Transcript Document

Developing
Assessment Literacy
in Michigan
Judy Backes
Kathy Dewsbury-White
Edward Roeber
Overview of this Session
• What is “assessment literacy?”
• Why is assessment literacy needed?
• How are the Assessment Literacy
Standards being developed?
• What do the Standards look like?
• What difference would the Standards
make for Michigan education?
• If this vision is desired, how can we push
this vision forward?
What is “assessment literacy?”
An assessment literate individual is one
who understands how student assessment
can enable them to better carry out their
role in education better, believes that
assessment can improve teaching and
learning, and puts activities and behaviors
to act on these beliefs into place.
Parsing the Definition
What are the essential elements of this
statement?
An assessment literate individual is one who
understands how student assessment can enable
them to better carry out their role in education
better, believes that assessment can improve
teaching and learning, and puts activities and
behaviors to act on these beliefs into place.
What is Assessment Literacy?
There are three essential elements of ALS:
• Dispositions – Attitudes and beliefs about
assessments
• Knowledge – What should be known
about assessments
• Performances – What should be done with
assessments
Why is assessment literacy
needed?
Assessment literacy is needed for several
reasons:
o Increased volume of student assessment
o Changes in types of assessments
o Assessment stakes for students and educators
are higher
o Continued lack of pre-service preparation for
educators
o Lack of understanding about assessment by
those who adopt policy and laws, and govern
our schools
Why is assessment literacy
needed?
• Research shows that students more involved
in their own learning – and assessment –
achieve more
• Effective use of formative assessment – such
as FAME – requires teachers to understand
how instructionally-embedded assessment
will help all student achieve at higher levels
• Administrator involvement in school
improvement activity is also related to higher
student achievement
Who needs assessment literacy?
• Assessment literacy is needed by several
types of individuals
o Students
o Teachers
o Building Administrators
o Central Office Administrators
o Policymakers at the state and local levels
Michigan Assessment Consortium
• The MAC is a non-profit organization
designed to promote greater
understanding about and use of
assessment in Michigan
• The goal of the MAC is to help educators
use assessment to improve teaching
Michigan Assessment Consortium
Vision
…is to improve student learning and
achievement through a system of coherent
curriculum, balanced assessment and
effective instruction. We do this by
collaboratively:
 Promoting assessment knowledge and practice.
 Providing professional development.
 Providing and sharing assessment tools and
products.
We Believe…
• All educators can learn to implement a
balanced assessment system
• Teachers, principals, and central office staff
must be assessment literate
• Development and use of a coherent system of
assessment ensures quality for each student
• An effective assessment system includes a
balance of school, district, and state
measures and uses a variety of methods
Michigan Assessment Consortium
• The MAC has prepared a number of assessmentrelated resources
o Videoconferences on various topics (which are
archived)
o Papers on various assessment topics
o Common Assessment Development Series
These can be accessed at:
www.michiganassessmentconsortium.org
• Now working on Arts education instructional and
assessment resources for MDE
ALS Development
• The MAC has been developing assessment
literacy standards for two years
• The goal is to provide a common basis for
work to help all become more assessment
literate
ALS Development
• The work started with input from the
entire MAC Board
• Then the Board’s Knowledge and
Practices Committee created a first draft
• The first draft was reviewed internally
• Then, a critical friend reviewed the
document
• A second draft was produced
ALS Development
• After internal review and revision, several
external reviewers were asked to
comment on the standards, including:
o Susan Brookhart
o Carol Commodore
o Margaret Heritage
o Ken O’Connor
o Jim Popham
o Rick Stiggins
o MASSP, MEMSPA and MASCD
Reviewers’ Reactions
• Admired the MAC for undertaking such a
comprehensive set of assessment
standards, especially for policymakers and
for students
• Concern about whether there are too many
standards
• Several thought the sets of standards
should “roll up” from teachers to building
administrators to district administrators,
so as to reduce redundancy
Reviewers’ Reactions
• The provision of disposition standards and
performance standards was supported
• Are they dispositions or attitudes? What is
the difference?
• There were a number of specific
comments on individual standards
• There is a need to coordinate standards
from teachers to administrators
ALS Development
• The MAC’s Knowledge and Practices
Committee is reviewing each set of
standards, standard by standard
• It has currently reviewed the teacher and
the building administrator set (version 4)
• Still to do: district administrator,
policymaker, and students (which are still
in version 3)
ALS Development
• Once the MAC K & P Committee has
reviewed and edited the remaining sets of
standards, additional activities are planned:
o Write a longer introduction to the document
o Create a standard overview presentation in order
to introduce the ALS more broadly
o Create an online survey to use to gain broader
field and organizational input and support for the
ALS
o Reach out to educational and other organizations
to seek their reactions and support to the ALS
Time to Process
• 3 to 5 minutes on your own: Read through
the standards – for teachers, building
administrators, district administrators,
policymakers and students
• Respond to these Qs silently on an index
card
o What, if anything, needs to be clarified?
o What, if anything, needs to be added or deleted?
o In which area(s) do you think teachers in your
district would need the most PD?
Elbow Partner Time
• Turn to the person next to you. Each
person share one thought/comment
related to the questions or the standards
Your Thoughts About the ALS
• Group Discussion – Share your main thoughts
and ideas:
o What is your vision for what these standards
would do for Michigan’s students if they were
implemented?
o What would need to be done to push this vision
forward?
• We’ll chart the main comments
• Hand in your index cards so we can benefit from
the thinking of all of you!
Your Suggestions
• How do you see the assessment literacy
standards being useful to you?
• What types of assessment literacybuilding activities do you feel would be
useful?
• What other ideas and suggestions do you
have?
Assessment Literacy Development
• In closing, the ultimate goal of this
effort is to use these standards in
ways that address the current state of
assessment illiteracy
• The stakes are too high not to do so
• We hope that you will partner with us
as we try to improve our assessment
understanding
For Further Information
Judy Backes
248.821.1951
[email protected]
Kathy Dewsbury-White
(517) 927-7640
[email protected]
Edward Roeber
(517) 614-4877
[email protected]