Chapter 2: Mastery

Mastery is being able to use and apply knowledge in contexts other than the one it was learned in. Many different forms of assessment and tracking the progress of the student in multiple ways over time can determine mastery. Just because a student can complete a project or talk about a subject and sound knowledgeable does not mean they are. Using written responses helps to see how well students know something, because in writing, it is harder to graze over the parts one does not know. Students should be able to prove their mastery in multiple ways in a differentiated classroom. This means that I need to assess my students multiple times throughout a unit to make sure they are on the right track. It also means I will need to figure out how many ways to let them prove their knowledge.