In this week’s episode of Fuel Up, we dive into the power of test driving assessments. Katie, Kevin, and guest Laura Dault (5th-grade teacher at Cardinal Elementary) explore how taking assessments yourself—just like your students would—can transform instruction, improve pacing, and boost student confidence.
Resource & Links:
EL Education: Learn more about the K-5 Literacy Curriculum that forms the foundation of our conversations. Link to EL Education
Literacy Essentials – Best practices in literacy instruction
Why Is It Important to Test Drive the Assessments in the Curriculum?
I doing the test drive, it helped me. When I was doing my module lesson, I was able to really hone in on the parts that I knew were going to be most important, and then maybe equally as important, I knew what I could spend less time on I just feel like they're more confident. I am emphasizing what's important. They know what's important. They know what the learning expectation is for them. I feel like they're more engaged with the learning because they know what's coming.
Welcome back to fuel up a place for conversations with and for those using el education as a resource to support k5 literacy learning, we are so excited to have you with us for this week's episode. Today we zoom in on the topic of test driving assessments, we hope today's talk serves as a pit stop, a chance to swing by for some fresh energy, insights, encouragement and celebration as we work together to do what's best for our learners, this is a chance to fuel up. So wherever this finds you today, we hope you are able to pull over, take a breath and crank it up and in that spirit, here we go.
We are glad to have you back with us for today's conversation. Today we are talking about test driving assessments. And Katie, it made me think about cars. A buddy of mine recently test drove a Tesla like I was at his house, and he was bringing it in and showing me all these fancy moves and the light shining. Katie, if you could take any vehicle for a test drive, which one would it be?
Oh, boy. All right, I think I would have to go with Lamborghini. A Lamborghini, Lamborghini, right? Like, not practical, but totally would be awesome. It's very sleek, fast. I think that that would be my go to
is the Lamborghini, the ones where the doors kind of like open in a cool way.
Yes, I'm not confident about that, but it sounds cool, and we're gonna go with it, I believe. So I get them confused between Lamborghini and Ferrari.
Okay, and this Lamborghini, would you be taking it out on the country roads or like on the highway? You need
to do highway, highway, fast. Pedal to the metal, yep, just go.
All right, watch out, yeah.
All right. Kevin, what about you? What's your test driving?
All right, so I am gonna go a different direction than the sleek, fast Lamborghini. I'm going to go for the Jeep Wrangler. I've always wanted the jeeper. You can take the top off and go off roading, so I think that's what I would do.
So I'm going to be going fast, so I'll pass you while you're off road. Perfect. Different directions. I like it, yeah.
So, speaking of test driving, we're talking about test driving assessments. And somebody might wonder, in the assessment world, what is a test drive? So let's take a minute to get grounded. Katie, talk to us for a minute. What is this thing called test driving assessments?
Yeah, good question. So from El there's an article actually called, Why is it so important to test drive the assessments in the curriculum? And we'll link that in the show notes for you, but I'm going to just read it to really get us grounded today. It says the summative assessments in the curriculum are designed to assess students' progress towards standards. So thinking about that, it will be an important part of your planning process within the module lessons to look ahead at not only the end of unit assessments, but the mid unit as well, and take them for a test drive. In other words, take the assessments yourself, just like students would do.
Yeah, that would be a test drive you're actually getting into taking that assessment as a student would right?
All all the things that they would experience you're going to experience as a teacher.
All right, so that is what it means to take an assessment for a test drive. And now that we've taken a minute to get grounded, we are so excited to invite our guests to the table, and I'm super excited about it, because I get the privilege to work with this amazing teacher. A big welcome to Laura dalt. What's up? Laura? Hi. Hey, thanks for having me. So Laura is a fifth grade teacher at Cardinal Elementary. Welcome to fuel up. I'm excited to be here. So we were talking about taking vehicles for a test drive. Yes, you have a vehicle that you would want to take out on the road?
Yeah, I think my answer would be kind of a combination of both of yours. I'm going to go with a fast and sleek like Katie, but I'm going to be in a Corvette. Oh, but I'm going to still do the convertible version. Oh, nice. Have that wind and I'm with you. Going to be through nature, maybe in the tunnel of trees up north. Oh,
that sounds great.
