help students get to know their teacher and peers better throughout the year, but also increase student engagement, build a sense of belonging in the classroom and school, and promote felt safety in students.

What Are Classroom Community Building Activities?

Classroom community-building activities are simple ways you can help students get to know you and their peers. They can take the form of a short exercise, game, or activity that is easy to implement, takes only a few minutes, and should be integrated into your daily routine to build community among students.

Why is Classroom Community Building Important?

There are many benefits to implementing classroom community-building activities, but one of the most important, particularly at the beginning of the school year, is fostering a collaborative learning environment in which students encourage and support one another. This really sets the tone for the classroom environment for the school year.

Additionally, classroom community-building activities foster a sense of felt safety among students, which can help build trust between students and teachers. This can result in fewer behavior referrals, higher levels of student engagement, and improved academic achievement. Classroom community-building activities have also been shown to improve students’ sharing, listening, and teamwork skills across all ages.

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10 Classroom Community Building Activities

Create a Community Agreement

Most teachers begin the first few days of school going over the classroom rules. Over the past decade or so, this practice has gone through various iterations – classroom norms and expectations, a classroom compact, etc. Let’s break away from the tradition of telling students what NOT to do in the classroom and instead focus on the behaviors we DO expect of them. Bring students together to create a Community Agreement, a document or poster of the behaviors, words, and actions they should expect from you and each other in order to thrive in the classroom this school year.

Icebreakers

It’s the activity we all dread at every professional development workshop – the icebreaker. Why? Because it forces us out of our comfort zone and encourages us to talk to and learn about new people. As silly as it sometimes feels to participate in an icebreaker activity, it really does work. Students have to start learning about and talking to one another at some point, so you might as well lean into an icebreaker activity on the first day of school. Icebreakers suit all age levels and take many forms.

Morning Greetings

The few minutes before school or class starts can often feel like a race to finish the last tasks on our to-do list before students arrive. Sometimes that means we are huddled over our laptop or the copier until the bell rings, and when we look up, our classroom is full of students. While this may seem like an efficient use of your time, it’s not the best way to build community in your classroom. Trade those last-minute tasks for standing at your classroom door at the beginning of the school day or during passing periods. Use this time to greet students by name as they enter your classroom, ask about their weekend, or follow up on tidbits they’ve shared with you on previous days. This is what relationship building looks like, and your students WILL notice the difference.

Morning Meeting

A great classroom community-building activity is holding a daily morning meeting. A morning meeting should take about 10-20 minutes and focus solely on building community in your classroom. During a morning meeting, students may share about themselves, answer a question of the day, listen to a read-aloud, discuss a specific social-emotional learning skill, participate in a debate, or role-play a particular situation. With practice over time, you can gradually transfer some responsibility for the morning meeting to students.

Weekly VIP

Each week, assign a different student as the classroom’s Very Important Person. Give the VIP opportunities each day to share about themselves, teach the class a new skill, or share some of their favorite things. Assigning a weekly VIP is not only a great way for students to get to know one another better, but also an opportunity for students to practice skills such as verbal communication and risk-taking, and to build a sense of ownership and belonging in the classroom.

Peer Celebrations

Encourage students in your class to celebrate one another’s accomplishments. Build this skill by openly celebrating students’ small wins, whether academic, behavioral, or social-emotional. Make a big deal of these accomplishments and encourage other students to get involved in celebrating successes. Once this practice becomes a fundamental part of your classroom culture, create a system for students to celebrate their peers. This could take the form of a shout-out bulletin board, individual success journals, or a weekly practice of writing congratulatory notes to one another.

Classroom Jobs

Setting up classroom jobs is a great way to build classroom community for students of all ages. Expecting students to care for the classroom, materials, and one another builds ownership and a sense of responsibility and accountability. Consider having students “apply” for jobs they are interested in by writing a few sentences (or even a persuasive letter) detailing why they are well-suited for those jobs. Keep it fresh by letting students change jobs regularly.

