Transcript Building Bridges Between Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Presented by Leslie Skinner, PhD, NBCT Education Associate-Social Studies Assessment South Carolina Department of Education.

Building Bridges Between
Curriculum, Instruction and
Assessment
Presented by
Leslie Skinner, PhD, NBCT
Education Associate-Social Studies Assessment
South Carolina Department of Education
Building Bridges Between
Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
How can we improve
achievement for all students?
• A successful system aligns
Curriculum, Instruction, and
Assessment with the standards.
• Curriculum, Instruction and
Assessment must work together
to support students’ developing
understanding.
STANDARDS BASED
ASSESSMENT
• What is it?
• What does it look like?
• How do we do it?
We tend to think of assessment as
this
Large-scale statewide
accountability tests are only a part
of the total picture
Stuart Kahl, Measured Progress
To Assess is to
• Determine or ascertain the value,
significance, worth or extent of
• Appraise or evaluate in an official capacity
• Estimate the quality, amount, size or other
features of
• Examine and judge carefully
• (Math) Calculate the numerical value of or
express numerically
2 Main Types of Assessment
• Formative– Ongoing: before, during or after
instruction
– Can have many different formats
– Evaluates specific concepts or skills
– Identifies the effectiveness of ongoing
instruction
2 Main Types of Assessment
• Summative– Measures student learning after
completion of an instructional unit
– Measures teacher effectiveness in
teaching the unit
– Can be used to revise a unit, course or
program
– Can have many different formats
A Valid Assessment seeks to
answer these questions:
• What evidence is acceptable to
demonstrate that students understand the
standard and the indicators?
• Will a student’s response to the created
assessment help to determine whether the
student has mastered the designated
content standard and indicator that the
assessment was intended to assess?
Assessment, then,
is most often practiced
in the classroom, by the teacher.
Assessment, furthermore, is not
simply defined as testing.
Testing is…
a procedure for critical evaluation
a means of determining the presence,
quality, or truth of something
a series of questions, problems, or
responses designed to determine
knowledge, intelligence, or ability
and sometimes, a basis for evaluation
or judgement
We need to move away from
the concept of assessment as
judgment and competition or
as a way to obtain grades.
We need to move toward a
vision of assessment as
reflection that can improve
classroom instruction.
Research shows that the key
to student achievement lies
in assessments
administered in the
classroom.
Black & William
The way a teacher designs
assessments and applies
assessment data (how a
teacher assesses)…can lead to
substantial increases in
instructional effectiveness.
W. James Popham
“Improving
the quality of
classroom feedback offers
the greatest performance
gains of
any single instructional
approach.”
Black and William
Classroom Assessments
• should be embedded within the
teaching and learning of important
content knowledge
• should be an integral part of good
instruction
• should be based on the principle that
all students can learn if assessment
feedback is used effectively to inform
instruction and learning
Classroom Assessments
• are often called “Assessments for
Learning” since they should be
constantly utilized to guide student
learning effectively
• are crucial to improvement on statewide or nationally administered tests
• are appropriate only when they can
affirmatively answer the question
“Does the assessment have an impact
on student learning?”
Improving Classroom Assessments
• Useful assessment should determine if students
can use their learning – not just regurgitate
information or facts. Most state-wide or national
assessments are not on a recall level.
• Students need to adapt learning to new
situations (application of knowledge or transfer).
• Student knowledge must be generalizable - i.e.
the concept or skill is applicable in all sorts of
settings.
• Teachers should use diverse kinds of questions
to assess students’ ability to generalize
conceptual understanding.
Improving Classroom Assessments
• Students should have practice answering
questions in various formats so they can focus
on the content and intent of the question.
• Students who only learned by rote, and only are
assessed by rote, will have difficulty with novel
questions.
• Classroom practice should use meaningful
questions assessing a depth of knowledge.
Utilizing Assessment Data to
Inform Instruction
– Analysis of the results of formative
classroom assessment should reveal
student misconceptions or lack of
student learning.
– Analysis of student test results indicate
whether the teacher needs to review or
re-teach the concepts.
Utilizing Assessment Data to
Inform Instruction
• Using Distractor Analysis
– Each multiple choice question has one correct
answer and 3 distractors.
– A good assessment question elicits a correct
response and differentiates from
misconceptions.
– The distractors in MC questions should be
plausible to distinguish between correct and
incorrect concepts.
Utilizing Assessment Data to
Inform Instruction
• Using Distractor Analysis
– Encourage students to explain why they chose their
answer. This is an excellent opportunity to discover
misconceptions.