So with any guest we have at the table, we always like to start with some fun questions. So Katie, you want to jump in with the first one?
I do welcome Laura. So what is your go to snack or drink to really fuel you up and get you moving?
My favorite snack, kind of a guilty pleasure, is the Reese's.
Take Five. Have you heard of it? Yes, they're delicious. The five
comes from the five ingredients comes with the sweet and the salty goes with chocolate and caramel, and then it has the Reese's peanut butter, but then salty from the peanuts and the
pretzel, nice, we might need to add those to our studio table. Yeah,
it comes in two parts. So you could each have some.
It's a herb.
That's a good idea. Actually, I probably
wouldn't be sharing on that two packets.
So there's a pretzel inside that does sound I don't eat those too often, so I'm gonna have to try one of
those. Next time bring them. Next time, 10 out of 10 recommend.
So you are driving down the road in your Corvette with the top off, what song would you crank up to the max to fuel you up and launch your day?
I like pretty much anything by pink. Oh, most of her songs have a nice beat. Okay, gets the head bopping.
So cranking up a song from Pink. She's got some good ones. Yeah, all right, so now that we've got our Reese's snacks and pink is cranked up and we're driving down the road, we are ready to get into talking about test driving assessments. And Laura, we've had the privilege to test drive some we have. So let's start by just describing a test drive. And the first question to you, Laura, what do you need to do a test drive?
You would need all of the parts, everything that your student would need to take it so you would need a complete copy of the test, any resources that your students would need you should have with you. Maybe there's a text that you need to find evidence in, or maybe there are anchor charts around the room or an exemplar model that they've used in practice before, all of those should be available. Yeah,
so gathering, like having copies of the actual test, and then thinking through what are all the supports that a student would have in gathering those? So it could be the text that they've been working on. It could be the anchor charts or some of the models of success they might have in a folder, all of those. So you gather those together, and then this protocol runs about 60 minutes. So talk through like the different pieces of that, just like a big, broad overview, what are some of the big things we try to look through in those 60 minutes?
So first, we want to be sure that we're very clear about what are the standards that are being assessed, what what are the outcomes that you're hoping for your students? So making sure we know what that is. And then just looking over the assessment and asking, what is the structure of the test? What kinds of questions, are students being asked to answer? Are they multiple choice questions or short answer? Or are they being asked to create a piece of writing of some kind?
Yeah, so we there's a there's some intentional reflection on what are the standards being assessed, and then also, what is the structure of this test like? How is it that kids are going to work in it? Are they just choosing multiple choice, or do they have to write, like, some extended response? So just a quick, like, broad overview, what is the structure of this test look like? So we've got that down. And then how does what's the next step in that test drive?
Then you take the test just like you were a student in your classroom, it gives you a great idea of how long it takes you to do it. Maybe what you know, what comes up as you're taking it.
Yeah, there's, there's kind of, if you, if you're in this part in the protocol, we often found, find the room is like silent, because everybody is taking it, almost like a student would. And you do get that feeling of how long does this take, especially with writing parts, especially with the writing part. Yeah, that's great. So we take the assessment just like a student would, and then we're we finished that part. How do what are some of the pieces that wrap up this, this test drive.
The next part is. To analyze, kind of how it went. This is like a debrief with your team, or whoever you might be working on this protocol with, how did it go? What parts need tweaking? Anything that you noticed while you were taking it?
Yeah, so the conversation afterwards, instead of the room being silent, now it is the volume comes up because there's, like, there's conversations about what we noticed about that protocol, and just comparing answers in a way, yeah, and then how does it wrap up?
Well, with planning your next steps. You know, what did we what did we take from this test drive, and how are we going to use that to inform our instruction going forward?
Yeah, we take it, we talk about it, and then how does it impact our next steps when we go back into the classroom? So that's kind of this broad overview of what that 60 Minutes looks like in a test drive.
So Laura and Kevin, you both have just talked about this protocol, and this protocol really does come out of El it's the test driving test card. And when we think about the protocol, the protocol is really about a routine, a routine that guides you step by step through unpacking in this assessment. So with that, what is the power of the protocol? Like? Why follow the 60 minute protocol?
