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Comprehensive Unit Format, Part B Design of Assessment:
Diagnostic and Summative Assessment

Context & Overview:
This integrated science unit is aligned with the North Carolina fourth grade science standards. It is also meant to be taught
at Altamahaw-Ossipee Elementary School in a fourth grade class. The Unit is comprised of ten, thirty-minute lessons that
will be taught over the course of eight school days. The unit has a focus on project-based learning and student centered
learning. It also aims to incorporate English Language Arts and Technology standards. Students should have a variety of
opportunities to work in groups as well.
The unit will start with a diagnostic assessment comprised of twelve vocabulary words that the students are expected to
match with their definition. The summative assessment will be the same task in order to best understand the students
growth in terms of knowledge of basic electricity. The students will also be working on a project to apply their electrical
knowledge to a real-life circumstance such as a lighthouse located in North Carolina. Formative assessments students will
be asked to write about what life would be like without electricity, complete a word match puzzle, make a light bulb light
using materials, complete a graphic organizer of types of circuits, and discuss progress on their project.

Essential Understanding (big idea of unit):
The essential understanding of this unit is electricity is a key element in modern lives and is a source of energy caused by
moving electrons from one atom to another. Additionally, there are two major types of electricity: static and current and
each type has different properties. Exploration and understanding of the basic electrical concepts are essential for future
understandings of more complex concepts in both chemistry and physics. Through this learning, students should have the
opportunity to apply their content knowledge to real life scenarios. Research of the electric wiring of lighthouses will not
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only integrate 21 Century Skill development, but also English Language Arts and Technology standards as well. Students
will be asked to hypothesize how to light a bulb after being given the appropriate materials and an introduction to the
topic. The essential understanding helped create a course for the unit plan. Students will not be able to look critically at
more advanced forms of electrical devices and use their vocabulary knowledge to analyze other mechanisms. Furthermore,
students will also be able to better understand any future electrical problems they face. The overall assessment plan
focuses on vocabulary knowledge and application of basic concepts. This aligns with the essential understanding because
without the vocabulary students would not be able to understand deeper electrical concepts or comprehend electric
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instructional manuals. Additionally, in order to create 21 Century students, they must be able to apply their content
knowledge to real-life scenarios. Their ability to do this in alignment with the essential understanding of this unit will be
evaluated through presentations on lighthouses located in North Carolina on which students conducted independent
research. Before the presentations, students were given a rubric that provided clear expectations for their presentation.

Assessment System:

Model 1: Diagnostic and Summative Assessments are the Same Task
I am also using an additional summative assessment to provide additional information to
evaluate student mastery

Directions for Model 1: Same Task
1. Diagnostic (Pre) and Summative (Post) Assessment is the same task.
Student Mastery: This assessment demonstrates student mastery of the learning outcomes because it will
demonstrate the students understanding of the basic concepts of electricity. Many of the learning objectives
for lessons focus on vocabulary and therefore, an assessment focused on vocabulary knowledge is deeply
aligned with the essential understanding of the unit. This assessment will show student mastery of these
concepts if students successfully identify the correct definition for each essential vocabulary word. It will be
scored on a scale from 0-12, with each correct answer being worth 1 point. Vocabulary words featured on the
assessment will be chosen from the text given to students as well as key words from experiments. All
vocabulary words will be reviewed and discussed in detail.

2.