Random Acts of Kindness

Encourage your students to do random acts of kindness throughout the classroom and the entire school building. Start this practice at the beginning of the year by planning a random act of kindness for a teacher, student, or classroom at the school, and involve your entire class. Treat it like a secret mission, and younger students will be hooked. Give students the opportunity to brainstorm random acts of kindness they can do individually or as a class, and set a goal for how many they hope to complete each week, month, or quarter. Encourage students to branch out and do random acts of kindness on their own around the school, at home, or in their communities.

3 Stars and a Wish

Teach students the 3 Stars and a Wish method of providing feedback to others. The three stars represent things that the other person did well, and the wish represents one piece of constructive feedback. This classroom community-building activity can be used with students of all ages and in a variety of situations. For example, students could share a piece of narrative writing aloud and receive 3 Stars and a Wish from a couple of classmates. This activity not only gets students thinking critically about their own work and others’ work, but also gives them the opportunity to practice giving and receiving feedback in a constructive and kind manner.

Alternatively, you can use this classroom community-building activity to help students reflect on their day. In this case, the stars represent things that went well during the day, and the wish represents something they wish had been different to make the day even better.

They’re the Expert

Students love to share the talents and skills that make them unique. Consider adopting a weekly practice in which a student (possibly the Weekly VIP) serves as the expert and teaches the class about something they know well. Have a student who is really into meteorology? Ask them to bring their weather lab set to class and teach the other students about each component. What about the student who’s been really into making friendship bracelets lately? Ask them to teach the class a simple friendship bracelet-making technique. Through this classroom community building activity, students gain confidence in public speaking, share something genuinely interesting to them, learn new skills, and potentially find others with similar interests.

By embracing our students’ diverse interests, talents, skills, and personalities and incorporating a variety of classroom community-building activities, we create a classroom community that is welcoming, supportive, and thriving. Start small by choosing one or two classroom community-building activities to integrate into your classroom. If those go well, consider adding another that feels right for your students. Every class is different, and you know your students’ needs better than anyone. Consider what is best for your students and build from there. You can find a variety of educational resources to support classroom community building and more here.

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Data-Driven Instruction: Turning Student Data Into Better Teaching

Michael Healey — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 16:40:07 +0000

Key takeaways

Data-driven instruction is a continuous process of gathering evidence, identifying what students need, responding through instruction, and checking whether the response worked.
The strongest decisions come from multiple sources of information. No single assessment, score, or data point can fully explain what a student knows or needs next.
Schools are more likely to improve outcomes when they keep the process focused, collaborative, and close to classroom practice.

A teacher gives an exit ticket at the end of a lesson. By the next morning, she knows that most of the class understands the concept, six students are missing the same prerequisite skill, and four are ready for a greater challenge. She changes the opening activity, works with a small group of students, and adjusts the next task based on student needs.

This is an example of data-driven instruction at its most useful and effective, using evidence to make a better instructional decision while there is still time for that decision to matter.

Technology can make that process easier by giving schools access to more timely and detailed information. A��K-12 online learning platform can help bring instructional resources, assessment information, and classroom tools together in ways that make it easier to act on that information.

The important question, however, is not how much data a school can collect, but whether that information reaches teachers in a form they can understand and use.

What Is Data-Driven Instruction?

Data-driven instruction is an ongoing approach in which educators collect and interpret evidence of student learning, use it to adjust teaching, and then monitor the results. The purpose is not to allow data to replace professional judgment. It is to give that judgment a stronger foundation.

Teachers have always observed their students working, listened to their questions, and adjusted their lessons when things weren’t going well. A formal data-driven instruction process makes those existing habits more intentional. It helps teachers move from “I think the class is struggling” to “Here is exactly what’s causing my students to struggle, here’s who needs support, and here’s what we will try next.”

How Does the Data-Driven Instruction Cycle Work?

An effective data-driven instruction cycle is developed around three connected stages: assess, analyze, and act.

Assess. Teachers gather evidence aligned to a learning goal. This evidence often comes from a benchmark, an exit ticket, a student conference, or a teacher observation. These are often quick, focused checks that help teachers understand how well students have learned a specific skill.

