Assessment Binder: Keeping Track of Student Progress

Assessment Binder: Keeping Track of Student Progress

When I taught reading in fourth grade there was generally much less movement in the students progress. There was only three reading levels: a 27, 28 and 29. Basically there was a beginning fourth ,mid fourth and end of fourth grade level. This was of course, unless a student was below grade level and then there was (hopefully!) a LOT of movement!

However, when I moved down second grade. There was more levels for the students to achieve. I found that I had to be much more on top of my documentation and much more organized. Although I have always kept anecdotal records, I was never as organized as I would have liked to have been. You can read all of the many ways I tried to organize these here.

Last year (2007-2008 school year) I began an assessment binder and it has been SO nice to have all my information in one spot. It was especially helpful when I had meetings or someone wanted the information immediately- no more rustling around!

So far I have only used this for the most part to track and assess students in READING. However, next year I am thinking of ways to use this for all my math notes and writing notes. I just haven't figured quite yet hw I want to do this!

***Please note that for any photos in the binder I blacked out any student names for privacy. That is what the big, nasty black blobs are!!***

I used a large, white 4 inch binder with the clear front pocket. I knew I needed a large one and I just prefer the clear pockets. And it was free- I had it left over from a professional development and decided to go green and recycle it : ).

I did invest some money in the tabs. I bought these awhile ago and they are still going strong. I bought enough tabs so that each child could have one. Instead of labeling them with names, I labeled them with numbers so I could reuse them from year to year. I think I got these at Wal-Mart two years ago with the matching binder. The binder was way too small to use for this, but the tabs are sturdy and made out of a glossy paper like tag board.

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Inside the Tabs

Each tab is numbered with each number corresponding to a student number. I use numbers instead of student names ALL over my classroom so it is an easy fit here as well.

This is the first page behind each tab. This is an anecdotal note page on the student reading.

I based the sheet upon one I had seen when listening to the 2 Sisters speak at a conference. This one shown is almost identical to theirs, with some cutesy added. I have added a running record section to it for the upcoming school year to make it even more valuable to me.

When I filled sheet out, I simply clasped in a new one on top so they were in order from most recent to least.

The second sheet was a track sheet of DRA levels for the student.

I liked this because I felt it was a good "snap hot" of the reader individually.

I DID not create the DRA tracking sheet, so I feel uncomfortable posting it. I will email the creator and ask if she will allow me to post it.

After the DRA track sheet, I kept all of my DRA's! Just like with the reading notes I keep them in order from most recent (on top) to least recent on bottom.

This made it very easy for me whenever I had to share student progress at conferences, meetings

After the tracking sheet were basically any materials I collected for students that I had concerns with.

Jessica Meacham had this great sight words checklist for first grade and kindergarten that I loved. Scroll down a bit past her other fabulous assessments for the High Frequency assessment. She also has samples of how to fill it in.

Since she did not have a second grade checklist (because she did not teach second), I created a check sheet based off of her format.

After the sight words sheet was any other running records I may have had on the student.

I just jotted them on notebook paper and clasped them in. However, since I updated by reading notes sheet, I won't need to do this anymore! : )

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Other Info

In the front pocket I kept all of my information about how to give a DRA. While I get away with DRA, I am much more comfortable with the Rigby assessments since my last school used these. Although, they are very similar.

I also kept this tracking sheet of ALL my classes reading levels. This was a great levels in a glance sheet. I kept this in the very front of the notebook until it tore out and I stored it in the front pocket.

The big blacked out spots are student names- sorry! On the orange flower post it are my reading groups. I jotted them on the post its to keep me organized, but not permanent so I could be flexible if students moved. The lines draw THROUGH the students names show that that student moved.

To keep it simple, I wrote the levels on the top and the students names to the left. The green color shows where students began the year. I put a date in the last box so I could know when I had last assessed them with the DRA. The yellow is the NEXT time I assessed them with the DRA and the date in the last box. This helped me visually see growth- and who I needed to assess at quick glance! The green vertical line after the level 28 is the end of grade level benchmark. This was my visual clue of who was already there and how much more until everybody got there!

I also used this sheet to keep track of students addition fact mastery using the hidden number/ hand assessment assessment (see page 13 for simple addition and subtraction assessment). I will not use this next year since our school has bought the Fast Math Fast Tracker games from Scholastic and it tracks student progress for you.

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