What Can We Ask Instead of “Do You Understand?”
At the end of a lesson, you ask, “Do you understand?” A few students say yes. Others nod. It seems as though the class is ready to move on. But those responses do not show what students can explain or where they are struggling. To decide where the next lesson should begin, we need more concrete information.
Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam identify this as central to effective classroom assessment: gathering evidence of students’ thinking and using it to decide what to teach next. Collecting responses and setting them aside leaves the process unfinished.
Imagine you are teaching the difference between explicit information and inference in an English language arts lesson. Write this short passage on the board:
Maya brought the wet umbrella inside from the doorstep. She looked out the window and put a raincoat in her bag.
Ask everyone for two short responses: “Write one piece of information that the text states directly. Then make an inference from the details and explain your reasoning.” Students can complete this two- or three-minute task on a slip of paper or in their notebooks. Adjust the time to their reading and writing needs.
“The umbrella is wet” is explicitly stated. “Maya may expect rain when she goes outside” is an inference supported by her decision to pack a raincoat. We cannot say that we know this for certain. Other interpretations can also be discussed if they are supported by details in the text. This lets us see both the conclusion and how the student reached it.
As you read the responses, you may notice three patterns: explicit information and inference have been confused; an inference has been made without supporting evidence; or an inference has been supported with a relevant detail. These observations describe the work on this particular task. The same student may need different support when reading another text.
Choose your next step accordingly. If the distinction is unclear, compare two examples together. If the evidence is missing, ask, “Which word or action led you to that conclusion?” If the reasoning is supported, extend the thinking with, “Could there be another explanation for the same detail?”
In the next lesson, you might share two different responses with the students’ permission and without their names. Ask, “Which response makes its evidence clearer? How could we improve the other one?” After a brief discussion, check the same skill again using another short passage. This gives you evidence of whether your teaching decision helped.
Source
Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment. Phi Delta Kappan, 80(2), 139–144, 146–148.