1. Copyright © 2002 The George Lucas Educational Foundation
Assessment
What have we learned?
Assessment is an integral part of instruction determining whether or not the goals of education are being met. It is used to get a greater understanding of the current knowledge that a student has.
Copyright © 2002 The George Lucas Educational Foundation

2. Technology & Assessment
“Putting the power of technology to work for all students requires a broadly conceived approach to educational change that integrates new technologies and curricula with new ideas about learning, teaching, and assessment.”
Assessment meets many needs for many individuals. It continually asks the questions: "Are we teaching what we think we are teaching?" "Are students learning what they are supposed to be learning?" "Is there a way to teach the subject better, therefore promoting better learning?"
With project-based learning and the integration of technology, assessment needs to reflect the learning process as well as what is being learned.
-- Danielle Bolduc
Technology Integration Facilitator (2000)‏

3. Assessment
At the completion of a lesson, assessment of students is usually done in the form of a written test.
This test is either created by the teacher or came with the textbook and are usually true/false, multiple choice, or fill-in-the-blanks. They are supposed to indicate whether or not the student has learned the material or skill being taught.
But do these tests truly demonstrate the acquisition of knowledge or new skills by the students? Are they testing for short term memory skills or for life-long learning?

4. Teaching to the Test “Superficial forms of assessment tend to lead to
teaching and learning.”
Today's students need to know not only the basic reading and arithmetic skills, but also skills that will allow them to face a world that is continually changing. They must be able to think critically, to analyze, and to make inferences.
Changes in the skills base and knowledge our students need require new learning goals. These new learning goals change the relationship between assessment and instruction.
Teachers need to take an active role in making decisions about the purpose of assessment and the content that is being assessed.
-- Edutopia: Success Stories for Learning in the Digital Age

5. Why Assess? Provide diagnosis Set standards Evaluate progress
Communicate results
Motivate performance
Assessment meets many needs. It provides diagnostic feedback. It helps educators set standards. It allows one to evaluate progress and to relate that progress to others.
The primary goal of assessment is to foster learning of academic content that will be worthwhile for all students. Assessments give students feedback on how well they understand the information and on what they need to improve. They help teachers better design instruction to teach more effectively.
Assessment becomes even more relevant when students become involved in the development of the assessment to be used. Students eagerly take an active role in developing the scoring criteria, self- evaluation, and goal setting. They accept that the assessment is adequately measuring their learning because they have had a role in the assessment's creation.
Read Assessment for Understanding by Roberta Furger on the GLEF Web site.

6. Types of Assessment Standardized Tests Alternative Assessment
In the early theories of learning, complex higher-order thinking skills were thought to be acquired in small pieces, breaking down learning into a series of prerequisite skills. It was thought that after these pieces were memorized, the learner would be able to assemble them into complex understanding and insight. The puzzle could be put together to form a coherent picture. Today we know that learning requires the learner to engage in problem-solving and to actively build mental models. Knowledge is not attained by just receiving information, but by interpreting the information and relating it to the knowledge base the learner already has. What is important, and therefore should be assessed, is the learner's ability to organize, structure, and use information in context to solve complex problems.

7. Standardized Tests Are not prescriptive
Give capsulated view of a student’s learning
Used in conjunction with performance-based assessment
Almost every school district now administers state-mandated standardized tests. Every student at a particular grade level is required to take the same test. Everything about the test is standard -- from the questions themselves to the length of time students have to complete it (although some exceptions may be made for students with learning or physical disabilities) to the time of year in which the test is taken. Throughout the country, and with the passage of the "No Child Left Behind" Act (which requires research-based assessment), student performance on these tests has become the basis for such critical decisions as student promotion from one grade to the next, or compensation for teachers and administrators.
Standardized tests, if not closely connected to the curriculum being taught, are not prescriptive. They do not tell the teacher what to teach. They do not tell the teacher what the true understanding of the students’ needs and abilities are.
Standardized testing only gives a simplistic view of a student’s learning. The testing asks for capsulated knowledge and proficiency of an individual student. It can be an essential part of the assessment process, but it doesn’t tell the whole picture.
Standardized tests should not be confused with the standards movement, which advocates specific grade-level content and performance standards in key subject areas. Often, in fact, standardized tests are not aligned with state and district content standards, causing considerable disconnect between what is being taught and what is being tested.
Standardized testing needs to be used in conjunction with performance-based assessment to give a holistic and accurate measure of the student’s learning.
The questions then become: What is evidence-based assessment? Is it standardized tests? Is it portfolios? If portfolios are a part of evidence-based assessment, what else is necessary? Reflections? Work samples? Best work?

8. Authentic Assessment Observation Teacher-made tests, quizzes, exams
Written compositions
Alternative assessment, often called authentic or performance assessment, is usually designed by the teacher to gauge students' understanding of the lessons taught. Examples of these measurements are open-ended questions, written compositions, oral presentations, projects, experiments, and portfolios of student work over time. Alternative assessments are designed so that the content of the assessment being used matches the content of what is being taught.

9. Authentic Assessment Oral presentations
Projects, experiments, performance tasks
Portfolios
Effective assessments give students feedback on how well they understand the information and on what they need to improve. They help teachers better design instruction to teach more effectively. Assessment becomes even more relevant when students become involved in the development of the assessment to be used. Students eagerly take an active role in developing the scoring criteria, self- evaluation, and goal setting. They accept that the assessment is adequately measuring their learning because they have had a role in the assessment's creation.

