Assessments is what educators call tests. Let’s say that there are two kinds of assessments: summative and formative.

Summative assessments are big and rigid. They test the sum of everything you learned, and don’t happen very often (also because they are expensive). Summative assessments are not for students, they are for teachers and administration. They do not help students learn, they help teachers and administration learn.

Formative assessments are small and flexible. They test a small part of what you learned, and happen very often during the learning process (also because they are cheap). Formative assessments help students and teachers, but not the administration. They help students practice and reflect, and help teachers re-arrange their plans during class-time.

TechLit lessons are made of formative assessments. Almost every activity is a formative assessment. Students are given a small task, such as “make these words bold”, or “complete this HTML puzzle”.

Every activity is an opportunity for our teachers to understand how well each student understands the current lesson. Our teachers can then adjust the speed of the activities, repeat activities from a different perspective, and help students individually.

TechLit lessons don’t have any summative assessments in the usual sense of the phrase. In each subject, our more advanced activities are cumulative. Eventually, students are asked to use all of the skills they have learned together. We mix and match skills throughout the activities to variably reinforce everything they learn.

As administrators, we prioritize classroom activities over summative assessments. TechLit teachers repeat activities until most students understand the material very well. That way, we can know that a group of students has achieved specific learning objectives.