1. Assessment Task 3: Assessing Learning
Special Education

2. Agenda Overview of Task 3 Task 3 Assessment Tips
Choosing Student Samples
Feedback Tips
Prompt Questions and Rubrics
Summary

3. Task 3 Overview Project Requirements:
Use baseline data, daily assessment reports, and work samples from the learning segment to analyze the focus learner’s progress.
Note:
progress toward learning objectives TIED to learning goal
strengths
continuing needs

4. Task 3 Overview Project Requirements: 2. Submit a copy of:
Baseline data
Completed daily assessment record of the focus learner for ALL lesson objectives

5. Task 3 Overview Project Requirements: 3. Submit a copy of:
One analyzed work sample to support your conclusions (must be individual, not group, work)
If the learning goal is knowledge/skills related to literacy, math, social studies, or science, this should be a test, performance assessment, or assignment from the learning segment.
Attach additional information at the end of the Assessment Commentary – blank assessments, directions/prompts, blank data sheet, transcript of oral directions (no more than 5 additional pages)

6. Task 3 Overview Project Requirements:
4. Submit feedback provided to the learner based on the submitted work sample. (Must be evidence, not a narrative of what was said/written.)
Feedback may be provided as an audio or video clip.
If doing so, a transcript is strongly suggested.

7. Task 3 Overview Project Requirements:
5. Provide evidence of the focus learner’s use of the expressive/receptive communication skill identified in Planning Task 1 for participating in learning tasks and/or demonstrating learning.
Expressive: speaking, writing, demonstrating
Representational: using symbols, notation
Receptive: listening, reading text, pictures, signs

8. Task 3 Overview Project Requirements:
6. Respond to commentary prompts after analyzing the focus learner's progress toward the learning goal.

9. How to Choose Your Assessment
Start with the communication skill—what action verb is driving your learning segment/project? Whatever function you chose, it NEEDS to be assessed along with the content paradigm.
Now try and follow these criteria:
Formal—you ARE grading this.
Formative—it is building skill/content not the end product (summative is harder for feedback).
NOT standardized.
Feedback Friendly—work is shown by students to allow candidate to give feedback.
Individualized—cooperative group work is engaging but it does not allow for the best evaluation of individual student understanding.
Rubrics Help—using a rubric helps provide clear grade criteria, expectations, and even feedback.
Let’s take a look at a few examples from former and successful SPED
Candidates!

10. What kind of data should I analyze?
Successful candidates report more than progress on learning goals.
Uncover patterns of performance,
Identify strengths
Identify needs
Evaluate how your instruction facilitated learning
Provide concrete evidence from student performance to support claims

11. Assessments

13. Feedback Tips
Required—you MUST give some sort of written feedback to the students on the target assessment for Task 3.
Feedback needs to be written on work sample and focused on content and function understanding first and foremost.
Rubrics are great for this because they allow you to pinpoint needs and easily identify strengths.
IF your assessment involves the creation of some product please do not assign too high a % to neatness and visual aesthetics, keep focus on content/function readiness.
Be sure Feedback is positive and suggests NEXT STEPS whether it be remediation or enrichment.
Tie feedback to student strengths and continuing needs.
Explain HOW you facilitated the student RECEIVING and APPLYING the feedback.
I will have more Feedback specifics as we delve into the Task 3 Commentary Prompts and I show you which rubrics address which questions…..

14. Feedback Must be the actual feedback provided to the learner.
Provide clear, specific information about performance
Align with analysis of learning for the learning goal.
Address patterns in performance
Attend to unique student work
Make learner aware of strengths and errors.

15. Feedback
Examples: “Great job recognizing what ‘who” questions refer to people [academic goal]” or “You are doing better waiting for Mr. Fisher to finish before you start speaking [communication goal].”
Non-examples: “Good job” or “X.”

16. Provide Evidence of Expressive/Receptive Communication Skill
You may use time-stamped video references from Instruction Task 2.
An additional video file named “Communication Use” (<5 minutes w/time-stamped references).
Work sample (clearly label as evidence of communication skill).

17. Rubric 11 Summary
Rubric 11 is directly scored via Assessment Commentary Prompt 1—Analyzing the Focus Learner’s Performance
Do:
Identify strengths and errors
Describe types of planned supports (incl. error prevention)
Table/Diagram of performance on the assessment
Make CLEAR, PLAUSIBLE connections between performance and specific elements of instruction
Describe Patterns in the Learning based on performance on individual parts of the assessment.
Pinpoint Strengths/Weaknesses and theorize on variables causing this to happen.
Have actual evidence to refer to, like actual question responses from focus learner that support your statements.

22. Example Narrative Analysis

23. Rubric 11 Summary
Do NOT:
Use Deficit Language to describe the focus learner’s performance on assessment.
Make excuses.
Refer only to right and wrong answers.
Offer an analysis you can’t support with evidence from student performance.
Submit an assessment not aligned with the learning goal, lesson objectives, daily assessment record, work samples.
Submit objectives that do not contain explicit, operationally defined criteria for mastery.

24. Rubric 12 Summary
Rubric 12 is directly scored via Assessment Commentary Prompt 2: Feedback to Guide Further Learning
Do:
Show Clear and Direct Feedback
Focus on Content AND Function
Focus on needs and reinforcing strengths.
Relate to learning goal.
Include a strategy to address learning needs and connections to prior learning/experiences.
Don’t:
Just refer to right or wrong answers
Ever use Deficit Language to address students
Limit their Opportunities to improve
Provide inaccurate feedback or feedback unrelated/severely mismatched with learning goal

25. Rubric 13 Summary
Rubric 13 is directly scored via Assessment Commentary Prompt 2: Learner Understanding and Use of Feedback
Do:
Provide explicit Remediation Options (or Enrichment)
Describe how the candidate will help the learner use the feedback
Relate feedback to strengths
Relate feedback to focus learner needs
Relate feedback to the learning goal
Don’t:
Fail to describe how the student can use the feedback.
Fail to provide explicit feedback related to the learning goal.
Ask for JUST Test Corrections
JUST offer tutoring options without a deliverable of some sort

26. Rubric 14 Summary
Rubric 14 is directly scored via Assessment Commentary Prompt 3—Explaining the Focus Learner’s Use of Communication
Do:
Describe how the focus learner can be supported to move toward maintained use of the communication skill
Provide evidence of how supports helped the focus learner use communication skill
Explain/provide evidence of use of skill to participate
Don’t:
Misalign communication skill and learning goal
Provide explanation inconsistent with evidence submitted

27. Rubric 15 Summary
Rubric 15 is directly scored via Assessment Commentary Prompt 4—Using Assessment to Inform Instruction
Do:
Point out YOUR Strengths and Areas of Need in instruction and assessment
Talk about Next Time you teach that content AND what you will do immediately to prepare for next unit/objective
Use the analysis to describe implications for the focus learner’s IEP goals and/or curriculum
Provide logical, sequenced instructional strategies related to specific needs of the focus learner
Connect suggested strategies with current instruction
Don’t:
Suggest unachievable next steps
Suggest implications not relevant to the lesson objectives or assessments
Fail to describe next steps.
Focus on ONLY process changes or adjustments like “time on task” or “collaboration” be more subject specific.
Use Research arbitrarily, if you use it make sure it CONNECTS directly to your strengths and/or needs.