A pre-assessment is essentially a test given to students before a new unit of study begins. It allows teachers to save time and teach new material rather than reteaching what students already know.

However, pre-assessments not only save valuable time, but they also help with planning appropriate and purposeful instruction where teachers can focus on personalized and differentiated teaching. Teachers use the evidence from the pre-assessment to make decisions about content, pacing, grouping, and activities.

Through pre-assessment you can then create lessons that ensure students are challenged at an appropriate level, so they are more likely to demonstrate learning and growth. You can also discover which students are gifted as well as who might have learning deficits and need additional guidance. 

Pre-assessments allow you to discover which lessons in the unit students have already mastered. If you have a unit created and students demonstrate their knowledge about specific topics, you can eliminate or enhance lessons to better reach all students. If only a couple of students demonstrate areas of difficulty with particular concepts, you can individualize instruction or create groups accordingly.

With the evidence gathered from pre-assessments, you can differentiate instruction by creating small groups of students with similar needs. Whether students demonstrate learning gaps and require additional instruction, or they show mastery and need enrichment, the pre-assessments will give you the information necessary to create learning that best fits the needs of all students.

Pre-assessments also help show actual learning. With the data from pre-assessments compared to post-tests or summative assessments, you can determine which students actually learned from the lessons you created. This information will help you decide what needs to be changed, if anything, the next time you teach the same unit.

If you have already created a unit, the pre-assessment will help you determine if all of the lessons are necessary, or if you need to change some of the activities. You may discover learning gaps that you did not expect, so you can curtail activities and create additional lessons to address the students’ deficits.

In addition to helping teachers, pre-assessments allow students to gain a better understanding of expectations and what they will be learning in the upcoming unit. This preview often raises students’ curiosity and engages them in learning. Students can set their own educational goals because they have a better understanding of what the unit will cover.

Plan to give pre-assessments shortly before the unit is about to begin. Pre-assessments are meant to pique students’ curiosity about the upcoming unit and should not be a barrier. With this in mind, pre-assessments should address key concepts from the unit and focus on what students already know rather than on what they don’t know. Allow students to show their knowledge in a variety of ways. Pre-assessments do not follow a particular format, and they should not be long and tedious. Short and to the point pre-assessments work best and can be done through surveys, journaling, multiple choice, exit tickets, and a variety of other activities.