InsightMath supports all students in being able to show what they know and can do—or where they need additional support—in a myriad of ways. For students who have specialized learning needs, such as students who are learning English or who receive special education services, this may involve adapting diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments to allow students ways to show their thinking in ways that makes sense for them.
When adapting assessments it is important to keep in mind the goal of these assessments: to accurately understand the mathematical content each student knows and is able to do and where students still need support to further their mathematical understandings and skills. Below are some adaptations to assessments that can be used for any student to better understand their thinking and allow them to show what they can do mathematically, even if the student does not have a formal testing accommodation plan.
Formative Assessment Opportunities
Within InsightMath, formative assessment is fully integrated into the lessons themselves, meaning to an outside observer these moments may be indistinguishable from other lesson activities. Designated formative assessment opportunities are especially productive moments where students show their thinking on paper, on screen, through conversation with peers, and in whole-class discussions within the context of daily lessons. To support all students in sharing their thinking, consider:
- Using the Differentiation suggestions embedded in the lesson
- Reading prompts aloud and using questioning to ensure students understand the prompt and context
- Providing extra thinking or response time before asking for a response
- Allowing students to think through their responses with peers who share a home language
- Using online tools to translate any text into a students’ home language or translate their responses into English
- Encouraging students who struggle to participate in discourse during class to write down their thinking before sharing or submit their ideas in writing
- Encouraging students who struggle to write to use technology to record their responses or use text-to-speech (built into the InsightMath platform)
- Using the Discourse Questions to unpack areas where students may struggle to understand the context or content
- Changing student grouping to allow for smaller group sizes in discussions
Tip: The Formative Assessment Recording Log can be used to record accommodations needed or provided to students.
Diagnostic and Summative Assessments
Diagnostic and Summative Assessments are intended for students to take independently to demonstrate their understanding of prerequisites before the unit and mastery of content and skills learned from the unit. The written assessments are designed to allow students to show their thinking and understanding through various means, such as writing equations, drawing models, or using writing to justify a conclusion or explain steps, which allow teachers deep insights into where students may hold misconceptions or need extra support to master a skill. To support all students in showing their full understanding, consider:
- Providing a separate, quiet, individual or small-group workspace to make it easier for students to focus
- Ensuring the assessment is administered by a familiar adult
- Allowing students to take breaks to move their bodies or take a mental rest during the assessment
- Split the assessment into smaller chunks and administer it over the course of multiple time periods or days
- Providing an alternative or extended time to complete the assessment
- Providing an alternative location or preferential seating according to student need
- Providing copies of the assessment in large print, in translation to other languages including ASL translations (Spanish translations are provided), or in Braille
- Reading the questions or prompts aloud in English or in simplified English as needed to help clarify context and directions, or engaging the use of text-to-speech tools
- Providing electronic or printed tools that students can use to look up translations of words or sentences into and from students’ preferred language, with appropriate monitoring
- Providing opportunities for students to record their answers in audio or video files, use speech-to-text, or verbally convey their answers to you or a scribe
- Allowing students to respond in their preferred language
- Defining or showing examples of non-mathematical words related to the context of the problems (e.g., garden, tiles, buy, fly away), but not mathematical words (e.g., divide, area, hexagon, array, expression, unit fraction)
- Providing access to physical or digital manipulatives so that students may make physical models to help them solve problems or in place of drawing models
- Providing calculators or fact tables (e.g., multiplication table) when this calculation is not the content being assessed
- Providing access to general organizational tools (e.g., highlighters, sticky notes, extra paper)
These lists are not exhaustive. When considering an adaptation to an assessment of any type, ask yourself: “Would adapting the assessment in this way change the content or rigor of the mathematics assessed?” If the answer is “no,” it is likely to be a reasonable accommodation. Finally, remember to always provide accommodations and supports listed in a student’s individual education plan (IEP) or Section 504 accommodation plan.