10. Why Use Rubrics? Set goals Define expectations Demystify grades
Rubrics are multidimensional sets of scoring guidelines that can be used to provide consistency in evaluating student work. They spell out scoring criteria so that multiple teachers, using the same rubric for a student's essay, for example, would arrive at the same score or grade. Rubrics are used from the initiation to the completion of a student project. They provide a specific measurement system for specific tasks and are tailored for each project. As the projects become more complex, so do the rubrics.
Rubrics help students understand what is expected from them. They demystify grades by clearly stating, in age-appropriate vocabulary, the expectations for a project. Rubrics help students see that learning is about gaining specific skills (both in academic subjects and in problem- solving and life skills). They also give students the opportunity to do self- assessment -- to reflect on the learning process.
Rubrics allow the students to participate in setting the goals for the project and define for the students what is expected for each member of a team or outcome of a project.

11. Teamwork Rubric Expectations of group members
Participation of group members
Level of involvement as team member
Quality of work as team member
A rubric can be created solely by the teacher or given direction by the teacher. It can be a joint contract that allows the students to give input as to how their work should be evaluated.
A rubric defines what is expected of each member. It defines what will happen if a team member is not participating.
It evaluates the teamwork: Did the team member participate in the planning process? What was the level of involvement of the team member? What was the quality of work as a team member? A rubric measures the quality and accuracy, clarity and presentation, and concept of the project.
Read “Creating Rubrics Through Negotiable Contracting and Assessment” by Andi Stix, Ed.D., US Department of Education ERIC #TMO27246, published by ERIC 1997:

12. Team Rubric Team Rubrics 1 2 3 4 Will not help - ignores partner
Cooperative 1 2 3 4
Creative
On Task
Prepared
Skillful
Will not help - ignores partner
Never thinks of other ideas to solve a problem
Constantly talking to others in room, rarely works on task
Never has supplies or willing to find proper place in task
Makes no effort to learn new skills
Sometimes willing to help partner
Occasionally has a new idea, but little follow through
Sometimes talks about unrelated subjects
Looks through to task to find place and sometimes borrows supplies
Satisfied with answering questions, but no real understanding
Shares work when asked and listens to partner
Has new ideas but will not share with others
Usually follows the tasks and talks only to partner
Uses daily wrap-up to find place in task
Has general idea of task. Able to answer specific questions
Willingly explains things to partner and will use partner’s ideas
Develops new ideas or ways of doing things. Products exceed requirements
Always follows the steps of the task and sometimes goes beyond the concepts
Arrives early for class and supplies are ready
Has clear idea of task and its relationship to technology and education
A team rubric lets each team member know what is expected. The first column of this rubric is “Criteria.” The categories under it are: Cooperative, Creative, On Task, Prepared, and Skillful. Following each category are qualitative behaviors/actions.

13. Project Rubric Expectations for organization
Expectations for mechanics
Expectations for content
Expectations for presentation
A project rubric lists the requirements for the completion of a project- based learning lesson. It is usually some sort of presentation: a word- processed document, a poster, a model, a multimedia presentation, or a combination of presentations.
Project rubrics help the student to organize their content, materials, and time. They state the specifications for the project’s presentation.
The teacher can create a project rubric or it can be a joint process. When it is done as a joint process, students participate in developing rubrics and setting the goals for the project. They can give their input as to how their work should be evaluated.
Rubrics tell the students just what is needed for the student to share with the teacher and the audience his or her understanding of the subject.

14. Sample Rubric: Second Grade
Research:
Dinosaur
Report
What is important about the graphic representation on the following three slides is not necessarily the content of the criteria, rather, it is important to note that the rubric is age appropriate.
This rubric was created for a second-grade project. Students were using books from the school library and the Internet. The rubric lets the students know just what they have to do to complete their projects.

15. Sample Rubric: Sixth Grade
Multimedia
Presentation:
Ancient Civilizations
As the projects become more complex, so do the rubrics. Students are given more detailed specifications. Questions are implied within the rubric:
What is the quality of the work?
How do you know the content is accurate?
How well was the presentation delivered?
How well was the presentation designed?
What was the main idea?

16. Sample Rubric: Eighth Grade
Book Report:
Web site
Rubrics give the students the opportunity to do self-assessment. When the student’s assessment and the teacher’s assessment don’t agree, it’s a perfect time for a student-teacher conference. These conferences let the student explain in more detail his or her understanding of the content and justify the method of presentation.

17. “Measuring What Counts: Memorization Versus Understanding”
Read “Measuring What Counts: Memorization Versus Understanding” by Eeva Reeder.
What three elements factor into the creation of a project?
What are some of the benefits, according to the article, of project-based learning? Write a reflective paragraph.
What are recommendations for beginning projects in the classroom?

18. Record List projects that would be likely to engage your students.
Create a table.
Include any of the learning experiences stated in the article that you could use or adapt.

19. Create a Rubric
Choose one of the projects you envisioned for your students.
Visit “Creating Your Own Rubric.”

20. Discuss Discuss with your classmates the rubric you created.
Will it meet the students needs?
Will it accurately reflect the learning process?
Will it accurately reflect what is being learned?

21. Using a Template
Choose another of the projects you envisioned for your students.
Create a rubric for the project.
Visit “RubiStar.”

22. Discuss
Discuss with your classmates whether or not you could use this site.
What are the template limitations?
What are the template benefits?

23. References
Edutopia: Success Stories for Learning in the Digital Age. The George Lucas Educational Foundation. Jossey-Bass, 2002
The George Lucas Educational Foundation Web site.
Rubistar’s “Create Rubrics for your Project-Based Learning Activities” Web site
Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators “Assessment & Rubric Information” Web site.
A Practical Guide to Alternative Assessment. Herman, Joan L., Aschbacher, Pamela R., & Winters, Lynn. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1992