Based on the work of Assessment FOR Learning by Rick Stiggins October 29, 2007 ASSESSMENT “OF” AND “FOR”: DOES IT REALLY MAKE A DIFFERNCE?

Today’s Agenda 8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.  Welcome  Presentation by Dr. Rick Stiggins  Assess Why? Presentation and Activities  Assess What? Presentation 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.  LUNCH!!!!!!

Today’s Agenda Continued… 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.  Assess What? Activity  Review and Wrap-Up Activity

5 KEYS of Quality Classroom Assessment  Key 1: Clear Purpose Why assess? What’s the purpose? Who will use the results?  Key 2: Clear Targets Assess what? What are the learning targets? Are they clear? Are they good?

5 Keys of Quality Classroom Assessment  Key 3: Good Design Assess how? What method? Sampled how? Avoid bias – how?  Key 4: Sound Communication Communication how? How do we manage information How do we report?

5 Keys of Quality Classroom Assessment  Key 5: Student involvement Students are users and can participate in the assessment process. Students are actively involved in every part of the teaching, learning, and assessment process.

A Closer Look at Keys 1 & 2  Key 1: Why Assess?/Clear Purpose Assessment OF Learning: How much have students learned as of a particular point in time? Assessment FOR Learning How can we use assessment to help students learn more?

A Balanced Assessment System  Assessment OF Summative Norm referenced/ standardized/ often teacher made A snapshot in time Essential Question: What have students already learned?  Assessment FOR Formative Teacher-made A moving picture Essential Question: How can we help students learn more?

Assessment Purpose  OF Learning Certify competence and/or sort students Punishments or rewards Administer, score, report Study, try, avoid failure  FOR Learning Inform students, teachers, and parents about how to improve Believe in success Transform, inform, build, and adjust Set goals, use results to improve

Activity: Emily’s Story To begin our examination of student involved classroom assessment, we present a description of a student’s assessment experience. Directions: 1. Watch the skit “Emily’s Story” 2. Read Emily’s two writing samples 3. Watch the video “Interview with Emily” 4. Answer the following questions:

Emily Story Questions 1. What did it take to create Emily? 2. What are the payoffs? 3. Are we willing to invest the time it takes to learn how to create Emily in all our students?

A Closer Look at Keys 1 & 2 Continued...  Key 2: Assess What?/Clear Targets Assess what? What are the learning targets? Are they clear? Are they good?

Student Improvement  To improve, students must: Know what good work looks like Compare their work to the standards Understand how to close the gap between the two. Royce Sadler

Challenges Before instruction and assessments can be developed, all educators need a clear understanding of what the standards look like in student work, and what measurable learning targets are required for students to achieve mastery.

Research Connection When students are involved in the assessment process, they are required to think about their own learning, articulate what they understand and what they still need to learn – and achievement improves (Black and William, 1998; Sternburg, 1996; Young, 2000)

Standards and Targets In order to fully utilize the standards educators must be able to answer the following questions:  What does the standard look like in student work?  What are the imbedded learning targets?  How are standards and targets understood by teachers and shared with students?  Are the targets found in our maps?

What Are The Learning Targets? A learning target is any achievement expectation we have for students on the path toward mastery of a standard. It clearly states what we want the students to learn and should be understood by teachers and students. Learning targets should be formatively assessed to monitor progress toward a standard.

Six Steps To Developing Learning Targets  Step 1 in Unpacking Standards: Student-Friendly Language As a team, identify the verb(s) in the standard. (Tip: Use a highlighter and find similar verbs – are they really the same?)

Common Verbs in Standards DescribeExplainIdentify IllustrateTraceCompare ContrastPredictApply SortJustifyAnalyze EvaluateDiscussDefine ListDifferentiateDistinguish DefendConcludeCategorize

Six Steps To Developing Learning Targets Continued…  Step 2 Use a dictionary or thesaurus as a starting point, first define the verbs for educators. Remember to ask yourselves “What does this look like in student work?” (Tip: Try “fist to five” in order to keep the pace and the peace.)

Verb to be defined DefinitionStudent- Friendly Language PredictTo make a statement that something will happen in the future.

Six Steps To Developing Learning Targets Continued…  Step 3 Define the verb for students by rewriting it in student-friendly language. (Tip: Try to define verbs in the same way within a grade level and content area to limit confusion on behalf of both the teacher and the student.)

Six Steps To Developing Learning Targets Continued…  Step 4: Rewrite the standards as an “I can…” (or I am learning to …”) statement. Be sure it is in terms that students will understand. (Tip: Post the “I can” statements around the classroom as reminders for focused lessons and student goal setting.)

Verb to be Defined DefinitionStudent- Friendly Language PredictTo make a statement that something will happen in the future. I can predict from information in the text. This means that I can use information I read to make a statement about what will happen in the future

Six Steps To Developing Learning Targets Continued…  Step 5: Duplicate this process for content and skills in the standard. Define both the content and skills for teachers first and then, when needed, rewrite the definition in student-friendly specifics.

Term(s) to be Defined/Clarified Definition/ Clarification Student-Friendly Specifics Scientific Investigations The use of the scientific method A process used to prove or disprove an educated guess.

Six Steps To Developing Learning Targets Continued…  Step 6: Share the unpacked version with grade level and/or content area colleagues and refine as needed. Share the unpacked refined version with grade span colleagues and then have it reviewed as part of the K-12 alignment process.

Unpacking Considerations As your school or department begins the unpacking process, you may want to consider the following: Grade level consensus K-12 Alignment Curricular Impact Resource Allocations Assessment Implications

The Final Word Protocol Activity You read an article called “Formative Assessment: What Do Teachers Need to Know and Do”. In your group of three, designate a timekeeper/facilitator for each of the three rounds. Round 1: 1. One person begins by explaining the significance of a selected quote from the reading. (3 minutes) 2. The other two members of the group then comment on the quote selected by the first person. (3 minutes) 3. The person who started then has the FINAL WORD about that quote. (1 minute) Round 2: Continue as above, with the next person explaining the significance of the next quote selected. Round 3: Continue as above, with the last person explaining the significance of the next quote selected.

Wrap-Up Discussion On a piece of chart paper, answer the following question: How does our work today support each of the four elements of formative assessment identified in the article? 1. Identifying the gap 2. Feedback 3. Student involvement 4. Learning progressions

Looking Ahead: A five year plan  Year 1 – Unpack Standards and Create Learning Targets  Year 2 – Collect and Examine Student Work  Year 3 – Create Common Assessments  Year 4 – Use and Evaluate Common Assessments  Year 5 – Review Curriculum

Next time: Key 3: Good Assessment Design