Using Google Docs to Ensure Assessment Drives Instruction

Some resources for getting started with google docs:
 (Keep in mind that google updates their products regularly so things may not look exactly the same.)

Google docs can be used in a variety of ways. You can create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, or more. Each can be public or kept private and only shared with certain people.

The spreadsheets feature allows for a variety of options that support assessment.

 This spreadsheet included all 25 of the words students were expected to know by the end of kindergarten. The correct column shows how many students were able to correctly spell the word. I sorted the list to determine which words to focus on. Words most of my students could write did not need to be practiced by the entire class.



Here is information about those 25 words for each individual student. It shows how many words they read correctly, wrote correctly, how many letters they wrote accurately of the alphabet, and information about any mistakes they made or interesting things they did. This gives me more detailed information to plan individual instruction than the spreadsheet above. This is helpful during reading and writing conferences and groups.


I also have spreadsheets for different units of study in different subject areas. Each of the benchmarks or skills are listed and I track students' progress on a ranking of 1-3. A one is for students who are just beginning to understand a concept or skill and a three is for when they have mastered it.


This spreadsheet is from our study of money. Currently it is sorted by student. This is the easiest way for me to use it to update assessment information.


I can then sort the spreadsheet by one of the columns to quickly see who has mastered the concept and who needs more support. This allows me to plan for small group instruction and enrichment.




I also use google docs for collaborative assessment with co-teachers. These are notes from reading groups or reading conferences with one student. Throughout the year each child will likely meet with me and my co-teacher at various times and it is extremely helpful for us both to have access to the anecdotal notes.


The notes above are from writing conferences with one student. The largest column has basic anecdotal records about the conference, the next column has the teaching focus from that conference, and the final column is for something to continue to focus on with this student.