Transcript The Beginning

QUALITY ASSESSMENT
PRACTICES &
PROJECT BASED LEARNING
Clarity of Learning Targets, Setting objectives,
Formative Assessment as Feedback and Balanced
Assessment
Formative Practices
Teacher Clarity
d=0.75 (+27%)
Formative eval of programs
d=0.90 (+31%)
Providing feedback
d=0.73 (+26%)
Students Self-Reporting Grades
d=1.44
(+~45%)
Authors commonly associated with these:
Arter, Chappuis, Brookhart, Stiggins, Hattie
Bibliography located at: http://bulldogcia.com/Articles.htm
Assessment within PBL

Things to remember and guide you
Target selected “power standards”
◦ In depth standards create the opportunity for
in depth authentic assessment

Select 21st Century Skills to teach and
assess (e.g. collaboration, presentation
and critical thinking)

Formatively assess only for the purpose
of revision and improvement
Assessments
*excerpt (p. 121) from Project Based Learning Toolkit Series—PBL
Starter Kit:To-the-Point Advice,Tools and Tips for Your First Project in
Middle or High School
Formative Assessments
(During Project)
Summative Assessments (End
of Project)
Quizzes/Tests
Written Products with Rubric
Journal/Learning Log
Multiple/Choice/Short Answer Test
Preliminary
Plans/Outlines/Prototypes
Essay Test
Rough Drafts
Peer Evaluation
Online Tests/Exams
Self-Evaluation
Practice Presentations
Other Product(s) or Performance(s)
with Rubric
Checklists
Concept Maps
The assessment itself doesn’t
determine if it is formative or
summative…only the use of it
can make that determination
Two Purposes of Assessment
SUMMATIVE
 Assessments OF Learning
 The purpose is to report on learning
FORMATIVE
 Assessments FOR Learning
 The purpose is to improve learning and
shape instruction
What is balanced assessment?
All slides related to the 5 Keys to Quality Assessment are ideas taken
from:
Stiggins, R.J., Arter, J., Chappuis, J. & Chappuis, S. (2007). Classroom
assessment for student learning: Doing it right—using it well.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Balanced Assessment
Formative
Formal and informal processes
teachers and students use to gather
evidence to directly improve the
learning of students assessed
Summative
Provides evidence
achievement to certify
student competence or
program effectiveness
Formative uses of
summative data
Assessment
for learning
Use assessments
to help students
assess and adjust
their own learning
Assessment
for learning
Use classroom
assessments to
inform teacher’s
decisions
Use of summative
evidence to inform what
comes next for
individuals or groups of
students
Quality Classroom Assessment
5 Keys to Quality
Classroom Assessment
1.
Why assess? (PURPOSE)
2.
Assess what? (TARGETS)
3.
Assess how? (DESIGN)
4.
Communicate how? (COMMUNICATION)
5.
Involve students how? (STUDENT
INVOLVEMENT)
Stiggins, et al (2007). CASL
ACCURACY
PURPOSE
EFFECTIVE USE
EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION
DESIGN
STUDENT
INVOLVEMENT
TARGET
Stiggins, et al (2007). CASL
Classroom Assessment:
Accuracy
Why Assess?
Assess What?
Assess How?
Key 1 Purpose—Why

Educators need to:
 Understand who the assessment users are and
the needs of the assessment users
 Understand the relationship between
assessment and student motivation
 Use results in a formative & summative way
 Have a plan to integrate assessment of and for
learning in the classroom
Key 2 Clarity of Targets—What
The most critical question—it drives planning,
instruction and assessment.

We need to…
 Identify and broadcast the essential learning targets
(refer to Andrew Miller article)
 Articulate differences between learning targets and
activities
 Have a comprehensive plan over time for assessing
the learning targets
 Differentiate between “window shopping standards”
and “buying standards”
Clarity—Where am I going?

