Guides for teachers and heads of school.

Practical answers on finding where each student comes up short, from the quizzes you already give.

• How to identify learning gaps in studentsWhat a learning gap is, the three kinds worth telling apart, and a practical way to identify each student's gaps from the quizzes a school already gives, with a worked reading example.
• Item analysis: what to do when a class averages 68% on a quizA low quiz average hides very different problems. How to run item analysis question by question, with a real example from a history course and a free template, to see whether a class shares one misconception.
• How to use assessment data to drive instructionA practical weekly cycle for using assessment data to drive instruction: short low-stakes checks, reading results by skill, choosing whole-class or small-group reteaching, and checking again on new questions.
• Formative assessment examples that show who needs helpFive formative assessment examples a teacher can run in minutes, from exit tickets to hinge questions, what each one tells you, and how to turn the answers into a short list of who needs help and on what.
• Reteaching strategies: whole class, small group, or one studentHow to decide between reteaching the whole class, a small group or one student from how the wrong answers on a check are spread, and five ways to reteach differently the second time.
• Common algebra misconceptions, and the wrong answers that reveal themSix common algebra misconceptions behind most wrong answers in linear equations, the specific wrong answer each one produces, how to write questions that reveal them, and a quick way to reteach each.
• Gaplight and Khan Academy: what each one does, and how they fit togetherKhan Academy gives students free lessons and practice from its own library. Gaplight reads the quizzes a school already gives and shows each teacher who needs them and on which skill. How the two differ, and why many schools could use both.