Uncovering Student Thinking in Mathematics, Grades K-5: 25 Formative Assessment Probes for the Elementary Classroom

"Finally, a book to help teachers differentiate math instruction using their own individualized, current data! The practical, simple-to-use formative assessments allow teachers to identify areas of difficulty, correct misconceptions, and guide learning."
―Renee Peoples, Fourth Grade Teacher and K–5 District Math Facilitator
Swain County Schools, NC

"This book offers ways for teachers to gain more insight into what their students know and don′t know."
―Carol Amos, Teacher Leader/Mathematics Coordinator
Twinfield Union School, VT

25 targeted probes that gauge students′ mathematics comprehension in Grades K–5

Quickly identify each child′s level of understanding with these easy-to-use assessment tools! This sequel to the bestseller Uncovering Student Thinking in Mathematics answers teachers′ requests for more strategies to monitor classroom learning in real time. The authors provide 25 field-tested probes―brief, easily administered assessments―that can pinpoint students′ areas of struggle in mathematics. Aligned with NCTM standards, these grade-appropriate probes are easy to implement immediately and help teachers:

• Build on children′s current understandings while addressing their identified difficulties
• Quickly and objectively evaluate specific math skills
• Determine students′ common mistakes and obstacles to learning math
• Measure learners′ abilities and compare them to performance objectives

Tobey and Minton include their proprietary QUEST cycle model, which provides teachers with the necessary tools to make sound instructional choices and improve all students′ mathematical knowledge.

Cheryl Rose Tobey is a senior mathematics associate at Education Development Center (EDC) in Massachusetts. She is the project director for Formative Assessment in the Mathematics Classroom: Engaging Teachers and Students (FACETS) and a mathematics specialist for Differentiated Professional Development: Building Mathematics Knowledge for Teaching Struggling Students (DPD); both projects are funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). She also serves as a director of development for an Institute for Educational Science (IES) project, Eliciting Mathematics Misconceptions (EM2). Her work is primarily in the areas of formative assessment and professional development.

Prior to joining EDC, Tobey was the senior program director for mathematics at the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance (MMSA), where she served as the co–principal investigator of the mathematics section of the NSF-funded Curriculum Topic Study, and principal investigator and project director of two Title IIa state Mathematics and Science Partnership projects. Prior to working on these projects, Tobey was the co–principal investigator and project director for MMSA’s NSF-funded Local Systemic Change Initiative, Broadening Educational Access to Mathematics in Maine (BEAMM), and she was a fellow in Cohort 4 of the National Academy for Science and Mathematics Education Leadership. She is the coauthor of six published Corwin books, including seven books in the Uncovering Student Thinking series (2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014), two Mathematics Curriculum Topic Study resources (2006, 2012), and Mathematics Formative Assessment: 75 Practical Strategies for Linking Assessment, Instruction and Learning (2011). Before joining MMSA in 2001 to begin working with teachers, Tobey was a high school and middle school mathematics educator for ten years. She received her BS in secondary mathematics education from the University of Maine at Farmington and her MEd from City University in Seattle. She currently lives in Maine with her husband and blended family of five children.

Leslie Minton is currently a mathematics consultant for Math Matters 2, Portland, Maine. She is currently providing individualized mathematics professional development to area schools and districts PK-8, as well as, teaching Math Methods courses at the University of Southern Maine. Previously, Leslie was a Project Director for the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance, Augusta, Maine. She provided technical assistance to schools as well as designed a professional development course and diagnostic materials designed to support numeracy understanding. She is a fellow of the second cohort group of Governor’s Academy for Science and Mathematics Educators. She has taught regular and special education for grades 4-12. Leslie receive her B.S. in elementary and special education from the University of Maine at Farmington and her M.Ed in curriculum, instruction and assessment from Walden University. Currently she is completing a M.Ed program, Educational Design and Media Technology, Full Sail University.