– Explain why incorrect answers are incorrect.
Understanding aids retention.
– Review or re-teach. Feedback is crucial to student
learning. It should be as immediate and applicable as
possible in order to catch the “teachable moment.”
How do we improve student achievement?
Teach to the standards
All state-wide assessments are aligned to
standards… not to a textbook. Classroom
curriculum, instruction and assessments must
be aligned to the standards.
Create assessment before instruction.
Set curricular goals during planning prior to
teaching the standards (Backwards Planning
Model).
Examine all classroom assessments to identify
and clarify instructional objectives.
Ask yourself if all classroom activities and
assignments are aligned and valid for purposes
of instruction or assessment.
Where do we begin?
During instructional planning ask yourself the
following questions:
What are the essential learning
objectives of this unit of study
How many objectives belong in this
segment of instruction?
At what cognitive level should students
be able to process this new learning?
What literacy elements should be
incorporated?
How should I best assess the acquisition
of this new knowledge before, during
and after instruction?
To your rescue…
The new Enhanced
Support Document
was written for
teachers to assist in
the process of
planning instruction
and assessment.
Utilizing the Backwards Planning
Approach…
After Reading the standard and indicator and thinking about the
taxonomic cognitive level of verb used in both, go to the Enhanced
Support Document and
Read the Assessment Guidelines.
The level of assessment is determined by the cognitive level of the
indicator. A variety of expected cognitive process outcomes are listed
as exemplars.
Read the Essential and Non-essential Information to assist you in
determining the specificity of the standard and indicators.
Read the Prior and Future Knowledge section to remind you of what
your students should already know and how the education you are
responsible for will be built upon in the future.
Plan your formative and summative assessments, making sure that
they are valid and appropriate. Utilize the release items found on
the Office of Assessment’s portion of the SCDE website.
Plan intellectual activities in which a student must engage in order to
be successful in dealing with the tasks contained in the
assessments.
Let’s try the process like our
committee did.
Standard 8-3:
The student will demonstrate an understanding
of the American Civil War – its causes and
effects and the major events that occurred
during that time.
Indicator 8-3.1:
Explain the importance of agriculture in
antebellum South Carolina, including plantation
life, slavery, and the impact of the cotton gin.
Did teacher understanding of
content and cognitive level match
SCDE expectations?
Was the bridge
constructed so that it
met in the middle?
Let’s look at an item
from the state SS
item bank to see…
How did the invention of the cotton gin
most directly affect South Carolina’s
economy?
A. It caused a rapid growth in urbanization due
to increased cotton production.
B. It decreased the size of plantations because
more cotton could be grown on less land.
C. It led to plantations being established further
west because increased cotton production
depleted the soil.
D. It encouraged Northern textile manufacturers
to move their factories to the South to meet
the increased demand for cotton products.
How did the invention of the cotton gin
most directly affect South Carolina’s
economy?
A. It caused a rapid growth in urbanization due
to increased cotton production.
B. It decreased the size of plantations because
more cotton could be grown on less land.
C. It led to plantations being established
further west because increased cotton
production depleted the soil.
D. It encouraged Northern textile manufacturers
to move their factories to the South to meet
the increased demand for cotton products.
How did the invention of the cotton gin
most directly affect South Carolina’s
economy?
A. It caused a rapid growth in urbanization due to 46%
increased cotton production.
B. It decreased the size of plantations because
more cotton could be grown on less land.
15%
C. It led to plantations being established
further west because increased cotton
production depleted the soil.
18%
D. It encouraged Northern textile manufacturers
to move their factories to the South to meet
the increased demand for cotton products.
21%
Standard 8-3: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the American Civil War—its causes
and effects and the major events that occurred during that time.
8-3.1
Explain the importance of agriculture in antebellum South Carolina, including plantation life,
slavery, and the impact of the cotton gin. (H, G, E)
Taxonomy Level: B 2 Understand / Conceptual Knowledge
Previous/future knowledge:
In the 3rd grade, students compared the conditions of daily life for various classes of people in
South Carolina, including the elite, the middle class, the lower class, the independent farmers, and the free
and the enslaved African Americans (3-4.1). Students summarized the institution of slavery prior to the
Civil War, that included references to conditions in South Carolina, the invention of the cotton gin, the
subsequent expansion of slavery, and economic dependence on slavery (3-4.2).
In the 4th grade, students compared the industrial North and the agricultural South prior to the Civil War,
including the specific nature of the economy of each region, the geographic characteristics and boundaries
of each region, and the basic way of life in each region (4-6.1).
