Compacting - Notes

Compacting or curriculum compacting encourages teachers to assess students before beginning a unit of study or development of a skill. Students who do well on the pre-assessment (getting as much as three-quarters correct) should not have to continue to work on what they already know. 

Three-stage compacting

With three-stage compacting, teachers document the following:

• What students already know (and evidence for that conclusion)
• What pre-assessment indicates students do not know about the topic or skill (and plans for how they will learn those things)
• A plan for meaningful and challenging use of the time students will "buy" because they already know much of the topic or skill. 

Compacting begins with a focus on student readiness and ends with an emphasis on student interest.