Our Independent Digital Lessons are designed to provide a range of learners with precise feedback at the exact moment they begin to struggle. Because of this intentional design, a student won't be able to finish a digital lesson without correctly completing the Tower of Power, our mastery-based independent practice activity. Our reports don't display a grade because each student must successfully complete 100% of the activity.
To assess students' learning in our Independent Digital Lessons, we recommend using a combination of Teacher Reports, Mid and End-of-Mission assessments, Student Notes, and Exit Tickets in alignment with your school or district's grading policy:
- Teacher Reports: Zearn offers four types of class-level reports — Pace, Progress, Sprint Alerts, and Tower Alerts — to help teachers monitor students progress, productivity, and struggles during independent work. These reports provide teachers with real-time insights into student learning.
- Assessments: Mid and End-of-Mission assessments help assess students' understanding of the Mission. These paper-and-pencil assessments offer an opportunity for teachers to check in on learning.
- Student Notes: Most Independent Digital Lessons are accompanied by paper notes that provide students an opportunity to balance digital with paper-and-pencil work to encourage deeper engagement, allowing students to strengthen their understanding through active problem-solving and reflection. Teachers can check Student Notes to monitor student understanding at the lesson level.
- Exit Tickets: After students demonstrate mastery in the Tower of Power, teachers can use Zearn’s Exit Tickets as an additional to monitor lesson-level learning. Exit Tickets are unscaffolded so that teachers can see how well students transfer their learning from the digital lesson to paper.