4-Day Agenda and Expectations Day 2 Building Formative Assessments linked to deconstructed content and skills Building Formative Assessments linked to deconstructed content and skills Possible formats for FA – parallel tasks, performance assessments, labs, clickers, ticket out the door, etc. Possible formats for FA – parallel tasks, performance assessments, labs, clickers, ticket out the door, etc. Create one and implement before our next meeting…bring back student results Create one and implement before our next meeting…bring back student results

CSS K-4 SCIENCE Common Formative Assessments for Science Monica Burgio Daigler, Erie 1 BOCES

Overview of CFAs Read handout from Larry Ainsworth, the CFA guru Tossed Terms Discuss

Summative -- Assessment OF Learning Summative assessment for unit, quarter, semester, grade level, or course of study Provides “status report” on degree of student proficiency or mastery relative to targeted standard(s) Stephanie L. Bravmann, Assessment’s “Fab Four.”Education Week, March 17, 2004, p. 56

Summative -- Assessment OF Learning Answers question: “Have students achieved the goals defined by a given standard or group of standards?” Helps teachers judge effectiveness of their teaching practices Intended to support the assignment of grades

Formative -- Assessment FOR Learning Formative: given before and during the teaching process Diagnostic: intended to be used as a guide to improve teaching and learning Answers key questions: Do students possess critical pre-requisite skills and knowledge? Do students already know some of the material that is to be taught?

Formative -- Assessment FOR Learning Provides teachers with information they need to create appropriate work for groups of learners or individual students Not typically used to assign grades

“Tasting the Soup”

Step by Step…. How to create a quality CFA… How to create a quality CFA…

Steps to Creating a CFA Identify power standards from longitudinal data Determine topics to address with CFA Deconstruct test items to determine skills and big ideas Write essential questions matched to skills and big ideas Design CFA Secured Vocabulary

General Item Writing Tips… Quality items should Quality items should –Reflect higher order thinking skills (HOTS) –Students should not be able to answer by recall, the should have to apply their knowledge –Be brief and clear—goal is to “test mastery of material, not students’ ability to figure out what you’re asking.” –Richard Stiggins

Things to Consider… Design fair and bias free items (no bias toward gender, ethnicity, or language) Design fair and bias free items (no bias toward gender, ethnicity, or language) Format items to match district benchmark assessments, final exams, and state tests Format items to match district benchmark assessments, final exams, and state tests

Top 5 Roadblocks to Effective Item Writing 1. Unclear Directions or Ambiguous Statements 2. Unintentional Clues 3. Complex Phrasing 4. Difficult Vocabulary W. James Popham, Test Better, Teach Better, 2003, p. 64

Two Major Types of Assessment Items Selected Response Constructed Response

Criteria for Writing Selected Response Items 1. Write clearly in a focused manner 2. Ask a question with only one best answer 3. Write items consistent with grade level reading expectation 4. Eliminate clues leading to correct answer 5. Make response options brief Adapted from Richard J. Stiggins, Student-Centered Assessment, 2001.

Resources for Common Formative Assessment Items Textbook Questions (that meet criteria for well-written items) Textbook Questions (that meet criteria for well-written items) Assessment or evaluation components of text series Assessment or evaluation components of text series State Exams State Exams Check for permission to duplicate copyrighted material! Check for permission to duplicate copyrighted material!

Creating a Scoring Guide Scoring Guide (Rubric) Scoring Guide (Rubric) –A set of general and/or specific criteria used to evaluate student performance on a given task –Descriptions of competence or proficiency –Identifies degree of proficiency student has reached in relation to particular standard/content area Proficient Proficient –The level of performance students must meet to demonstrate attainment of particular standards

Avoid Subjective Language Such as… Such as… –Complete –Partial –Adequate –General –Successful –Good –Nice –Some –Few –Many –Most –Little –Creative

Strive for Objective Language Language that is Language that is –Specific –Measurable –Observable –Understandable –Matched to task directions