Teaching Fifth Grade Math: What Do Students Know?

To assess learning and teaching, it's essential to evaluate what students know at the start of the year. Using the standards and our school progress report as a guide, I created two early year assessments. The first assessment assesses students' attitudes, efforts, and skill. The first time students take that assessment they'll have to think about the attributes related to their learning skills and mindset. The second assessment asks students to answer a host of questions that represent the fifth grade standards (see an example below).

I will review the data with students, colleagues, and parents at the start of the year, and use the data and parent, student, and collegial response to inform the math teaching/learning program for the year ahead.

I welcome you to try out the assessments as I've created the assessment linked above and the one below as trial copies. If you're a fifth grade teacher and have ideas about change, I welcome your thoughts.