For this reason, students must understand the purpose of an individualized instruction program in order to truly benefit from it. Explain to the students that the testing will not be used for grading purposes, but instead will be used to allow the student to work at a pace and on a level that they feel comfortable at and that they will be successful at. A pre-assessment process will be used to determine student needs in mathematics. As previously mentioned, it is important to meet the students where they are at in terms of geometrical understanding. The van Heile levels break geometric understanding into three levels; 3 levels. The students progress through all of the levels, and in the same order. In order to maximize student achievement, the teacher must be aware of what level the student is at, so that the student can be appropriately challenged. .
There are many ways to conduct the pre-assessment. You do not want to rely on simply one form of pre-assessment because a variety of assessments will eliminate testing biases and more effectively reveal student needs. One popular form of pre-assessment is a diagnostic test. The diagnostic test will reveal what students already know and what their strengths and weaknesses are. The diagnostic test allows students to focus in areas that they have weaknesses in (such as lower level students) and omit areas that they already have an understanding in and move on to more challenging work (as in higher level students). Students who demonstrate prior mastery in a unit's objectives can participate in a Curriculum Compacting program to eliminate instructional time and practice in the mastered content. The students will use their learning time to participate in enrichment options or acceleration programs. .
In addition to diagnostic testing, observations of student behavior can reveal student needs. The area of geometry is special because it is a very hands-on, manipulative subject, especially in elementary school.