21 st Century Assessment Examples of Practice Clinic Session 9:45 – 11:15

Dylan Wiliam on Assessment for Learning Deputy Director, Institute of Education, University of London

Formative/Classroom Assessment for Learning Defined A process used by teachers and students during instruction that provides feedback to adjust ongoing teaching and learning to improve students’ achievement of intended instructional outcomes. CCSSO Definition of Formative/Classroom Assessment for Learning

Needed Improvements to Realize Gains Increased commitment to high-quality classroom assessments Increased descriptive feedback; reduced evaluative feedback Increased student involvement in the assessment process Black and Wiliam, 1989

What is the Student Involvement Component?  Classroom Assessment For Learning acknowledges the critical importance of the instructional decisions made by students and their teachers working as a team.  Continuous descriptive (rather than evaluative) feedback is provided  Assessment becomes part of the learning process by keeping students posted on their progress and confident enough to continue to strive.  Students use evidence of their own progress to understand what comes next for them and to set goals.

What is the Student Involvement Component? Students collaborate with teachers in creating and using assessments like those they will be held accountable for later. Students become partners in the accumulation of growth portfolios that reveal the changes in their own achievement as it is happening. Students become partners in communicating about their own learning success as they rely on concrete evidence from their portfolios presented in student-led conferences.

Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning Provide a Clear and Understandable Vision of the Learning Target Provide a Clear and Understandable Vision of the Learning Target Use Examples and Models of Strong and Weak Work Offer Regular Descriptive Feedback Teach Students to Self-Assess and Set Goals Design Lessons to Focus on One Aspect of Quality at a Time Teach Students Focused Revision Engage Students in Self-Reflection and Let Them Keep Track of and Share Their Learning

The Effects of Self-Assessment and Student Learning A key premise is that for students to be able to improve, they must have the capacity to monitor the quality of their own work during actual production. This in turn requires that students: Know what high quality work looks like Be able to objectively compare their work to the standard Have a store of tactics to make work better based on their observations (Sadler, 1989)

SELF Student SELF-assessment is crucial for feedback to be used effectively. Students are the ones who must ultimately take action to bridge the gap between where they are and where they are heading. The transition from feedback to self-monitoring can occur only when the student comes to know what constitutes quality. --Sadler, 1989

COMMITMENT The process of engaging in self- assessment increases students’ COMMITMENT to achieving important educational goals. --Covington, 1992

A Process in Support of Learning Support Verify Learning “Teachers involve their students in classroom assessment, record-keeping, and communication during learning. But, when it’s time for students to be accountable for what they have learned, the teacher takes the lead in conducting assessments OF learning.” -Richard J. Stiggins

Examples of Practice Is It or Isn’t It Formative Classroom Assessment? 5 vignettes – Read one at a time (outloud) – Decide whether each represents formative classroom assessment or not – If yes, what are the attributes that make it so? – If not, why not?

Examples of Practice Is It or Isn’t It Formative Classroom Assessment? Record your group’s responses on the charts Report out Check responses against those in handout

Examples of Practice Align Assess Achieve Westerville City Schools

Table Reflections Big Ideas Ideas which speak to you personally Questions still unanswered/random thoughts

The Big Ideas

Validate My Thoughts

Questions I Still Have?

Lisa Youell Superintendent’s Center for 21 st Century Schools