Key Point: differentiate between
learning targets and learning activities

How might you do this? Take 2 min
and talk to your neighbor.
Clarity—Where am I going?
What are some ways that you can
engage students that will require them
to interact with one another and
establish learning target clarity at the
same time within a PBL design?
Hint: Think of examples of strong and
weak work
Clarity—Defining quality work

Students must first be able to:
◦ Understand concepts that define quality
before being asked to self-assess them
HOW?

One way to do this is to use rubrics
Clarity—Strong and weak work

Use anonymous samples

After defining the criteria…
◦ have students look at 2 samples and
determine which ones do/do not meet the
criteria and why
When are learning intentions useful?

Read p. 56 excerpt from:
Wiliam, D. (2011). Embedded Formative
Assessment. Bloomington, IN:
Solution Tree Press.
Clarity—Using rubrics

It acts as a diagnostic tool so..

Each feature of quality needs described—
from beginning to proficient.
 “This is beginning because…”

This aligns with teaching the elements of
quality

Allows you to provide feedback related to
elements of quality
Key 3: Assess how? (DESIGN)
Why is that important?

Target-Method Match

There are specific ways in which
learning targets are most effectively &
efficiently assessed.
Classroom Assessment:
Effectiveness
Communicate how?
Involve students how?
Key 4: Effective Communication
Key 5: Student Involvement
Keys 4 & 5 are really
assessment strategies
The 7 Strategies of
Assessment FOR Learning
Chappuis (2009)
We Will Emphasize a Formative
Assessment System…one built
on the premise of feedback
Principles of Providing Feedback
WHAT’s NEXT FEEDBACK—
 feedback isn’t necessarily about how to do it correctly. What
if it is all done correctly? Feedback needs to direct attention
to what’s next for the learner. Think of the student who is a
high achiever…what’s next for her?
FOCUSED FEEDBACK—
 feedback should do its best to focus on one particular aspect
of quality at a time because too much feedback can prevent
improvement.
FEEDBACK TO FEED FORWARD—
 direct feedback at the student’s acquisition of the learning
intentions and success criteria; not just ___ out of ____
correct. Instead of this, use a “find it, fix it” strategy.
Formative Evaluation
Teacher
 Where are they going?
 Where are they now?
 What’s next?
Student
 Where am I going?
 Where am I now?
 What’s next?
These are
on-going
Student Feedback within PBL

Critical thinking and in-depth
understanding can be readily activated
through self-reflection and peer to peer
dialogue

The teacher’s role?
◦ Explicitly teach this
◦ Model it
◦ Engineer the kind of environment that has it
built into the fabric of the classroom
7 Strategies of Assessment for
Learning
Based on the underlying belief that
students are the most influential
decision makers in the classroom
Addresses 3 questions:
Where am I going?
Where am I now?
How do I close the gap?
Chappuis, J. (2009). Seven strategies of assessment for learning. Portland,
OR: ETS.
Sadler, D.R. (1989 & 1998)
Where am I going?
1.
Clarity of learning intentions/targets
2.
Strong and weak examples of the
work we want students to do
Where am I now?
Provide regular descriptive feedback
3.
◦
Helps students begin to monitor where they
are in relationship to where they need to be
Teach students to self-assess and set
goals
4.
◦
◦
Students need to know where they are in
order to set goals
They need to be taught how to self-assess
How Can I Close the Gap?
5.
◦
6.
◦
◦
7.
◦
Design lessons to focus on one target
or quality aspect at a time
Makes monitoring the learning more
specific
Teach students focused revision
Task analyze the target into small chunks
Practice and revise
Engage students in self-reflection; have
them track and share
This impacts the retention of things learned
and increases motivation
Strategies of Formative Assessment
*excerpt (p. 46) from Wiliam (2011). Embedded formative
assessment. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
Where the learner is going
Where the learner is right now
How to get there
Teacher
Clarifying and sharing learning
intentions and criteria for
success
Engineering effective classroom
discussions, activities and tasks that
elicit evidence of learning
Providing feedback
that moves learning
forward
Peer
Understanding and sharing
learning intentions and criteria
for success
Activating learners as instructional resources for one
another
Learner
Understanding learning
intentions and criteria for
success
Activating learners as the owners of their own learning