1. K-3 Formative Assessment: Assessment for Learning and Development
Supporting the Success of our Youngest Students
K-3 Formative Assessment: Assessment for Learning and Development
Karen
Wake County Schools Principals
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Office of Early Learning
March 2014

2. Today’s Goals & Agenda Why K-3 Formative Assessment?
How is it being developed?
Connections: KIA/KEA
What can we do now to build readiness?
Your input.
Catherine

3. NC Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge Grant
NC Excellent Public Schools Act
Catherine
The K-3 Formative Assessment is a required part of the NC Excellent Public Schools ACT and funded and guided by the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge Grant.
Previously, this requirement was met with the K-2 Literacy and Math Assessments.
115C-83.1E. Developmental screening and kindergarten entry assessment.
Shall address the five domains of readiness
Administered at the classroom level
Aligned to ELDS and NCSCOS
Reliable, valid and appropriate
Shall be used to inform entry status, instruction, reduction in achievement gap, and the early childhood system
Completed within 60 days of enrollment
115C Components of the testing program.
Assessment Instruments for K-3
The State Board of Education shall develop, adopt, and provide developmentally appropriate individualized assessment instruments for Kindergarten through Third Grade.
LEAs shall use these assessment instruments… to assess progress, diagnose difficulties, & inform instruction and remediation needs

5. Alignment and Connections
Catherine
We are working with divisions across DPI and in conjunction with LEAs across the state to provide a cohesive, aligned, connected system of support. Members from various divisions at NCDPI and representatives from LEAs and community and parent groups are serving on the task force and continually reviewing the work.

6. How do we implement for sustainability?
What is working?
What could be?
What is essential?
Catherine
NC’s Task Force is comprised of three components:
Think Tank
Assessment Design Team
Implementation Design Team
Each group is helping NCDPI answer questions critical to the development of the K-3 Assessment.
Think Tank – What is essential for children in K-3rd grade to know and be able to do?
Assessment Design Team – How can we best measure those elements?
Implementation Design Team – How do we implement the K-3 Assessment in a manner that ensures sustainability?
For each of these groups, we rely heavily on the expertise found throughout NC. However, at each level, national expertise will be sought out, either through an external review process, or through more formal relationships with experts with particular expertise (e.g., formative assessment, implementation science).
How do we implement for sustainability?
How do we measure this?

7. Think Tank Report
K-3 is a pivotal period to meet students’ developmental needs and close achievement gaps.
Nancy
The Think Tank was charged with proposing a plan to improve early school learning and instruction through more efficient and effective use of student-centered assessment. This group of teachers, parents, and scholars met over a nine-month period to review scientific findings and best practices --and solicited input from stakeholders across the state. The Executive Summary highlights the research, proposal, recommendations and claims made by the Think Tank.
One of the major– findings of the Think Tank is how very important the early years are in educational development. Achievement gaps that grow during the years prior to kindergarten are either solidified or eliminated during the primary grades of elementary school. Therefore, education policy must increase its emphasis on student learning during this critical period in a way that recognizes each child’s developmental needs.

8. Think Tank Report
Researchers report that using a formative assessment process optimizes student learning.
Nancy
The second scientific finding from the Executive Summary of the Think Tank Report states that to optimize student learning, teachers need to utilize a formative assessment process. A formative assessment process identifies strengths and areas for growth for each student in five domains of learning.
Master teachers have been using a formative assessment process for years because it has been shown to improve learning outcomes.

9. Think Tank Report
NC teachers are willing and able and will need support.
Nancy
The third finding from the Think Tank Report addresses North Carolina teachers.
Input from teachers across the state indicates they are willing and able to implement a formative assessment process, provided they are given resources to strengthen, support, and guide them.
With this information in mind, recommendations from the Think Tank include a thoughtful implementation plan that includes professional development, coaching and support from leadership in addition to providing both human and technical resources as teachers and students collaborate in the formative assessment process.
The Think Tank proposed a formative assessment process that engages teachers and students, intended to be ongoing and an integral part of the instructional and learning process.