For me, the power of the protocol is what comes after the actual taking of the test. If I was just doing it by myself, without the routine, I probably would finish the test make sure you know, I knew what the answers were and then move on. But it's in the the analysis of what happened during the test, and then the planning for how is how am I going to use this information to inform my instruction? How am I going to use this information to know what I'm going to emphasize with my students and how I'm going to help them be successful on the next assessment?
So it's really about dissecting it and being able to lean into those pieces and parts that will support your students
definitely, yeah, because those questions are pretty intentional, they guide your thinking in a way. We could take this assessment by itself and just have a free flow, a free flow conversation around it, and we'd still get some helpful things out of that, but the questions in that test drive task card do really guide our thinking. To think about what students might need in order to be successful on that,
yeah, some of the ones that I really enjoy are, how does the assessment build on previous learning? So thinking about what are they going to need before I teach the module information? Is there something like background information they're going to need? Are there skills that they are other skills, maybe outside of the module lessons that they're needing for these assessments?
Yeah, that is a great question. One of my favorites on there is, what misconceptions do I anticipate students having and just putting, when we put ourselves in the seat of a student, sometimes we have misconceptions, like, I've been at the table when we've taken these assessments in our conversation afterwards, we're like, we got different answers on That definitely we maybe we read the question different, or we have a misunderstanding about something, and you know, really using that experience to talk through what misconceptions might our learners have, we would have never thought about that unless we experienced it ourself.
Yeah, it's nice to be able to anticipate those ahead of time, rather than waiting until your students are taking the test and they raise their hand and say, I'm confused about this one, and you have to reread the question yourself because you've never seen it before.
I mean, there was one question we took and I felt like three of us all had a different answer, yeah, and we had to go through and say, Is it the question? Is it? You know how we interpreted that, whatever it is, but that conversation itself was really powerful. And then like, okay, what are we going to do when we get back into the teaching of this to lead up to that, whether it's we need to adjust this question a little bit, or we need to be intentional about how we teach this man. That was so helpful.
It really allows the assessment to be a true indicator of what they're learning, because you're using that to to go back and actually teach what they're going to be assessed on, versus just hoping for the best,
right? Yeah, yeah. We've been talking about for a minute some of the benefits of this, like being able to anticipate some of the misconceptions kids might have as they take this if we build on that. Laura, what would you say some of the benefits you've noticed around test driving assessments?
For me, one of the most beneficial pieces was looking to see what kinds of questions were on the test. Mm. Knew, for example, that the test was going to be on determining meaning of unfamiliar words, but I didn't know before test driving that they were going to be presented with dictionary entries, and that's not something that we focused a lot on in the past. So I knew that when those pieces came up in my module lessons, which they happen to be in the closing, which is sometimes something that gets, you know, set to the side if time is running short. But because I knew those dictionary entries were coming up on the assessment, I was intentional to do the formative assessments that were in the closing so my students could have the practice with the dictionary entries.
Oh my gosh, so good. Because for you, for listeners, just to set the background, the district we work in, adopted the new updates, the 2025 updates. So you had been in the 2017 version. And so this, this test drive, really, even though the module topic is the same, some of the lessons are a little adjusted, yeah. And so to say, oh, in the past, we never did work around dictionary work, and I saw it in the assessment. So I need to, like, look where is this showing up in my lessons? And you noticed it was in the closing Correct? Which sometimes these lessons go long, and so it is, does make sense. We're going to adjust what happens in a day. But you're like, I can't keep the closing. I can't get rid of the closing, right? Because if I do, they're not going to get some of this additional practice to set them up for the assessment with the dictionary work.
Yeah, they had at least two or three opportunities to practice in those closing reflections, and by the time we had done it a few times that my students felt really confident with it, and when we got to the assessment, they nailed it. That was exciting to see.
Yes, that is exciting.
That is such a great story. Anything else you would add to that? Benefits of test driving assessments?
