I met with a teacher who was very frustrated that she had just given the end of the unit test and all her students did poorly. She stated the test was a waste of time because when she went back and reviewed the the test she felt it did not cover what the unit had been covering. Have you been there? I have too!
The end of unit tests are an applied reading test covering more than just what was covered in the unit taught. They are asking the students to use skills taught in previous units of the program to check whether the students are able to retain previously taught skills and apply them. These tests are testing the students understanding not evaluating your instruction.
Within the program there are often section tests where you are able to check for understanding of the skills just taught. These are very useful for knowing if your students are understanding what you are presenting. We also often make the assumption they understand the skill but these tests do not allow the students to apply the information like in the end of unit test.
The big question then is why give these tests? We are able to gain a great deal of information from the students’ performance on these tests. If they were able to pass their section tests but not the end of unit test, they are able to perform the task but not apply that task in a different application. They also give us a view of their cognition, showing if they are able to retain the information or recall it when needed. These tests are also a great indicator of whether or not a student will be able to pass the state test. It has been shown by the publishers that if the students are able to pass these end of unit tests they are highly likely to meet or exceed on their state test. Therefore, they are a great predictor of how your students will do come state testing time.
Use those tests as a teaching tool once you have given and scored them. Have the students make the corrections and discuss each of the sections. This will help build understanding of how to apply information which the students had indicated they are struggling to understand. Have the students retake the test or the parts they failed. Not to change their grade but to allow them to understand and comprehend the information. I can assure you by taking the time to use the test as a teaching tool you will see great results on the upcoming end of unit tests.