10. K-3 Formative Assessment Vision
The purpose is…
to inform teaching and learning and
meet the needs of all children.
Nancy
The North Carolina State Board of Education and Department of Public Instruction has, as one of its priorities, the development of a comprehensive K-3 assessment system that informs instruction and supports students’ academic success.  A comprehensive system includes multiple components… summative, benchmark, and formative.
The K-3 assessment will be one component of a comprehensive assessment system. Its purpose will be to inform teaching and learning. Therefore is will be formative in nature.

11. Formative Assessment
A process used by teachers and students during instruction that provides feedback to adjust ongoing teaching and learning to help students improve their achievement of intended instructional outcomes.
Nancy
And this is the definition that North Carolina has adopted. It was created by the Council of Chief State School Officers. As you can see this definition includes teachers and students and it is used to adjust teaching DURING instruction. There are assessments of learning and assessments for learning. The K-3 Formative assessment is to supports teachers’ instruction and students’ learning. We think it is important for you to understand how this formative assessment process is going to support teaching and learning in your school and system. We want to provide an opportunity for you to align the vision and the work to the evaluation instruments as well other instructional processes and strategies currently place in your district.
NC Department of Public Instruction
CCSSO 2006

12. Questions & Discussions
Formative Assessment
Questions & Discussions
Observations
Embedded Tasks
Nancy
Evidence on student learning can be collected by multiple means: from asking questions and having discussions with students - to making observations while students work- to embedding tasks within a lesson. Formative Assessment is a part of daily instruction.

13. 5 Domains of Learning and Development
Approaches to Learning
Emotional-
Social Development
Cognitive Development
Cindy
K-3 Formative Assessment is a whole child perspective and is aligned with both the ELDS Foundations and the NC SCS (Common Core and NC Essential Standards). This alignment addresses the five domains of learning and development. We need to support and attend to children’s growth and development in all of these areas. How well they perform in one area impacts how well they’ll perform in others, which could, ultimately, affect whether or not they reach their potential and can become lifelong learners.
Health &
Physical Development
Language Development
& Communication

14. Next Step in progress…
Charge from the Think Tank: A Design Team should be established to craft learning progressions, performance descriptors, assessment targets, and assessment means to transform the Think Tank’s claims into an assessment that will be a usable instructional and learning resource.
The ADT’s work is underway to develop learning progressions and performance tasks.
Cindy

15. K-3 Formative Assessment
Third Grade
Second Grade
First Grade
Kindergarten
KEA
Catherine
Our vision of the Kindergarten entry will include a process of gathering information from families, preK teachers, as well as observations, conversations, work samples and tasks facilitated by kindergarten teachers to create a child profile that includes all five domains within the first 60 days of school. It will also include a developmental screening within the first 30 days for reading and mathematics.

16. KEA Pilot Selection Timeline Training
Initial Implementation/Pilot in schools
in 50% of State- Fall 2014
Timeline
Statewide Implementation- Fall 2015
Training
Summer institute
KEA info.

17. From Session Law
115C-83.1E. Developmental screening and kindergarten entry assessment.
Completed within 60 days of enrollment
Developmental Screening of early language, literacy & math within 30 days
Shall address the five domains of readiness
Administered at the classroom level
Aligned to ELDS and NCSCOS
Reliable, valid and appropriate
Shall be used to inform entry status, instruction, reduction in achievement gap, and the early childhood system
Details of KEA

18. KIA/KEA

19. Our Proposed Timeline Task Timeline
K-3 Assessment Design & Development
Spring 2013 – Summer 2014
Initial Implementation
Fall 2014 – Spring 2015
Statewide Implementation
Summer 2015 – ongoing
Catherine

20. What can be done NOW? Formative Assessment 5 Domains of Learning
Show Margaret Heritages book – possible book club reading
Look in packet – article by Margaret

21. NCDPI K-3 Assessment Wiki
Catherine
Our wiki is on wikicentral.
Join our listserve on the wiki front page and click to see the online Think Tank Report. You will also find links to information about the K-3 formative assessment, presentations, resources, FAQ page, and our team contact information on the navigation bar on the left.

22. Future Opportunities Focus Groups Reviewers Surveys
Conference Sessions
Webinars

23. What Questions Do You Have?
Catherine