Yeah, some, sometimes when you're taking a test, some vocabulary pops out at you that might throw your students a little bit for a loop. One that comes to mind from the last test drive I did, it asks students to write a paragraph in the literary present tense. And that was not something prior to these updates that I had even heard of before. You know, we talk about past tense and present tense, but literary present tense was a new term. So because I had seen that in the test drive the whole time we were doing the unit, I was able to call it the literary present tense. And then by the time the assessment rolled around, it didn't feel weird anymore. They knew what we were talking about.
Intentionally adding vocabulary to your lesson, yes, because they need it, right? Yes, so smart,
and that's a small shift, right? Like just being mindful of that vocabulary because she saw it in the test drive. Then Laura says, hey, just as I'm going through the lessons, I might be more intentional about just putting that vocabulary, just including it as part of my communication and my language day to day. Yes, but the lessons may be maybe as appropriate outside of that, just so they're, they're, they're fluent and more familiar with that word.
So Laura, we just heard, you know, all these amazing benefits, some really good stories from you. So our listeners might be wondering, though, when do you find time to do this
test drive. It's always the question, yes. Well, my district is fortunate enough to have our team crew meetings every six weeks, so I have a half a day with half of my team, and we work through some of these things together, so we have that time set aside, but that's not going to cover every test drive. So for the last one I did, I had to find some time on my own. I ended up doing that one at home on my couch in the evening for 40 minutes or so. I don't think it's easiest for me to do them in my classroom, because there's just too many distractions, yeah,
but really, the benefits of it outweigh the negative of finding time, right? So you're able to carve out that time, because it's really helping you be intentional with your planning.
Yeah, the doing the test drive, even though I took some of my personal time to do it, it helped me when I was doing my module lessons, because I was able to really hone in on the parts that I knew were going to be most important, and then maybe equally as important I knew what I could spend less time on.
That's powerful, right there. Yeah, because some of these lessons, they're packed full absolutely like sometimes we have conversations with a number of educators that you know, we're brainstorming. Sometimes this lesson feels so long, I'm not sure if I can get through this in 60 minutes. And so we have some of these conversations. One of the benefits of doing the test drive is it does allow you to make some of those in the moment, day to day teacher decisions, of which parts Am I going? Like put an anchor in the ground and really focus on this, and which parts might I introduce, but I can lightly continue forward just to keep the pace moving. And taking that test drive and knowing where your kids are going are gonna it helps. You know, educators and those of us in the classrooms make some of those decisions that keep the pace moving forward. Anything you would add to that?
Laura, I agree, just that it the time that I spent ahead of time maybe saved me some time throughout the unit, in the module lessons, knowing how to more accurately pace them, or more precisely pace them towards what I knew was most important.
Yeah, I think that's a huge benefit right there. It's amazing.
Yeah, the El is so good about scripting out those lessons in really great detail. I don't think the intent is to read it word for word, right? It does give you a big picture of what you might say and guide some of that thinking. But again, that test drive can help you and help us as educators like work through even that script and better decide what parts to emphasize and which parts to maybe minimize a little bit. Yes, Laura, you've shared some examples of how it's helped you improve teaching and making some of those in the moment decisions. How have you seen that impact your learners?
I just feel like they're more confident in these skills because I am emphasizing what's important. They know what's important, and they know what the expectation, the learning expectation, is for them. In the past, I would barely know you know how many lessons out is the assessment. What's the assessment going to look like? And now, with this intentional planning, I can tell them, Okay, today we're on lesson four, and Lesson Eight is your mid unit assessment. So you've got four more practice sessions with this, and by Lesson Eight you need to be able to write this kind of paragraph by yourself, so I feel like they're more engaged with the learning, maybe taking a little more ownership, because they know what's coming.
Yeah, and they know what's coming because you know what's coming exactly, and when you know what's coming, you've been intentional about, like even guiding them step by step with your language. It might it's probably not in the script if you're following the El script, but you just as though that good teacher practice, you're like, Hey, I just want to remind you, like, this is our learning target. This is where we're going. Hey, our goal is to be able to do this here in a few days. So I'm going to guide you step by step to get there. And so you've been able to because, you know, you're going intentionally coach them and guide them. And the byproduct of that has been kids being more successful and feeling more confident. And that's a win, definitely.
So Laura, what are some hints and tricks for our listeners for getting started with this test driving?
