1. An Urban District Uses Assessment Data to Improve Instruction Astrid Fossum & Sharonda M. Harris Mathematics Teaching Specialists Milwaukee Public Schools fossumag@milwaukee.k12.wi.us harrissm@milwaukee.k12.wi.us

2. In this session participants will: Explore a professional development model used to inform classroom instruction. Examine how district leaders are working with teachers to support the use of formative assessments in mathematics. Engage in writing effective descriptive feedback.

3. Milwaukee Public Schools 209 schools 87,360 Students 2006-2007, percentage of students proficient/advanced in mathematics  Grade 4, 52%  Grade 8, 40%  Grade 10, 29% 4,793 Teachers

4. Milwaukee Mathematics Partnership NSF/MSP Grant Math Teacher Leader (MTL) positions Assessment Pilot Leaders (APL), Grades K-7 Foundation Level Assessment Leaders, Grades 8 and 9

5. Comprehensive Mathematics Framework References National Research Council. (2001). Adding it up. Mathematics Learning Study Committee, Center for Education, Division of Behavioral Sciences and Education, National Research Council. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. National Research Council. (2002). Helping Children Learn Mathematics. Mathematics Learning Study Committee, J. Kilpatrick & J. Swafford, Editors. Center for Education, Division of Behavioral Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. (1998). Wisconsin’s model academic standards for mathematics. Madison, WI: Author.

6. CABS: Classroom Assessments Based on Standards Who? What? When? Why?

7. District Learning Targets

8. State Assessment Descriptors

9. Description of Assessment : CABS Class Summary Report School: Teacher: Date: Grade Level: _______Sp.Ed _______Reg.Ed MPS Learning Target(s): State Descriptor(s): Expectations: (What do you expect to see on student’s paper to demonstrate understanding?) Students’ Successes:Students’ Challenges: Next Steps:

10. Description of Assessment: CABS Assessment Overview After working through the assessment, reflect on what you expect students to do. Complete the following table before developing your descriptive feedback. School: Teacher: Date: Grade Level: ______Sp.Ed _______Reg.Ed Identify appropriate Key Mathematics Features students may develop as a response to this assessment : Identify misconceptions you anticipate students will demonstrate : Identify misconceptions you observed in the students’ work:

11. Descriptive Feedback… Our Journey To use student work from CABS to drive instructional decisions on “what we do next” in the classroom and to provide appropriate and continuous feedback to students. How do teachers give students descriptive feedback that prompts them to self-reflect on ways to improve their work?

12. Types of Feedback Motivational Feedback Evaluative Feedback Descriptive Feedback Effective Descriptive Feedback

13. Motivational Feedback Goal is to make the learner feel good. Feedback that is intended to encourage and support the learner. Does not give guidance on how to improve the learner’s reasoning. “I like how you completed the assignment.”

14. Evaluative Feedback Goal is to measure student achievement with a score or a grade. Feedback that is intended to summarize student achievement. Does not give guidance on how to improve the learner’s reasoning. 73%

15. Descriptive Feedback Goal is to improve student achievement by telling the learner what steps to take in order to move forward in the learning process. Feedback that is intended to tell the learner what needs to be improved. Gives specific guidance as to how to improve the learners’ reasoning. “You accurately found the number of students in 4th grade who said ice cream was their favorite. You now need to divide this number by the total number of students to get the percent who said ice cream was their favorite.”

16. Effective Descriptive Feedback Goal is for students to internalize the effective feedback. Feedback that is intended to be used by the learner to independently move their reasoning to the next level. “I agree with the pattern that you have identified in the table. I am not convinced that the rule you wrote works for all the values in the table. How could you prove this?”

17. Types of Feedback Motivational EvaluativeDescriptiveEffective Feedback is primarily motivational Feedback is primarily evaluative Descriptive feedback primarily tells the student how to correct their reasoning. Descriptive feedback asks the student what to do to move their reasoning to the next level. Purpose: to encourage and support the learner Purpose: to measure student achievement with a score or a grade Purpose: to improve learning by indicating to the student what needs to be improved Purpose: to improve learning, by moving student reasoning to the next level MoreSummativeMoreFormative

18. Description of Assessment: Student Feedback Summary School: Teacher: Date: Grade Level: _______Sp.Ed _______Reg.Ed Student Name: Descriptive Feedback to Student (Frame with language to students that challenges them to revise, redo, relearn, or expand.) Summary of Instructional Decisions (How much re-teaching is needed? What follow-up is needed? Do my lesson plans need to be revised?)

19. Successes Teacher Conversations around student work Identify different student strategies Increased understanding of formative assessment Instructional decisions based on identified misconceptions and challenges Descriptive Feedback can save on re-teaching time Student Increased achievement Ability to clear up misconceptions on second attempts, without re- teaching/intervention Self-reflection on ways to improve their work Increased involvement in self-assessment

20. Challenges Teacher Buy-In Time commitment Record-keeping Grading Redundancy Student Interpretation of the feedback Looking for a grade Lack of motivation

21. Resources Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the black box: Raising standards through assessment. Phi Delta Kappan, 80(2), 139- 148. Brookhart, S.M., (2007). Feedback That Fits. Educational Leadership, 65(4), 54-59. Stiggins, R.J., Arter, J., Chappuis, J., & Chappuis, S. (2005). Assessment FOR Learning: An Action Guide for School Leaders. Portland, OR: Assessment Training Institute. Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. The Milwaukee Mathematics Partnership (MMP), an initiative of the Milwaukee Partnership Academy (MPA), is supported with funding from the National Science Foundation under Grant No. EHR-0314898