Our aim is to put students not only in touch but in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ. One of our challenges as teachers of children’s faith formation programs is assessing how well students are actually learning. Faith formation environment is different from that of academic subjects, yet students need to master a certain amount of information about Catholic teaching and Tradition. Asking questions can only give you a snapshot of what a few students know (or probably already knew). What can you do to discover whether or not your curriculum and teaching methods are accomplishing what you intend for them to accomplish?

Here are a few quick and easy things you can do on a regular basis to assess students’ knowledge and progress.

Know/Wonder: Give students a sheet of paper with two columns. One should be labeled “What I know”, the other “What I wonder about”. Then at the beginning and end of each quarter, lesson unit or other time period, have them complete the sheet listing what they know about the person and topic and what they wonder about it. This will let you see what knowledge students have coming into the study as well as potential questions or doubts they may have. After a unit, it can help you gauge the effectiveness of it and see what questions students now have. (Be sure to address them, taking care to protect the identity of the student asking the question.)

Question Time Cards: Periodically, give students an index card and pen when they enter the classroom. Instruct them to write any questions they have about God, Christianity, the Bible, your lesson, etc. Allow them to add questions to their cards as you go through the lesson. Collect the cards and announce that you will make time to respond in an upcoming class—give yourself enough time to do any research you need to do.

Graffiti: As students enter the room, ask them to write on the markerboard or on a sheet of paper at least one thing they learned the previous week in your class or something they know (or want to learn) about the topic of the day. Encourage them to be artistic, providing several colors of markers.

Exit Tickets: At the end of a unit, give each student a sticky note. Ask them to write on it one new thing they learned in class that week or one thing they are going to do differently in their lives because of the lessons. To leave class, they must give you the sticky note with an answer written on it.

Extended Projects: Ask students to dive even deeper into the person or topic you have been studying. You can group students or have them work individually. Try giving students one entire class period to work on their projects with additional time of a few minutes at the beginning of each class until the deadline.

Assessment takes a bit of extra effort, but it can reinforce your teaching efforts and expand students’ experience of growing closer to Christ as they learn more about him and our Church.