For me, the benefit of doing this test drive with someone or multiple team members is a huge benefit. So if you can find a grade level buddy or somebody to do this with, then I think the analysis will be that more much more productive.
So the power of collaborating, yes,
and we've seen that before, too. You spoke to it. Sometimes when you do with somebody, you get different answers. Yeah, if you're doing it by yourself, you're not going to have a different answer, because nobody else is taking the test, right? But the conversation, when you're you sit side by side, you're like, I know this is if it's multiple choice, I know it's C. You're like, I think it's B. Like, Oh, well, if we struggled with this as the you know adults, the probability that our learners are going to struggle with that is probably high, and so let's have a conversation around that. And so you've seen the power of do it with somebody, and even if you're doing on your your free time, if you invite somebody else to do it on their free time, and then just huddle for a few minutes and have that conversation, that's the part I think you know that you we both seen the power of that conversation,
so being able to do the test drive on your own, but then that part for analyzing the test drive, that's when we really want to find somebody to have that collaboration or conversation with, Right?
We've been test driving this past year. Yes, how has this practice changed for you over time? I think
it's helped me be more confident as a teacher that I am emphasizing and teaching the most important parts and helping my students feel successful with the most important parts of the curriculum you've
been teaching 24 years. 24 how has this changed over your career? Well, this is new to me.
I've never heard of test driving before or taking the assessment by myself. So this is a new
practice. Yeah. Isn't that crazy? Okay? It seems like a simple idea, right? All of us at this table have spent time, significant time in the classroom, teaching. And listen, I'll be the first to throw myself under the bus. Like there were years where I handed a test out and somebody would come up and say, Mr. R, I'm not sure about this question, and I'm like, Well, me either I haven't seen that one before, but Gone are those days.
Yes feels it feels better. It feels more professional, more confident, to know exactly what's coming for your students and for yourself, and to know that you're working towards that goal together for the unit,
yeah, what a great shift it does make you said the word I think confidence, like, yeah, we as educators move feel more confident,
right? Especially when you're working with new curriculum, new updates, sometimes you feel like you're just staying a lesson or two ahead, so to have the benefit of knowing, like, long distance, where we're going for several lessons, yeah, or weeks, yeah,
and it's an investment, right? You're investing a little bit of your time, but the outcome is huge for your learners, and you've spoken to that today,
good conversations, and it is time as we wrap things up for small steps. Laura, as you think about our listeners, some who may be jumping into El education for the first time, others who have been using this curriculum for years, if you could invite them to be mindful of one thing when thinking about test driving assessments, what small step would you invite them to consider?
I would say, don't wait to test drive. I've done both. I've test driven assessments weeks ahead, and I've test driven assessments a couple days ahead, and it's way more beneficial to have that time to intentionally plan how it's going to affect your instruction, rather than waiting until right before the students take it and then you feel bad. Whoops, like I didn't emphasize what I should have or, oh, I need to go back and do a little bit more teaching before we are ready to tackle this. So just that benefit of planning ahead, giving yourself the benefit of time so that you can really make the most of the test drive.
So if a teacher wanted to invest in doing a test drive, and they had the end of the unit assessment coming up in two days. It may be worth jumping ahead and doing the mid unit or the end of the unit that's next. Yes, even though it's out maybe two weeks, doing it two weeks ahead of time is going to allow you to be intentional about the next two weeks of teaching. If you were to just do the end of the unit, it's really not going to impact your teaching that you just finished right, maybe two days of it, but doing it, going thinking ahead enough to do the one that's coming up next really allows you to be intentional for those the next one or two weeks before that. Yes, well, there you go, a small step to consider over the next few weeks, as you get back into the work, as we close up this episode, we hope you got some fuel in the tank and leave us some fresh energy for the weeks ahead. And we're going to close things off today with high fives and hitchhikers. Here's the cool thing, we have the power to re energize and refuel those around us. So find a colleague. It could be the person next door, it could be the person across the hall, and maybe it's in another grade. Find that colleague and give them a high five. Tell them you got this. Remind them you're a rock star and pick them up as a hitchhiker. Invite them to join the conversation and take a seat with us at the table. All the best to you and see you next time on fuel up.