Seeing Progress

Evidence-based Strategies - Examples, Research and Tools

Strategy c: Help adults learn to identify signs of progress and strategies for monitoring their learning independently.

Examples

The ESL Classroom as Community: How Self-Assessment Can Work
Dulaney Alexander
After noticing a drop in retention between ESOL levels 2 and 3, this program developed self-assessment tools that would help student recognize evidence of their own learning and provide feedback to teachers.

Learner Goal-Setting
Ronna Magy
A clear and succinct set of suggestions for helping ESOL students set and monitor goals. The activities focus on individual and largely work-related goals.

The Learner’s Log: Evolution of an Assessment Tool
Caroline Gear
The learner’s log is a series of self-assessment tools that are filled out weekly to help ESOL students look at their learning and their progress over time. Several tools are described here.

Tools

Equipped for the Future (EFF) Teaching/Learning Toolkit
Steps 3 and 4 in the EFF Toolkit include concrete tools and processes for helping students map out their learning and then develop goal-specific tools to monitor their progress.

Progress Checklists
Read/Write/Now
These reading and writing progress checklists are a sampling of the array of tools teachers and students use to chronicle and reflect on learning.

Reading Progress Checklist
Eileen Barry
This is a reading self-assessment tool that draws students’ attention to reading strategies.