Assessment Checking for understanding

Objectives for the session Review the plethora of assessment options available Reflect on current practices and philosophy Contrast large scale external assessment with internal assessment goals Establish clear definitions for formative, benchmark, and summative assessment Discuss the value of CFA Learn general guidelines for effective item writing Use a team protocol and checklist to create a CFA Identify next steps

Guiding Questions for PLCs Focus on student learning: What should students know and be able to do? (Curriculum, GLEs): August PD How do we know if they have learned it? (Assessment): today’s focus What do we do if they don’t understand? (interventions): future What do we do if they know it already? (enrichment): future

Traditional versus PLC lens T: did the students “get it” PLC: did the teacher make good instructional choices T: on to next topic PLC: how do I have to adjust my plan to assure learning for all T: exposure and coverage, teacher puts information out there, students responsible for learning it PLC: focus on mastery, make adjustments and changes on the fly in response to student strengths and weaknesses, teacher responsibility for learning T: cover everything, test everything PLC: power standards & teach key concepts deeply

How do we assess student understanding? Activity: Individually brainstorm a list of all the ways that you check for understanding Compare your list with grade level colleagues

Some common assessment options Selected response items: multiple choice, true-false, matching Constructed response: fill-in word/phrase, short answer, label a diagram, show work, create a visual representation (web, concept map, graph, illustration) Create a product: essay, research paper, log, journal, story, portfolio, exhibit, project, model Performance: oral presentation, lab, enactment, game or competition, debate, recital Process focused: oral questioning, observation/kid-watching, interview, conference, description, think-aloud Sampling: thumbs-up/down, value line, classroom response unit/”clickers” White boards Exit tickets

What are the dominant assessment options/preferences? Which formal and informal assessment options do you use the most to check for student understanding? Create a pie graph of the top five options. How and why do you vary the assessment option that you select?

External versus Internal accountability measures “physical” versus “autopsy” Assessment “of learning” based on established standards versus assessment “for learning” What really counts Proficient, goal, advanced? Assessments to generate grades? Assessment to adjust instruction?

External pros and cons Pro: Provides general information on groups of students Culminating activity—snapshot of learning based on grade level expectations & standards Can lead to broad changes in curriculum content, sequence, and delivery/instruction Clearly summative Con: No further action possible—in the books Minimal impact on current students’ growth Long turn around time

Internal assessment Can be specific to individual students On-going activity—creates a photo album for learning to guide decision making Impacts instructional practice Feedback helps students grow Immediate or short turn around Can be summative or formative

Assessment overload Formative “informative” Benchmark Progress towards a goal Summative Final check of level of understanding

Formative Assessment Process used by teachers to determine how to adjust instruction in response to student needs and by students to adjust learning strategies. Formative assessments are used to inform and adjust instruction and are not used to evaluate student progress for a grade.

Summative assessment Student evaluation tool that is employed mainly to assess cumulative student learning at a particular point in time (e.g. unit test, final, CMT, CAPT)

Benchmark assessment Assessment tool that is used to measure progress towards a goal or current level of student proficiency and mastery of specific content.

Characteristics of formative For learning Diagnostic Ongoing Feedback to student and teacher Changes teaching that follows Results quickly available Non-graded Practice Homework process

Characteristics of summative Of learning Determines if student has met/not met standard Student mastery level Unit test, CMT, CAPT No further action on data produced

Characteristics of benchmarks Could be for or of learning, depending on how data generated is used Measures progress towards a standard Predictive value Might generate feedback Might be diagnostic Might be simply interim evaluation

Which type do we need the most? Formative: data driven decision making, good teaching Benchmark: checking progress and keeping focused Summative: how did we do?

What does the research say? “The Best Value in Formative Assessment,” by Stephen Chappuis and Jan Chappuis, Educational Leadership, December 2007/January “(In)formative Assessments,” by Robert Rothman, Harvard Education Letter, November/December 2006 Vol. 22, #6

Reading protocol What is one sentence, phrase, or idea from the article that resonates with you? Agree? Disagree? Need further clarification

Task definition Team protocol for developing a common assessment Checklist for creating a common assessment Advantages and Disadvantages of various test item choices Team discussion on topic or skill for which an assessment will be created collaboratively Work on creating assessment (if time also a scoring rubric)

We have a common assessment—now what? Field test assessment Collaboratively score Discuss if assessment needs “tweaks” Compile data Analyze data Apply protocol: what implications does data generated have for instruction?