Gregory Fisher, Mt. Tabor High School,
Winston-Salem NC, gsfisher@wsfsc.k12.nc.us
http:www.wsfcs.k12.nc.us/Domain/798
A CD that has the Algebra II units, a newly compiled Algebra I unit,
question bank for Algebra I&II, and other activities will be given at
the end of the workshop.
Special appreciation for Burroughs-Wellcome Fund who provided
funding for the development of the Algebra I unit and for the CD
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1. Ontario
2. Quebec
3. Nova Scotia
4.New Brunswick
5. Mannitoba
6. British Columbia
7. Prince Edward
Island
8. Saskatchewan
9.Alberta
10.Yukon Territory
1. Toronto
2. Montreal
3. Halifax
4. Fredericton
5. Winnipeg
6. Victoria
7. Charlottetown
8. Regina
9. Edmonton
10. Whitehorse
10: 100 9: 95 8: 90 7: 85 6: 80
5: 40 4: 30 3: 20 2,1: 10
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Riding a bicycle
Cooking
Multiplication tables
National Board Certification
Using technology
Fiscal matters
Driver’s License
Marriage
Test corrections with accountability
Student can continue to retake assessments, relearn
the material, retake assessments, relearn material,
retake assessments, relearn the material etc… until
they have shown that they have “Mastered it” or run
out of time or given up.
1. All students take the assessment together.
2. Teacher grades the assessment and returns it to the
students.
3. Students who want to improve the grade seek
remediation and retake another version.
4. Repeat Steps 2&3 repeat if necessary
℧ Individualized
instruction/review
(It can be even used for slower Honors Students)
℧ Provides focus for students to study
℧ Prepares them more for the EOQ’s and EOC’s test
℧ Students can improve their grade and more likely to
learn/retain the material
℧ Very easy to grade multiple-choice questions especially
with “clickers” that are student led.
℧ The
B,C,D (High level 2 and level 3 students) students
thrive because of the opportunity to raise the grade
and to know exactly what to study. Some F students
also thrive.
℧ It’s a sneaky way of reteaching/reviewing material.
℧ It’s a way to avoid giving partial credit for skills that
need to be done correctly. (factoring, solving etc…)
℧ Guided Remediation
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More preparation work for planning the
assignment/assessments
More time to grade the assessments
Teaching to the test
Time constraints on students for retaking
Students don’t study for the first test
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Students should be remediated before retaking an
assessment.
Give specific times on when you will remediate for that
section. (Usually two choices)
It’s okay to release the first test but not the second test.
Allow time at the end of the quarter for students to
retake the assessment.
Communicate with the parents and supervisors
especially if using different grading scales.
Give clear standards of what should be mastered.
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No partial credit because students have a chance to get it right
again.
Give higher points if students score more than mastery
threshold (60-70%) and fewer points if below the threshold
Example of grading scale for a 10-question test with a mastery
threshold of 70% :
10: 100 9: 93 8: 86 7: 79
6: 48
5: 40 4: 32 3: 24 2: 16 0-1: 8
Rationale: A lower grade could motivate the students to come
back and relearn it (You can always go back and raise their
grade.) Suppose a student got 8 right and got partial credit on
the other two. They would still have around a 88.
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Small quizzes that require accuracy (factoring, solving
equations.) “Drill and Kill is sometimes necessary!”
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Normal Tests at the end of units especially key units
(slope, factoring, right triangle trig etc..)
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Exam at the end of the year (7 sections of 10 questions.)
A student who gets higher at least 7 right then gets 15
points for that section. A student who gets less than 7
correct gets zero points (or 1 pt for every correct
question). Students the higher grade between this
method and normal percentage of correct problems.
(Be sure to have another teacher to help grade or the
clickers)
(Students didn’t go back and relearn the material!)
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Review for the EOC or Final Exam
EOC Curriculum divided into 6 sections.
Each section had:
 Notes with example problems and about 21 problems fo
the students to try.
 A 13-question quiz (with different versions of scrambled
answer choices)
 A quiz retake (never released to the students)
Target Questions were based on Released EOC Test and
EOC study questions
Grading Scale
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(# right out of 13):
13: 100 12: 95 11: 90 9,10: 85
8: 60 (remediation not required to retake)
7:50 6:40 4,5: 30 2,3: 20
0,1:10
Remediation required to retake
Grading: The normal lesson tests counted as test
grades and these quiz grades counted as test grades
(48 Min. classes all year) Started about 8 weeks before EOC
 W: Give out worksheet to students
 Th: Spend about 15 min. on worksheet 30 min. on lesson
 F: 45 minutes on lesson (or normal lesson quiz)
 M: Collect the worksheet for a grade 40 min. on lesson.
Remediation before or after school for previous M.L section
 T: Go over missed problems on worksheet (15 min.) 30 min. on
lesson
 W: Mastery Learning Quizzes (30 min.) and 15 min. on the lesson.
Students retook the assessments before/after school or during lunch
Two other teachers just did the Mastery Unit beginning in early May
Weak Honors Students were given a contract
(grade raised to a C or D) and came in
before school to take the Mastery Quizzes
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School went from 70% proficient to 88% to 89%
proficient and got 2nd highest in the district
(about 4th in all other subjects)
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Algebra II EVAAS Growth of School: 3 and 3.6
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Only 2 of my 160 students have dropped a
proficiency level from prediction and about 70
have raised a level (30 were already predicted to
be level 4)
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Broke the EOC review into meaningful units with
assessments.
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Projected Level III/IV students studied for the mastery
units and then got IV’s on the EOC.
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Weak Honors Students were highly motivated (I only
had to change grade of one student because of high
exam grade raised the grades normally)
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Easier for older students to get rides for the required
remediation and retake the quizzes
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Name the capitals of
the following
provinces:
1. Quebec
2. Saskatchewan
3. Alberta
4. Nunavut
5. New Brunswick
6. Newfoundland
and Labrador
Name the provinces
that have the
following capitals:
7. Winnipeg
8. Toronto
9. Victoria
10. Halifax
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Montreal
Regina
Edmonton
Iqaluit
Fredericton
St. Johns
7.
8.
9.
10.
Mannitoba
Ontario
British Columbia
Nova Scotia
10: 100 9: 95 8: 90 7: 85 6: 80
5: 40 4: 30 3: 20 2,1: 10