Leadership Skills Needed for Creating Assessment Learning Communities Delwyn L. Harnisch University of Nebraska, Lincoln

Keys for staff development Provide time for collaboration Identify critical questions to guide work of collaborative teams Teams create projects based on collaboration Teams identify and pursue specific student achievement goals Provide teams with relevant data

Background Assessment motivated by public accountability Standardized tests alone will not help schools to become more effective (Stiggins 2001) Standardized tests of learning to not meet weekly information needs Daily classroom assessment for learning are needed to meet information needs

District leadership assessment responsibilities Vision for excellence Understanding the conditions Understanding research on classroom assessment Secure and allocate resources

Doors to Perfect Assessment System Clearly articulated and appropriate set of standards Accurate, understandable, and usable information Assessment-literate school culture Collect, store, manage, and communicate assessment information Assessment practice supporting quality practice

Door 1: Achievement Expectations Teachers and administrators must know and understand achievement expectations Curriculum directors and faculty must have a general vision of how success is realized in local curriculum Teachers must be prepared to succeed

Door 2: Serve all assessment users Focus assessment individual students rather than large numbers of students Use multiple assessments to meet needs Plan carefully for assessment use Understand what information is needed

Door 3: Develop assessment literacy Key Attributes (Stiggins 2001)  Know what to assess  Know why you are assessing’  Know how you are assessing  Know what assessment evidence you need  Know how to assess accurately

Door 3: Develop assessment literacy Quality Standards  Clearly specified and appropriate targets  Assessments designed for specific purposes  Assessment methods reflect intended targets  Provide representative sample that permits confident conclusions  Develop assessments that eliminate bias and distortion

Door 3: Develop assessment literacy Barriers to Accurate Assessment  Personal barrier: emotions  Institutional barrier: Lack of time  Community barrier: community beliefs  Ultimate barrier: lack of assessment literacy

Door 3: Develop assessment literacy Removing Barriers  Understand differences between sound and unsound practices  Commit to meeting quality standards  Apply principles of assessment for learning

Door 4: Communicating Effectively Sender and receiver must understand achievement expectations Assessment information must be accurate Receivers must be open to hearing and understanding assessment information Schools sh0ould take advantage of information management systems

Door 5: A Creating Supportive Policy Prepare School Boards and Communities for Sound Assessment Develop and assessment-literate school staff Rethink school policies Curriculum Grading Homework Graduation requirements Communicating assessment information

Developing Vision: Questions to ask Are achievement targets clear? Are roadmaps to success in place? Have teachers mastered achievement targets?

Quality Assessment Information Questions to ask What is the information plan for meeting the needs of students, teachers and parents? What is the information plan for meeting the needs of building and district administrators?

Assessment Literate Culture: Questions to ask What is the plan for evaluating and building assessment literacy of district faculty and staff? What is the plan for evaluating and building assessment literacy within the community?

Communicating Effectively Questions to ask Has the district committed to communicating effectively about student achievement? What technology is needed to communicate assessment information effectively?

Assessment Policy Environment: Questions to ask How will we carry out review policies and regulation to see if they support the effective use of assessment What is the plan for evaluating existing policies and identifying new policy areas that support and encourage the use of quality assessment?

Leadership Skills Needed for Creating Assessment Learning Communities Delwyn L. Harnisch University of Nebraska, Lincoln