Assessment Options

Study skills fall into the category of “soft skills,” as defined by the U.S. Department of Labor Employment & Training Administration.

Soft skills are problem-solving, critical thinking, and communication skills. They are best defined as the opposite of “hard skills,” the technical skills required to complete a job.

SOAR's unique approach to assessing "soft skills" includes an Assessment Matrix that triangulates data, allowing you to evaluate students' progress from many different angles.

SOAR’s unique approach to assessing “soft skills” includes an Assessment Matrix that triangulates data, allowing you to evaluate students’ progress from many different angles.

Because the nature of “soft skills” is very personal and somewhat invisible, assessment can be challenging. However, our Multi-Media Teacher’s Guide provides a variety of assessment options to ensure optimal progress-monitoring:

  • Study Skills Scorecard
  • Constructed Response
  • Exit Presentation
  • Study Skills Assessment Matrix
  • Grade-Tracking

Assessment: Study Skills Scorecard

The first lesson of the MMTG includes a Study Skills Scorecard that allows students to rate their current level of “study savvy” in the context of 45+ common problems related to homework, studying, and organizing. Each problem is followed by a 5-point Likert scale for students to evaluate themselves.

The items from this Scorecard are then integrated into the SOAR® program. Each lesson of the MMTG begins by introducing specific items from the Study Skills Scorecard that the lesson will address. At the end of each lesson, students will be prompted to review the homework problems from the scorecard and describe the solutions they have just learned to address those problems.

At the conclusion of the program, you will be prompted to administer the Study Skills Scorecard a second time to compare students’ responses and develop a quantitative measurement of progress. This process also gives students an opportunity to compare their “before” and “after” responses and reflect upon how much they have learned throughout the course.

See Lesson 1 for more details about this progress monitoring tool, the Study Skills Scorecard.

This assessment measures the change in students’ attitudes, perceptions, and skills from the beginning of the SOAR® program to the conclusion of the course.

Assessment (App Only): Interactive Activities, Games, and Quizzes

The SOAR Learning App contains numerous opportunities for students to interact with the content in a responsive way. There are activities and games that create learning opportunities along with reinforcement of important concepts. There are also formal quizzes for every lesson to provide teachers and parents feedback on the level of mastery.

This assessment measures students’ comprehension of the content of the program.

Assessment: Constructed Response

A constructed response assessment is provided for each lesson. These assessments encourage students to reflect on each lesson and describe, in their own words, the specific study skills and strategies they learned from each lesson.

This assessment measures students’ comprehension of the content of the program.

Assessment: The Exit Presentation

The Exit Presentation is a cumulative progress-monitoring assessment.  It is provided as a reproducible rubric. This presentation will prompt students to reflect on their newly developed skills, provide evidence to demonstrate their progress throughout the course, and explore the potential impact that study skills can continue to play in their lives.

This assessment evaluates students’ knowledge of the content and their appreciation for how the content is (and will be) applicable to their lives.

Assessment: Study Skills Assessment Matrix/Progress Checklist

A significant part of developing study skills is simply employing the strategies that students have learned. A Study Skills Progress Checklist is provided to monitor progress of planner usage, binder organization, book-bag and locker organization, use of the note-taking strategy, use of the 3-D writing organizer, and more throughout the course. The Assessment Matrix allows you to assign a point-value for effective employment of these strategies on an on-going basis.

The Assessment Matrix provides space for teachers to record evaluations for the application of strategies, the practice items in the student book, the Lesson Reviews, and the Exit Presentation.

This assessment monitors the specific implementation and application of the strategies taught in the program.

Assessment: Grade-Tracking

For long-term progress-monitoring, we suggest you compile and track students’ grades for: two or more card-markings prior to introducing the SOAR® Study Skills system, the card-marking(s) in which students are participating in the program, and for two or more card-markings following the program.

This assessment measures the long-term impact of your study skills program.

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