1. Copyright © 2007 Allyn and Bacon BECOMING A TEACHER, 7e Chapter 10 Curriculum Standards Assessment and Student Learning

2. Copyright © 2007 Allyn and Bacon What Role will Standards Play in Your School? Standards have come to be seen as statements that reflect what students should know and be able to do

3. Copyright © 2007 Allyn and Bacon What Role will Standards Play in Your School? The type of standard most important to the individual depends upon the individual’s point of view Administrators’ view Students’ performance on standardized tests (ex: increasing scores by 2 percentage points for math and science) Teachers’ view Expectations for student performance and behavior at the classroom level (ex: intellectually demanding reading & writing, feedback on student work, stimulating lessons) Students’ view Personally relevant, interesting, and meaningful

4. Copyright © 2007 Allyn and Bacon Standards-based education is emphasized in the U.S. Basing curricula, teaching, and assessment on rigorous “world-class” standards Content and Performance Standards Content standards Refer to content, knowledge, and skills Benchmarks/Indicators What students should understand and be able to do at a specific grade level or developmental stage Performance standards The degree to which students have attained standards – levels of state tests meet, exceeds, needs improvement What Is Standards-Based Education?

5. Copyright © 2007 Allyn and Bacon Standards Developed by Professional Organizations Have developed performance-expectations Established levels of achievement, quality of performance, level of proficiency, or recommended standards State Departments of Education can use the standards as a guide Teachers can use standards to develop goals and objectives in the classroom, evaluate teaching, develop ideas for instruction and assessments Parents can use them to assess the quality of education What Is Standards-Based Education?

6. Copyright © 2007 Allyn and Bacon Aligning Curricula & Textbooks with Standards and Curriculum Frameworks Curriculum alignment – may take two forms Horizontal alignment – teachers coordinate instruction across disciplines Vertical alignment – subjects are connected across grade levels. Increasingly complex instruction Curriculum framework – a document… Usually published by a state education agency Provides guidelines, instructional and assessment strategies, resources, and models for teachers What Is Standards-Based Education?

7. Copyright © 2007 Allyn and Bacon What Controversies Surround the Effort to Raise Standards? Arguments in Support of Raising Standards Standards can improve achievement by clearly defining what is to be taught Standards are necessary for equality of opportunity National standards provide a valuable coordinating function Standards and assessments provide consumer protection by supplying accurate information to students and parents Standards and assessments serve as an important signaling device to students, parents, teachers, employers, and colleges

8. Copyright © 2007 Allyn and Bacon What Controversies Surround the Effort to Raise Standards? Concerns about raising standards Raising standards might lead to a national curriculum and an expanded role of the federal government The push to raise standards is fueled by conservative interest groups that wish to undo educational gains made by traditionally underrepresented groups A focus on higher standards diverts attention from more meaningful educational reform Increased emphasis on tested subjects often results in a decrease in emphasis on subjects not tested World-class standards are often vague and not linked to valid assessments and scoring rubrics Standards frequently describe learning activities, not the knowledge and skills students are expected to learn The scope and sequence of what students should learn with reference to standards and benchmarks has been unclear Grade-level benchmarks have been created that are unrealistic and developmentally appropriate for some students SBE and high-stakes tests based on those standards lead to the practice of “teaching to the test”, giving priority to academic content covered by the tests

9. Copyright © 2007 Allyn and Bacon What Controversies Surround the Effort to Raise Standards? Standards, Testing, and Accountability Accountability - widespread effort to hold schools and teachers accountable students’ attainment of state- mandated educational standards Schools with low scores may be closed There is also an effort on the national level to hold schools accountable - NCLB Schools that fail to improve over a 6 year period may lose staff low-income students at these schools could receive federal funds for tutoring or transportation to another public school

10. Copyright © 2007 Allyn and Bacon What Controversies Surround the Effort to Raise Standards? Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) Key piece of NCLB – schools have to provide evidence each year that students are making AYP AYP determined by… Student performance on tests in math and reading At least 95% of students must take the tests AYP be made by students in all subgroups according to age, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (40 students) Fail to make AYP – “in need of improvement” Any one subgroup is not improving the entire school is labeled as not meeting AYP 1 st year school must provide transportation for students who want to enroll in another public school 2 nd year school must pay for supplemental services including tutoring

11. Copyright © 2007 Allyn and Bacon What Controversies Surround the Effort to Raise Standards? High-Stakes Testing State-mandated tests have high-stakes consequences for administrators, teachers, and students May determine whether students participate in extracurricular activities or graduate Test results are frequently linked to merit pay Schools or districts that do poorly may be taken over by the state or closed

12. Copyright © 2007 Allyn and Bacon What Methods Can You Use to Assess Student Learning? Assessment “The full range of procedures used to gain information about student learning (observations, ratings of performances or projects, paper-and pencil tests) and the formation of value judgments concerning learning progress” (Linn and Gronlund, 2000, 31)

13. Copyright © 2007 Allyn and Bacon What Methods Can You Use to Assess Student Learning? To assess student learning, teachers use measurement and evaluation techniques Measurement – gathering of quantitative data - scores, rankings, or ratings Evaluation – involves making judgments or assigning values to the various measurements Formative evaluation – when measurements of students’ progress are used to make decisions about their (teachers’) teaching Summative evaluation – when measurements are used to determine grades at the end of a unit, semester, or year and to decide if students are ready to “move-on”

14. Copyright © 2007 Allyn and Bacon Essential Elements of Effective Classroom Assessment

15. Copyright © 2007 Allyn and Bacon What Methods Can You Use to Assess Student Learning? Emerging Trends in Classroom Assessment - Alternative Assessments Authentic Assessment – solve real-life problems Portfolio Assessment – collection of student work (binder for class) Peer Assessment Self Assessment – what did you do well, where are improvements needed Performance-Based Assessment – grading the process students use to complete a particular assignment ex: bottom pg 389 Alternate Assessment – measure performance of students who are unable to participate in traditional testing Project-Based Assessments – students work in teams to solve real- life problems: ex: You’re Hired, English book project

16. Copyright © 2007 Allyn and Bacon How Can You Develop High- Quality Classroom Assessments? To effectively assess, teachers need to… Choose/develop appropriate assessments Administer, score, and interpret the results of tests Utilize scores when planning teaching or developing curriculum Develop valid grading procedures Communicate assessment results Identify unethical or inappropriate use of assessment

17. Copyright © 2007 Allyn and Bacon How Can You Develop High- Quality Classroom Assessments? 2 important qualities… Validity – refers to the extent to which assessments measure what they are supposed to measure. Read ex page 393 Reliability – refers to the degree to which an assessment provides results that are consistent over time. Read ex bottom of page 393 math quiz

18. Copyright © 2007 Allyn and Bacon How Can You Develop High- Quality Classroom Assessments? Scoring Rubrics – are rating scales that consist of reestablished performance criteria Holistic rubric – requires the teacher to score the overall process or product as a whole, without judging the component parts separately Analytic rubric – requires that the teacher score separate, individual parts of the product or performance according to prespecified criteria

19. Copyright © 2007 Allyn and Bacon Holistic Scoring Rubric

20. Copyright © 2007 Allyn and Bacon Analytic Rubric