Analyze. Teachers need to look beyond the overall score to determine which skills students have mastered, where errors are occurring, and whether the challenge is a whole-class or a smaller-group issue. An incorrect answer might occur due to a misunderstanding, a missing prerequisite skill, or unclear directions. The goal is to use the results to identify what is hindering learning.

Act. Teachers respond by adjusting how they teach, providing a scaffold, forming a small group, or extending the lesson. After making an adjustment, educators revisit student learning to see whether the change had the intended effect. If students are still struggling, the next step is to determine what should change in the instruction, support, or learning task.

This process can happen over the course of a semester, within a unit, or in the middle of a lesson. The shorter the cycle, the sooner teachers can respond when students begin to struggle.

What Types of Data Are Used in Data-Driven Instruction?

Instructional data comes in several forms, and each answers a different question.

Diagnostic data establishes a starting point. A pre-assessment or review of prior work can reveal readiness and prerequisite skills. Formative data comes from questioning, observations, drafts, quizzes, and exit tickets during learning.

Interim or benchmark data helps show how students are progressing in a classroom, across grade levels, or even at different schools in the district. Summative data, such as final exams and state assessments, show what students have learned over a longer period of time and are often useful for identifying broader patterns and areas where the curriculum may need attention.

Student work and classroom observations matter too. What students say, the work they complete, their attendance, and their class participation can help explain what a test score alone cannot.

The clearest picture comes from looking at more than one source of information. When different measures point to the same need, teachers can respond with greater confidence. When the results do not line up, the next step is to look more closely rather than rely on the number that best fits an assumption.

Why Is Data-Driven Instruction Important?

The most important benefit is responsiveness. Instead of waiting until the end of a marking period to see that a student is falling behind, teachers can identify needs earlier and make adjustments. This makes differentiated instruction more focused because support is based on data rather than on a general impression of a student’s ability.

Data can also help schools promote greater support for everyone. Schoolwide averages can hide important differences among student groups, classrooms, or grade levels. Looking more closely at the data can show where some students may not have access to effective instruction or where a support is working for some students but not others. The goal is not to lower expectations, but to identify barriers and make sure support is available for the students who need it.

For school leaders, this process helps connect improvement goals to what is happening in classrooms each day. These goals become more meaningful when teachers understand how their work contributes and when leaders provide the time, tools, materials, and professional development needed to support that work.

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5 Effective Data-Driven Instruction Strategies for Teachers and Leaders

1. Begin With a Question

Before looking at the data, start with the decision that needs to be made. Teachers might be trying to determine whether students are ready to move on, which prerequisite skill is causing difficulty, or whether a recent change in instruction helped. Starting with a clear purpose keeps teams focused and prevents them from reviewing large amounts of data without knowing what to do with it.

School leaders can support this by keeping data conversations brief and focused. If a team cannot clearly explain what decision the information is meant to support, it may not be necessary.

2. Use Multiple Sources and Look at Student Work

Assessment results show where students are struggling, while student work often helps explain why. Looking at several student responses in addition to the assessment results is helpful in revealing patterns and the strategies students used.

This helps teachers avoid placing too much weight on a single score and keeps the focus on what students are showing through their work and what can be adjusted in instruction.

3. Turn Data Into Action

Data is at its most useful when teachers can review it easily and understand what it means. This information should lead to a clear next step, including which students need support, what that support looks like, and how teachers will know whether it is working.

A strongK-12 online learning platform can help by bringing high-quality instructional resources and flexible ways to demonstrate learning into the same planning process. Technology can make information and content easier to access, but teachers still determine which responses best fit their students.

4. Keep the Conversations Focused on Instruction

Meetings to review student progress should be focused on the next steps teachers can take, not just on reviewing data. Teachers need this time to adapt their lessons, choose different resources, and assess whether previous changes have made a difference in student learning.

School leaders should take part in these meetings to help solve problems and support teachers in their next steps. If disappointing results are treated as a judgment of performance, staff may be less willing to speak openly about challenges. When results are used to guide improvement, teams are more likely to have honest and productive conversations.

5. Keep the Process Manageable

Schools often make this much more difficult than it needs to be; most often by trying to do too much at once. Start with one priority standard, one common check, or one group of students. Work through the process, see what you learn, and build from there.

