Use entrance tickets to help students assess what they know and what they need to learn: Ms. Scalzetti gives students an entrance ticket at the beginning of each class. Students understand this is an opportunity to show what they know. They also recognize that there are future opportunities if they’re not yet ready to complete it. There is no time limit on completing the entrance ticket in order to avoid the illusion that students who finish faster are more advanced than others.
Entrance Tickets to Drive Learning Plans
CICS West Belden
Students take an entrance ticket when they enter the class, grade it together, and each student then determines what type of learning they need to do that day - seminar for small-group instruction with the teacher or workshop for individual or partner work in applying the skill. Students are empowered to declare what they do and do not know and readily advocate for their needs, whether that includes enrichment or additional instruction.
Created for educators. By educators.
“The way we are using data to drive our instructional practice has changed completely… Now with the competency-based approach we are giving formative assessments every 2-3 days…and really using those to drive instructional change…We were thrilled to see the amount of student growth that happened, but more importantly, the amount of student mastery that we saw for the first time ever. Students were able to go deeper and really, truly master concepts
and skills through creative projects and data-informed decisions [with] teachers and students making those decisions together.”
School Director
“I definitely think that [personalized learning] works for kids. I have seen tremendous growth in my students…their knowledge level, their ability to interact with students and teachers, the 21st century learning skills they’re getting through all this personalization is beyond anything I could have imagined. They can collaborate, they can persevere, they can think outside of this box, and it’s because we’ve given them the opportunity to do so by…meeting every kid
where they need to be.”
5th Grade Teacher
About CICS West Belden
A Distinctive Schools Charter School
- 7%African American
- 0.2%Asian
- 92%Hispanic
- 0.9% White
- 0.2%Other
- 90%Low Income
- 13%Diverse Learners
- 40%English Learners
- N/AMobility*
How Entrance Tickets Work in Ms. Scalzetti's Class
Step 1.
Step 2.
Help students use the result of their entrance ticket to determine how they learn for the day : Ms. Scalzetti offers two options for students to plan their learning for the day – workshop and seminar. Students grade their own entrance tickets together as a class, and then each student uses their result to determine the most appropriate learning option for them on that day.
Step 3.
Provide multiple self-directed learning activities for students who are ready to apply their learning: Students who feel proficient move into self-directed workshop, which provides more extensive work. Students select activities that take them deeper into the content, including opportunities for real-world applications of the skill.
Step 4.
Offer small-group support for students who want more guidance and instruction: Seminar provides small-group, teacher-led instruction for students who feel they need more support and guidance. Many students choose seminar when new skills are introduced. Rather than leading whole-class instruction, Ms. Scalzetti divides the class so she can hold two consecutive seminars. She and her students value the more intimate small-group, collaborative structure.
Step 5.
Design learning activities to offer multiple ways for students to engage: To meet the needs of all of her students, Ms. Scalzetti ensures students have access to different types of learning activities. Students’ learner profiles include the approaches through which they prefer to learn, and Ms. Scalzetti uses these to create workshop activities. For students who expressed their preference for learning from videos, Ms. Scalzetti uses video tutorials like a second teacher to support student learning.