General Pre-Assessment of Students (G.P.S.) 

 

Educators are taught from day one in teacher education programs how important it is to activate and assess students’ prior knowledge. Despite this fact, little attention has been placed on how to actually accomplish this difficult task. The General Pre-Assessment of Students (G.P.S.) was created to measure both prior knowledge of a topic and the degree to which a student is motivated to learn about it.

 

The G.P.S. requires minimal advanced preparation from the teacher and provides powerful information for instructional planning. The teacher simply writes the objectives of the unit in the box at the top of the page and places a picture, phrase, term, or formula in the box next to number five before distributing it to the students. Analyzing the results before beginning an instructional unit will help the teacher eliminate unnecessary repetition, provide additional opportunities for enrichment, or identify areas where scaffolding is necessary. 

 

Resources

McIntosh, J. (2014). Curriculum compacting: Organized common sense. In R. Mann & M. Gentry (Eds.) Total School Cluster Grouping & Differentiation: A Comprehensive, Research-Based Plan for Raising Student Achievement & Improving Teacher Practices. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.

 

 

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