Students can also be part of the process. Clear goals, timely feedback, and opportunities to see their own progress help students understand what they are working toward and where they are improving. This can help them take a more active role in their learning.

From Data Collection to Better Decisions

The real benefit of effective data-driven instruction is whether teachers can use it to answer three practical questions: What do my students understand? What do they need next? How will I know whether my response helped?

Start small with a clear question, use the information that is already available, make one change, and then watch to see if it was effective. Over time, these small cycles can lead to something more valuable than a collection of scores. They can help create a culture where teachers use evidence to make decisions and students receive the support they need at the right time.

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Co-Teaching Models: A Complete Guide to All 6 Approaches

Kayla Terry — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 13:19:56 +0000

Key takeaways

There are six recognized co-teaching models, each suited to different classroom needs, group sizes, and instructional goals.
Knowing how to choose a co-teaching model means matching the approach to your students' needs, not defaulting to the same model every lesson.
Successful co-teaching depends as much on the partnership between teachers as it does on which model you pick.

Co-teaching has become one of the cornerstones of inclusive education, and for good reason. Pairing two teachers, ideally with different content areas and expertise, helps students receive more one-on-one attention. An example teacher pairing could be an ESL teacher and a special education teacher. But co-teaching isn’t a single approach. It’s a family of distinct co-teaching models, each with its own structure, strengths, and ideal use case.

This guide walks through what co-teaching actually is, breaks down all six recognized models in detail, and gives you a practical framework for how to choose a co-teaching model that fits your classroom, your students, and your teaching partnership. By the end, you’ll have a clear picture of which model to reach for and when.

What Is Co-Teaching?

Co-teaching is an instructional approach in which two educators share responsibility for planning, delivering, and assessing instruction for the same group of students in the same classroom. Most commonly, co-teaching pairs a general education teacher with a special education teacher, though it can also pair content teachers with ESL specialists, reading interventionists, or other support staff. The goal is to blend each teacher’s expertise so that all students, including those with IEPs, 504 plans, or other learning needs, receive instruction designed with their success in mind from the start, rather than retrofitted after the fact.

Benefits of Co-Teaching for Teachers and Students

Students benefit from the opportunity to receive regular, specialized one-on-one support. Co-teaching creates an environment with individualized support instead of universal instruction.

Co-teaching also naturally supports inclusive education. Students with disabilities benefit from learning in general education classrooms and still need specialized support. Co-teaching provides additional support along with peer influence. Creating an environment where all students receive support, get questions answered as they pop up, and misconceptions are caught before they become habits.

For teachers, co-teaching offers built-in collaboration, shared planning, and the chance to learn from a colleague’s expertise and instructional style. It also means classroom management and student support don’t fall on one person alone — when one teacher is deep in a small group, the other can keep the rest of the class on track. Over time, many co-teaching pairs report that the shared workload and shared problem-solving make them more effective and less burned out than teaching solo.

What Are Co-Teaching Models?

Understanding the full range of co-teaching models gives you options for nearly any classroom situation. Each model structures the two teachers’ roles differently, and most co-teaching pairs use several models throughout the year, depending on the lesson and the students’ needs.

1. One Teach, One Observe

As stated in the title, one teacher instructs while the other observes. The role of the observer is to collect data, observe student behavior, and promote student engagement and understanding. This is a great way to initiate a co-teaching relationship, helping both parties better understand one another. It can provide a fresh set of eyes and perspective, including which students appear to be struggling or which students are active participants. Observation isn’t a passive role but an insightful one.

2. One Teach, One Assist

In this model, one teacher delivers a regular classroom lesson, and the other provides student support. The teacher circles the room, providing one-on-one support as needed, and helping students stay engaged. This model requires minimal planning and is, therefore, a great starting point for new co-teaching pairs. It is important to swap teaching and assisting roles to facilitate a fair partnership and avoid one teacher feeling like only a classroom assistant.

