Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 MODULE 3: ASSESSMENT Adolescent Literacy – Professional Development Unit 1, Session 3

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 Session 3 Questions & Objectives  Session 3 Key Questions  Assessment stakeholders: Who needs what data?  What are the critical foundations of useful assessment?  What are the roles and responsibilities related to implementing an assessment system?  Session 3 Objectives  Participants will understand that different types of assessment activities provide data for different purposes and different audiences.  Participants will practice articulating a goal and breaking it down into learning targets.  Participants will become aware of who is responsible for what assessment activities in their school or district. 2

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 Opening Activity Think Since last session, how have you worked at including students in the assessment process? Talk Collect into groups of four, and share with each other what the activity was, what went well, and how you might revise it in the future. Write Take five minutes to write your ideas about the next steps you would like to take to include your students in the assessment process. 3

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 The Literacy Goals There are three overarching goals: 1.Increase overall language proficiency to prepare students for the high-level literacy skills expected in college and the workplace. 2.Challenge students who are already language-proficient to meet increasingly difficult standards. 3.Assist students who are not language- proficient to acquire necessary skills and knowledge. 4

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 And A Fourth Goal to Keep in Mind 4.An emphasis on what students can do with skills and knowledge is an essential part of teaching and assessing in the 21 st century. 5

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 Purposes of Assessment Inform instructional decisions at each level Institutional Program Classroom Encourage students to learn Ownership of learning Specific feedback Progress builds confidence 6

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 Shared Goals/Different Data Needs StakeholderQuestions/Decisions StudentsHow am I doing? What should I do next? TeachersHave my students met my goals? How can I help those who didn’t? ParentsHow is my child doing? How does his/her work compare to average? Administrators at the school, district, and state levels? How effective is the program in helping all students meet proficiency? How are our teachers doing? 7

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 Data Needs: Institutional Decisions Are enough students meeting required standards? Responsibility Superintendents and district leadership, school boards, ESE, legislators Data Needed Annual summaries of standards proficiency on accountability tests such as MCAS (aggregate). 8

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 Data Needs: Program Level D ecisions On which standards are our students proficient or not proficient? Responsibility Teacher teams, teacher leaders, principals, and curriculum leaders Data Needed Periodic, but frequent, evidence aggregated across classrooms revealing standards not mastered (interim, benchmark, short-cycle, common assessments) 9

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 Data Needs: Classroom Level Decisions What comes next in learning and teaching? Responsibility Teachers, students, sometimes parents Data Needed Continuous evidence of each student’s current location on the scaffolding leading to each standard (questioning strategies, non- evaluative descriptive feedback to individual students, peer assessment, whiteboards, quizzes, exit questions). Individual, not aggregate. 10

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 Activity  Look at the Goal boxes on the chart from the DESE, “Massachusetts Secondary Literacy Framework.” In small groups, discuss:  How are the learning targets for each goal articulated to students and teachers?  How is progress toward achievement of each goal measured (e.g., what type of assessment is used?)  In what ways does each assessment answer (or not answer) stakeholder questions? 11

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 Assessment: Critical Foundation #1  Clearly Articulated Expectations  There must be a framework of achievement expectations to be reflected in component assessments.  Whether framed as state standards, local standards, or a teacher’s classroom standards, certain criteria must be satisfied. 12

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 Assessment: Critical Foundation #2  Standards-Based Schools  Standards-based instruction  Mission of maximizing success of each student 13

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 Assessment: Critical Foundation #3  Quality assessment must:  Be designed to serve a specific predetermined purpose  Arise from a specific predetermined definition of achievement success  Be designed specifically to fit purpose and context, and to communicate results to each stakeholder in a manner that makes the information useful for decision making 14

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 A Comprehensive Assessment Program  In the end, all assessment data—whether from formative or summative assessment—is intended to measure how effectively instruction is closing the gap between what students know now, and what students need to know. 15

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 Activity  In order to measure progress and achievement, we must articulate what counts as proficiency, and what are the learning targets along the way  Using the handouts provided, work in small groups to break overarching goals into learning targets that are articulated in measureable terms 16

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 Easier Said Than Done  Creating a coherent system of assessment requires that educators at various levels (including district curriculum leaders, school literacy coaches, and classroom teachers) work together to ensure that they:  have assessments to meet each of their specific purposes  can interpret the results of these assessments in systematic ways that can inform instructional decisions 17

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 State Role in Assessment  Institutional level  Develop and administer MCAS  Use results as part of accountability determinations  Program level  Programmatic support (e.g., Reading First)  Infrastructure and analysis tools (e.g., statewide data warehouse, growth model)  Initiatives (e.g., Galileo Pilot Project – see evaluation at  Guidance documents (e.g., RtI/Tiered instructional systems)  Classroom level  Professional development 18

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 District Role in Assessment  Institutional level  Respond to accountability findings  Programmatic level  Create a balanced system that serves all levels of decision making  Classroom level  Ensure that assessments are used to support effective instruction to meet the learning needs of all students 19

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 Educators Working Together (1) 1. Data Collection  Who will administer basic literacy assessments?  Who will administer disciplinary literacy assessments?  Who will collect, tabulate, and enter data into a system so that the data may be interpreted and used? 20

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 2. Data Interpretation and Recommendations  Who will interpret data and make recommendations?  Screening  Progress Monitoring  Achievement  Diagnostic Educators Working Together (2) 21

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 3. Data Use  Who will make decisions about changes in instruction?  Who will make decisions about how data are used?  Communication to students, parents, and teachers  Curricular and instructional changes Educators Working Together (3) 22

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 Activity  “Putting Assessment in the Driver’s Seat”  Break into two groups.  Group 1 should underline/note the places that require school policy related to assessment.  Group 2 should underline/note the places that assume that personnel have the appropriate background/training to fulfill their responsibilities.  Discuss what is needed in terms of policy and professional development in your school/district. 23

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 Activity  Use the sheets provided to identify some of the strengths and needs in the assessment system at your school/in your district  Educators working together  Assessments that provide needed data  Systematic interpretation that informs instruction  Communication of goals and progress 24