REDEFINING ASSESSMENTS: WHY INCLUDE PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS WITHIN A SYSTEM OF ASSESSMENTS?

A working definition of Performance Based Assessments Performance-based learning and assessment -  represent a set of strategies for the acquisition and application of knowledge, skills, and work habits through the performance of tasks that are meaningful and engaging to students.  help answer the question, “How well can students use what they know?”

I Choose “C”

4 The Changing Demand for Job Skills “Deeper learning”

Teamwork Problem Solving Interpersonal Skills Computational Skills Reading Skills Organizational Effectiveness Goal Setting/Motivation Listening Skills Personal Career Development Creative Thinking Leadership Oral Communications Writing Teamwork Problem Solving Interpersonal Skills Computational Skills Reading Skills Organizational Effectiveness Goal Setting/Motivation Listening Skills Personal Career Development Creative Thinking Leadership Oral Communications FORTUNE 500 MOST VALUED SKILLS

Current Tests Focus on Lower-level Skills After NCLB, most states phased out performance assessments. RAND study of 17 states’ tests: Only 2% of math items and 21% of ELA items assess higher-order skills. 6

Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions for Postsecondary Success 7 College & career readiness competencies K Prep, EOC, traditional assessments Research Experimentation Communication Collaboration Use of technology, etc.

Student demonstration TABLE TALK With your table partners – Generate a list of the knowledge skills dispositions demonstrated by the students in the video.

Understanding a System of Assessment Activity Brainstorm knowledge, skills and dispositions students need to be college and career ready List, group or label them Chart on poster for sharing

How do you assess each group? Discuss with table group (Consider assessments you currently use) Record assessment method with Post-It note Sort your assessments on Assessment Continuum

Think-Pair-Share Where are the gaps? What do the gaps tell us about the needs? How can performance based assessments bridge those gaps?

ASSESSMENT CONTINUUM C-PAS College Ready Assess- ments Narrow Assessment Assessments of Deeper Learning CCSS Assessments (K Prep) Common Performance Tasks (Ohio, New York) Student- Designed Projects (Envision, NY Performance Standards Consortium, Singapore, IB) Traditional Tests Descriptions Standardized, multiple- choice tests of routine skills Standardized performance tasks (1-2 weeks) that include structured inquiry and demand more integrated skills, including collaboration Examples Standardized tests with m-c & open-ended items + short (1-2 day) performance tasks of some applied skills Performance tasks that require students to formulate and carry out their own inquiries, analyze & present findings, and (sometimes) revise in response to feedback Longer, deeper investigations,(2 -3 months) & exhibitions, including graduation portfolios, requiring students to initiate, design, conduct, analyze, revise, and present their work in multiple modalities

Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions for Postsecondary Success 13 College & career readiness competencies K Prep, EOC, traditional assessments Research Experimentation Communication Collaboration Use of technology, etc.

College and Career Readiness Is Complex and Multidimensional 14

Making the Case for Performance Assessments

Problem Solving: Transfer of Learning

Local Systems of Assessment How do we address  Higher order cognitive skills?  Critical abilities/dispositions?  Problem solving?  Feedback on all of the above by providing opportunities for teachers to examine student work and adjust instruction?

Let’s examine the skills in the standards  Read the strand assigned to your group from the handout.  Decide on a heading.  Summarize the main idea in 5-10 words.  Create a pictorial representation.  Post your work for a gallery walk.  Use Post-it Notes for questions/comments.

Using the Critical Abilities sheet -  Choose one strand and write a multiple choice or an open-response question that addresses the skill in that strand. ( 5 minutes )  Be prepared to share.

What are our next steps?

Put the individual student in the center and consider: What are the knowledge, skills, and dispositions critical to completion of K-12 education and postsecondary success? How might students, teachers, and policymakers keep track of different kinds of learning? What student measures do we already collect or plan to collect? How could we develop a profile of student success? How Is a “System of Assessment” Built?

Writing/Communications & Critical Competencies Aligned to Standards Example Grade 12 ELA Sample Student Outcome: Demonstrate ability to work effectively with diverse teams. Students collaborate with senior citizens in a digital storytelling workshop. The teams bring to life a story from a senior’s history as they collaborate on writing and creating the video. Students will conduct interviews, perform research using nonfiction texts, write and record the script, and select images and music. The finished videos are presented in a school film festival. Each team designs criteria for evaluating their video in advance, and grades their work accordingly. Students demonstrate the ability to work effectively with diverse teams. Source: 21st Century Skills Map – English (

Writing/Communications & Critical Competencies Aligned to Standards CCSS Critical Competencies COMMON CORE STANDARDS  RH Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.  W Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation.  SL Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest. Collaboration Critical Thinking Communication Media Literacy Self-Direction Creativity Source: 21st Century Skills Map – English (

Critical Abilities from KCAS

 Research  Analysis of Information  Experimentation and Evaluation  Communication in Many Forms  Use of Technology  Interpersonal Interaction and Collaboration  Modeling, Design, and Problem Solving Critical Abilities Science KCAS

Criteria for High-Quality Systems of Assessment That Incorporate Performance-based Assessments

Assess Higher Order Skills

Assess Critical Abilities Research and analysis Experimentation and evaluation Written communication (reading, writing) Oral communication (speaking, listening) Use of technology Collaboration, Modeling, design, and problem solving 28

To Accomplish This, New Systems of Assessment Should:  Include locally implemented performance tasks as well as tests or tasks that are more sophisticated  Involve teachers in design, review, and scoring of both kinds of assessments  Provide information useful for developing curriculum and teaching  Keep track of learning in many ways that support student engagement and reflection 29

Creating a System of Assessments  Consider a continuum of assessments that address different purposes  Develop assessments that can provide a profile of student abilities and accomplishments  Connect these assessments to curriculum, instruction, and professional learning in a productive teaching and learning system  Create an accountability system that encourages the kinds of learning and practice that are needed to reach the goals of college and career readiness and productive citizenship. 30

Creating Genuine Accountability An accountability system is a set of policies and practices that are designed to: 1. increase the probability that schools will use good practices on behalf of students; 2. reduce the likelihood that schools will engage in test- prep practices; and 3. assure that schools and educators identify and diagnose problems, and improve practices 31 Accountability = Testing

Where do performance based assessments fit in Kentucky’s system? In the Professional Growth and Effectiveness System:  Performance assessments provide evidence of teacher effectiveness in Domain 1 and Domain 3 of the Framework for Teaching.  Performance assessments can be used as a source of evidence for student growth goals.