3. Parallel Teaching

This method helps reduce class sizes by half, improving the teacher-to-student ratio. The class is split into equal groups and receives the same information from both teachers. This facilitates smoother group discussions, one-on-one support, and a faster pace. Parallel teaching is effective for review, practice sessions, or guided discussion. Any time students need more time to share, discuss, or talk with the teacher and one another, parallel teaching implementation can help.

4. Station Teaching

Station teaching keeps students engaged and diversifies learning. During station teaching, there are multiple stations, and a teacher owns one. Using this model incorporates differentiation, student engagement, and skill-level-tailored instruction. Station teaching relies on heavy upfront planning more than other co-teaching models, but it also provides a multitude of benefits.

5. Alternative Teaching

Alternative teaching breaks the classroom into two groups: one that receives general, core instruction and the other receives additional support, enrichment, and a new instructional approach. This model is useful when a few students need remediation, allowing them to receive targeted instruction. It may also be utilized by students seeking challenges; they can go deeper through extended learning. The groups created for alternative teaching must not be static. All students will receive support and general instruction.

6. Team Teaching

Team teaching is a shared instructional responsibility of the entire classroom. Taking turns explaining concepts and answering questions, perhaps providing the same information delivered differently. Sometimes a student needs to hear it explained differently. It may take a few lessons to develop synergy, but eventually, teachers should trade off explanations, model concepts, and present a fluid lesson. Team teaching requires recurring planning, respect, and a solid working relationship. It requires both teachers to feel confident in their content knowledge and to be flexible when teaching the material, especially at the beginning. Once both teachers feel comfortable with each other and the material, it can be a deeply educational and engaging model.

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How to Choose a Co-Teaching Model

With six co-teaching models to choose from, the question isn’t which one is “best” — it’s which one fits the lesson, the students, and the teaching partnership in front of you. Most effective co-teaching pairs move fluidly between models throughout a unit rather than committing to a single approach for the entire year.

Aligning the Right Model to Your Classroom and Student Needs

Narrow down the core idea of the lesson. If the core concept is new and complex, it may require a Team Teaching approach. Both teachers will provide a layer, fit to their expertise, to help students get a well-rounded understanding. When implementing a review session, Parallel Teaching may be invoked. This leads to smaller groups and allows teachers to provide one-on-one support. Throughout the lesson, you may realize that some students are excelling and others need enrichment. Using alternative teaching methods creates an opportunity to help both groups without slowing the overall pace.

Student needs matter just as much as lesson content. A classroom with several students who have IEPs requiring frequent redirection might benefit from One Teach, One Assist, so support is available in real time. A classroom working on a hands-on, multi-part project might be perfect for Station Teaching, where content naturally divides into segments. How to choose a co-teaching model ultimately comes down to matching structure to purpose — and being willing to switch models as the lesson, the unit, or the students’ needs change.

Tips for Building a Successful Co-Teaching Partnership

To develop strong and successful co-teaching relationships, it is necessary to have a foundation of respect and a shared goal. To keep a co-teaching relationship efficient, it is necessary to have a regular prep or planning schedule. This is an agreed-upon time each day or week to discuss and align on course models. Implementing a habitual schedule helps both teachers keep clear communication, receive support, and brainstorm. Over time, this develops an equally authoritative role for the students.

It is important to meet according to the planned schedule; however, all teachers’ schedules rarely stand the test of time. As the school year goes on, there will need to be flexibility, new schedules, and reschedules. What matters is protecting planning time, not enforcing a rigorous schedule, as long as the teachers agree. Co-teaching models are most effective when viewed as a toolbox to be applied in the current classroom, rather than as a rigid system to be followed.

Remember to give your partner grace; this will make the relationship sustainable. A general education teacher, a physical education teacher, and a special needs educator each have different perspectives; together, they complement one another and benefit students. Be careful not to fall into a lead-teacher and assistant role; each teacher needs equal authority within the group to truly facilitate a successful co-teaching environment.

Closing Thoughts

Co-teaching, done well, isn’t just an accommodation strategy — it’s a genuinely powerful instructional approach that benefits every student in the room, not only those with identified learning needs. Whether you’re just starting to explore co-teaching models or looking to deepen an existing partnership, the six approaches outlined here give you a flexible toolkit to match instruction to your students’ real needs. For teachers looking to build out lesson content that supports co-taught classrooms, Ģ��ý’s K-12 learning platform offers standards-aligned resources designed to work across differentiated and collaborative teaching models.