Instructional Effectiveness: Since the same task will be administered prior to any instructional material as well
as after students have been exposed to all material, this will give a clear representation of what students have
learned over the course of the lessons. The growth from the diagnostic assessment to the summative
assessment will be closely examined in order to determine instructional effectiveness.
Scoring Guides: Scores will be determined by counting the correct number of answers a student achieves
according to the answer key. There is a maximum number of 12 points for this assessment. Scores will be
analyzed based on the growth from the pre to post assessment. The teacher should be able to conclude that
instruction was effective if the average growth of each student was positive.
Avoiding Bias: Test will be graded blindly, meaning that the teacher candidate will not know whose paper she is
grading while she is grading them. Furthermore, the assessment was designed to only assess what was
introduced in the classroom and avoid students benefitting previous knowledge and experience. This plan was
implemented by teaching each of the vocabulary words individually and providing a visual aid when possible.
Furthermore, the assessment itself required no outside knowledge.
Accommodations: One student, who receives services for a learning disability in the area of reading took both
the diagnostic and summative assessment orally in order to prevent a decrease in score due to his learning
disability. Taking the assessment orally allowed for testing him on his content knowledge opposed to his
reading ability and therefore supports the learner in the best way possible without lowering the expectations.
The teacher will be able to assess the knowledge of the student on the content rather than on his reading
disability because the student must still be able to define each of the vocabulary terms on the assessment in
order to receive a passing score.
Although this initial understanding will only measure the basic levels of Blooms Taxonomy, an additional
assessment has been added to understand their thorough understanding.
Additional Summative Assessment
It was determined that in order to have a deep understanding of students growth throughout the unit, an
additional summative assessment would be necessary in order to access deeper levels of Blooms Taxonomy in
the assessment plan.
This additional assessment will be comprised of a group research project and presentation based on an
assigned lighthouse. Students will be placed in groups of 5 or 6 students and assigned a role within that group.
These groups were strategically designed and students were given a role expected to bring out their individual
strengths. Roles within the group included: Team Captain, Presentation Creator, Author, Electrician, and
Researcher. In groups of 6, there were two researchers. Team Captains were expected to lead the group in
completing the project in a timely manner and ensure that all elements were completed. Additionally, they
were responsible for all materials and for submitting a score for their group analyzing how well they met all the
requirements on the rubric. Presentation Creators were responsible for putting all of the necessary information
for the groups presentation in a PowerPoint format. Authors were asked to write a paragraph about the
lighthouses history. Electricians were responsible for wiring the lighthouse using the materials so that it
functioned correctly. Researchers were responsible for conducting research on the lighthouse and
communicating this information to other group members. All group partners were responsible for the
appearance of their lighthouse model as well as participating in the presentation. Products submitted for
grading included: a paragraph written by the author about the lighthouse history, a lighthouse model that
lights, a PowerPoint presentation, a worksheet completed by the electrician describing the circuit they used, a
worksheet completed by the author that served as prewriting, a worksheet completed by the researched
describing what sources they used, a model of the lighthouse, and rubrics completed by the Team Captain
evaluating the groups work. The teacher will grade all of these products and the presentation based off a
rubric given to the Team Captains at the beginning of the project work time.
Student Mastery: This project requires students to apply what they have learned to a real-life situation and
incorporate other content areas with the science knowledge. Successfully completing the project shows mastery
of the concepts because students must understand circuits, conductors, and insulators in order to correctly
assemble their lighthouse so that is lights up.
Avoiding Bias: This project was designed to avoid bias by giving students as many supports as possible such as:
resources, examples, and rubrics. This way they knew exactly what their final product should look like and what

expectations they should meet. Furthermore, the assignment was implemented in a way that all students could
receive help and guidance at any time.
Examples of the projects are attached at the end of this unit.
Scoring Guides: Students will receive two scores for this project: one for the presentation and one for the
products they submitted. These scores will be determined by rubrics given to students at the beginning of the
project experience. The teacher will use the same rubric to determine both final scores. All members of the
group will receive the same score unless an issue is brought to the attention of the teacher. Students
understand that they are expected to share the work of the project equally while completing their role
assignments. Students will be expected to receive a score of 14 or higher on each rubric in order to be given a
passing grade.
Reliability and Validity: Team Captains were asked to grade their group based off of the same rubric used by
the teacher to grade the final project. These scores and comments were taken into consideration when grading.
Accommodations: Accommodations for this assessment are seen through the differentiation in the group work.
The three students who are on Tier II in the area of reading were each given a role that tested their content
knowledge but at a lower reading level. Additionally, students were all in teams and were given permission to
consult other team members when they had areas of concern. This allowed the teacher to make inferences on
student mastery of the skill and allowed students to further develop both their strengths and areas of need
through individual and group work.

Comparing Diagnostic (Pre-) Assessment Scores with

Summative (Post-) Assessment Results

The following charts can be used to compare students diagnostic and summative assessments in order to evaluate the
effectiveness of my teaching.

Chart Comparing Individual Students Results

Assessment Design: Same Task

Same Task

Diagnostic (Pre-)
Summative
Growth (Post Pre
Assessment
(Post-)
Assessment Score)
score/rating
Assessment score/rating
(x/12)
(x/12)

Student

Charts Comparing Class Results

Assessment Design: Same Task/Different Task
Diagnostic (PRE)
Summative (POST)
Growth (Post Pre)
Mean score:

Mean score:

Mean growth:

Additional Task

Group

Students

Presentation Score

Product Score

Analysis of Student Learning Data