Learning to look at a variety of data and decipher it accurately to assess student learning is critical for any educator or administrator. In-basket activities are a way to develop data evaluation skills. In an envelope, include test results for a single student, class, school or school district depending upon the objectives of the lesson. Also include other pertinent data such as demographics, extracurricular participation percentages, socioeconomic information and any other data specific to a student, group or community. Create a scenario in which participants must develop an action plan to improve scores and student outcomes in one area or a variety of areas.
Rubrics can be used to assess a variety of subjects for student learning. This type of assessment is most popular for a writing assessment. For an interesting in-basket activity, provide a variety of writing samples and allow participants to work in groups, using rubrics to grade and evaluate the samples. This activity can be tweaked by requiring participants to create rubrics to assess particular elements of writing or the writing process.
Imagine arriving in a new classroom of preschoolers with the assignment of leading the class in a unit on bubbles. This is one example of an in-box activity in which participants might enlist the help of developmental checklists. However, checklists can be used to evaluate multiple student levels depending upon the area being assessed. Participants can also be assigned to create checklists for specific tasks as an in-basket activity.
Nothing is more disruptive to the learning process than students with behavioral issues or a teacher with poor classroom management. In-basket assignments may be designed so groups work together to develop behavior interventions for specific disruptive or problematic behaviors. Another in-basket activity might require teachers or administrators to develop a positive classroom management system for a teacher struggling to manage and organize a class. Activities focusing on developing positive behavior programs will have great impact on student learning.