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Instructional Strategies | Ģ����ý

What Is a Summative Assessment? Definition, Examples, and Best Practices

Key takeaways

A summative assessment measures overall student achievement after learning. This may occur at the end of a unit, course, or semester.

Summative assessment data can measure student mastery of material, as well as the effectiveness of a teacher, curriculum, or specific instructional strategy.

As with any student assessment, summative assessments have pros and cons that educators should consider when deciding how to use them most effectively.

What Is a Summative Assessment?

What Are Examples of Summative Assessments?

Why Are Summative Assessments Important?

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What Are the Pros and Cons of Summative Assessments?

Pros of Summative Assessments

Cons of Summative Assessments

Teaching Styles: 5 Types & How to Choose the Right One

Key takeaways

Discover five teaching styles to cater to different student needs, subjects, and classroom goals.

The most effective educators blend multiple teaching methods rather than relying on one approach for every lesson.

Knowing the difference between teacher-centered and student-centered instruction helps you choose the right style for the moment rather than settle into a fixed identity.

What Are Teaching Styles?

What Are the 5 Main Teaching Styles?

1. Authority Approach

2. Demonstrator Style

3. Delegator Style

4. Facilitator Style

5. Hybrid Style: Why adopt the hybrid/mixed model?

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Teacher-Centered vs. Student-Centered Teaching Styles

Student-Centered Teaching Methods: The Facilitator and Delegator Models

Why Are Teaching Styles Important?

A Guide to Career Interest Assessments

Key takeaways

Career interest assessments can help students understand their interests, strengths, and preferences, and connect them to careers they may want to explore.

No assessment should tell a student what career to choose. Results are most useful as a starting point for conversations, research, and real-world exploration.

Schools can make assessments more meaningful by connecting results to courses, career pathways, workplace experiences, and conversations with professionals.

What Is a Career Interest Assessment?

What Are Examples of Career Interest Assessments?

What Are the Different Kinds of Career Interest Assessments?

Interest Inventories

Skills and Aptitude Assessments

What Students Value in a Career

Personality and Work-Style Assessments

Career Readiness Resources

What Are the Pros and Cons of Career Interest Assessments?

Turning Assessment Results Into Career Exploration

Using Career Assessments as a Starting Point

Elementary Classroom Management: 10 Strategies That Work

Key takeaways

A strong and effective classroom management plan is key to a successful year in an elementary classroom.

Clear expectations, communication, and consistency are critical components of a proactive and effective elementary classroom management plan.

A strong elementary classroom management plan helps students develop the foundational habits and skills they need for middle and high school.

10 Effective Elementary Classroom Management Strategies

Relationship Building

Clear, Specific Routines and Expectations

Consistency

Morning Greetings

Morning Meetings

Mindfulness Practice

Brain Breaks

Calm Down Space

Positive Reinforcement

Have Fun!

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Why is effective classroom management in elementary school important?

What Is Formative Assessment? A Complete Guide for K-12 Educators

Key takeaways

With formative assessment, a teacher can gather evidence to guide their decision-making, rather than waiting until teaching is complete to know whether a student understands the content.

Formative assessment methods are powerful because they are quick and easy for teachers to use. This is not a tedious or labor-intensive process that will overwhelm educators or students.

Using formative assessment is more than gathering student responses. A teacher will need to incorporate specific feedback into their practice to ensure that changes in student understanding can occur quickly.

What Is Formative Assessment?

Formative Assessment vs. Summative Assessment

Key Differences and When to Use Each

Why Is Formative Assessment Important?

Benefits of Formative Assessment for Teachers and Students

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Types of Formative Assessment

Pre-Assessment, Self-Assessment, Peer Feedback, and Feedback Breaks

Formative Assessment Strategies and Examples

Exit Tickets, Think-Pair-Share, and Other Classroom Checks

How to Implement Formative Assessment in Your Classroom

Aligning Assessments with Learning Objectives and Providing Feedback

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