How many of you have wasted a whole day assessing students on reading or math so you know which group they belong in? I know that I have! Assessing and reassessing students can be time-consuming for any teacher unless that teacher is using ESGI assessments. ESGI is a progress monitoring and guided instruction tools that help keep track of where your students are and where they are going. Need to know more about this amazing assessment tool? Keep on reading!
What are ESGI Assessments?
ESGI stands for Education Software for Guiding Instruction. It was invented by a kindergarten teacher who, like many of us, was tired of spending too much time on different assessments. So, what is it exactly? ESGI is a simple progress monitoring system that makes knowing where your students academically are and how they are growing so much easier. The great thing about these “assessments” is they can be used multiple times a week. This way, you always know how your students are doing and how they are growing. With ESGI, there is no set timeline you have to abide by.
The Who and What of ESGI Assessments
ESGI, while it can work for students K-12, it is primarily used for students who are in grades K-2. However, this program can accommodate any grade level because of different student needs, non-English speaking students, and students who just need extra support. Plus, because it is customizable, you can always make it grade-level appropriate.
Another great thing about ESGI is its versatility in the classroom as well as with remote learning. These assessments can be simple parts of your center rotations. When students come to your table, you can have them take the assessment while the others finish up an activity.
If you have a student who has to be at home due to an illness or quarantine, he/she can still do the work as long as they have an internet connected device. All you would need to do with this program is have a face-to-face meeting with the student, give them the link and the code. Then, they can stay caught up on assessments as well.
Quick Assessment Tool for You
One of the best things that ESGI assessments offer you is over 2,000 already made assessments. So, you just saved time not having to make your own assessment. Then, if you are going through the assessment, which is very quick, and come across something you haven’t covered, all you have to do is click “skip.” You can see an example of how ESGI Assessments work and get a free trial by watching the Facebook Live with Rochelle, an ESGI expert, as a special guest!
Make ESGI Assessments It Yours!
Yes, ESGI has over 2,000 assessments ready for you. However, your needs might be different than what the assessment is offering. What do you do now? You customize your assessment! This means you can differentiate, you can add, you can replace, and more! You can do anything you want to tailor this to your classroom! Some districts who have purchased ESGI will customize the program to their district. Teachers who are in the same district can even share assessments they have customized or created themselves.
If your district does not want to purchase this program, you can always get this as a teacher. Many people will fund ESGI for teachers through Donors Choose
Reporting and Grouping with ESGI
Another great feature of ESGI assessments includes the teacher reporting feature. Sometimes students just get lucky or they correct themselves. When you see this happening as a teacher, you can make note of that on your student’s assessment and it will be factored into their overall progress. Putting this data in makes grouping so much easier for teachers because you can look at the reports and see who is where and group accordingly. Remember to check out how to group students in centers here!
Create Strong Parent Communication with ESGI
When you log into ESGI, you will add all of your students and fill out a bit of information. One of the questions is which language is preferred. This is not only great for the student because there are some Spanish-English assessments and activities available, but you can send parents letters home in their own language. If you don’t see the language needed as an option, all you need to do is simply add it. This makes communicating progress and concerns with parents incredibly simple.
ESGI has saved teachers over 400 hours per teacher, per year! (Some teachers even think this is a low estimate!) If you’re ready to make your assessments and get the data from your assessments super easy, make sure you check out ESGI. Not only will it save you time on assessment creation, it will help you differentiate, group students, and leave you with less teacher stress. Remember to check out the free trial and use the promo code Farrah!
Until Next Time…
Keep Being Educational Rock Stars
