Final Assessment Results

So last evening, I conducted a Jeopardy-like review with my 6th graders and then followed it up with a final assessment. Here’s a summary:

  1. As part of our opening prayer, we included prayers for all those affected by the bombings in Boston. It is lamentable that, in the course of several months, we catechists have had to talk to our young people about the Newtown tragedy and now this. Let’s pray for an end to such senseless violence. 
  2. The Jeopardy-like review game went very well. I projected it on the screen and my aide, Alex, kept score and was the official timer. I told the kids that all of the answers to the final assessment were in the game and provided a note-taking sheet for them, telling them that would be able to use their notes for the test! Most took copious notes. 3 young men, unfortunately, decided to use the time to catch up with each other and carried on chit chat throughout the game despite my attempts to quiet them. Take a guess as to which 3 students didn’t do so well on the assessment.
  3. The review game lasted about 30 mins. I then had the young people write their names on their note-taking sheet and I collected them and distributed the final assessment. I spread the kids out around the room and had them get to work. 3 young men continued to be chatty, further digging a hole for themselves.
  4. After about 20 mins, I distributed the students’ note-taking sheets and traded their pens for colored markers telling them that they would get half-credit for answers that they relied on their notes to fill in.
  5. When all was said and done, the results were satisfactory (for 9 out of the 13) except for…you guessed it…3 young men. Of the 13 students…
    • 4 earned an A (90% or better), including 1 perfect score and 1 99%!
    • 1 earned a B (80% or better)
    • 4 earned a C (70% or better)
    • 1 (one of the 3 young men) earned a D-/F, coming in at 49%
    • 2 earned an F (each under 40%)
    • 1 young lady earned an incomplete. She took copious notes during the review game, is always well behaved and was so last evening, but could only finish half of her test for some reason and did well on the first half. My guess is that she has a learning disability. She appeared to be working the whole time but she apparently has a hard time concentrating or comprehending so I want to give her a chance to complete the assessment this coming Monday.

I’m thinking that for the coming Monday, I want the kids with the highest scores to tutor the 3 fellas who did so poorly and then give the guys another chance to show what they know because they are bright but just decided not to take things seriously  and I will warn them that their parents will not appreciate them earning an unsatisfactory report from me at the end of the year.

About Joe Paprocki 2742 Articles
Joe Paprocki, DMin, is National Consultant for Faith Formation at Loyola Press, where, in addition to his traveling/speaking responsibilities, he works on the development team for faith formation curriculum resources including Finding God: Our Response to God’s Gifts and God’s Gift: Reconciliation and Eucharist. Joe has more than 35 years of experience in ministry and has presented keynotes, presentations, and workshops in more than 100 dioceses in North America. Joe is a frequent presenter at national conferences including the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, the Mid-Atlantic Congress, and the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership. He is the author of numerous books, including the best seller The Catechist’s Toolbox, A Church on the Move, Under the Influence of Jesus, and Called to Be Catholic—a bilingual, foundational supplemental program that helps young people know their faith and grow in their relationship with God. Joe is also the series editor for the Effective Catechetical Leader and blogs about his experiences in faith formation at www.catechistsjourney.com.

1 Comment

  1. Please don’t make your top scorers tutor your lowest scorers, unless they want to. Gifted kids are often used as assistant teachers in this way and it’s usually a bad idea. They probably won’t be any more effective than you were in teaching these kids who don’t want to be taught, and it is likely to create social problems in your class. The low scorers are your responsibility, not the responsibility of their better-behaved peers.

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