A student's approach toward answering an essay question can be as revealing as the answer itself. Writing good essay questions requires careful planning. They should be broad enough to allow students to demonstrate their knowledge. Yet, they should address an explicit set of skills and not depend strictly on students' writing ability. As with other forms of assessment, establish scoring criteria before you administer an essay test.
Many teachers keep records of their students' activities that demonstrate citizenship concepts.
At the end of each day, record positive behaviors, such as reinforcing others, probing for understanding, completing work neatly, and recognizing individual rights. These cumulative records can help you plan for parent conferences, counsel students, and make comments on report cards. If you define behavior objectives that are action-oriented, you can use a more formal observation system to record observed behaviors and compare them with desired objectives. For example, you may specify consideration, evaluation, and respect for differing viewpoints as objectives. You can intentionally reinforce those behaviors by recording whether and how often you observe them and by providing accurate feedback to students about whether they are meeting your objectives.