In 11th grade United States history, students will compare economic development in different regions of
the country during the early nineteenth century, including agriculture in the South, industry and finance in
the North, and the development of new resources in the West (USHC-3.3).
It is essential for students to know:
Since colonial times, agriculture was the basis of society in South Carolina. The headright method and
the availability of slave labor contributed to the establishment of large plantations. By 1860, South
Carolina had the highest percentage of slaveholders in the nation. It is important to note that most South
Carolinians lived on family or subsistence farms. Most did not own slaves. The majority of slave owners
in South Carolina owned only one or two slaves and often worked beside their slaves in the fields. Few
slave owners owned large plantations. However, the economic, social and political systems in South
Carolina were based on the institution of slavery.
In 1793 Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin and South Carolina farmers had a new cash crop. As a result
they planted more cotton to increase profits and became even more dependent on slave labor. Although
slave importation (international slave trade ) was outlawed in 1808, the slave population continued to
grow in antebellum South Carolina. With ready markets in the textile mills of the North and in England,
planters sold cotton at good prices and both southern planters and northern mill owners acquired great
wealth either directly or indirectly due to slave labor. Although planting cotton eventually wore out the
soil, planters were hesitant to find new crops and as a result moved to new lands. The need for new lands
played into southern arguments for the westward expansion of slavery.
Plantation life required self sustaining communities and depended on the institution of slavery for the
production of goods and services needed to support plantations. Slaves did the work in the fields and in
the plantation houses. They cleared the land, planted, cultivated, harvested and processed the crop,
working from dawn to dusk six days a week. Women and children worked in the fields alongside the men
under the supervision of a driver or an overseer. Slaves also had a diverse range of skills and might be
hired out by the master who would collect the slave’s wages. Other slaves worked in the owners’ homes,
cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and raising the owners’ children. Since slave owners had a large
financial investment in slaves, they were concerned about their property and therefore some treated their
slaves comparatively well, while others were brutal. Although the treatment of slaves might vary from
one owner to another, slaves were consistently denied their freedom and forced to work long hours..
Slaves had little time to tend to their own families or to the plots that owners might allow them to
cultivate for their own food. They were provided with a minimum of food, clothing, and shelter. Since
the law did not recognize slave marriages, families were often separated through sale because of changes
in the slave owner’s family or finances. The law also forbade teaching a slave to read and write.
Slaves lived in small cabins with dirt floors not far from the Big House so they could remain under the
watchful eye of the master. Slaves were constantly monitored to ensure that they did not run away. If
they left the plantation, they had to carry a pass. Patrollers roamed the roads on constant watch for
escaping slaves. Runaways were pursued and punished harshly when they were captured. Although there
were a few slave revolts, the great majority of slaves were forced to confine their protests to work slow
downs, surreptitious destruction of the master’s property, and feigned illnesses. Although slaves were
often separated from family members through sale, they created extended family ties and found some
solace in religion. African Americans converted to Christianity and attended the white controlled church
where they heard the preacher tell them that they should be content with their place in the world.
However, in secret prayer meetings and in their spirituals, they placed a strong emphasis on freedom.
The Plantation system dominated South Carolina society and politics. The strict class system in South
Carolina was based on slavery. The planter elite enjoyed great wealth, social position and political
influence as a result of their dependence on slave labor. But plantation life for the slave owners was also
hard work. Most goods were produced on the plantation and both the master and the mistress had
responsibilities for making the plantation work. Sometimes overseers would be hired but all business
decisions including the marketing of the crops and the managing of the slave population was the
responsibility of the master. The mistress oversaw the running of the house and sometimes cared for slaves
when they were sick. Such actions led southerners to justify slavery as a ‘positive good.’ However, a
system that rested on force required constant vigilance. Slave owners lived in constant fear that their slaves
would rise up against them. These fears were fanned by the Denmark Vesey plot uncovered in Charleston.
Unlike the Stono rebellion, this plot never materialized but, like the Stono Rebellion, it also led to stricter
control over slaves and free blacks.
It is not essential for students to know:
Students do not need to know specific plantation names or numbers of slaves held or profit generated at
these plantations.
Assessment guidelines:
Appropriate assessments would require students to explain the importance of agriculture and plantation life
in antebellum South Carolina. Students should able to explain the impact of the cotton gin on the institution
of slavery. They should be able to compare the impact that slavery had on the planters and on the slaves.
What did this teach us?
• That countless revisions were
necessary in order to match practiced
curriculum, instruction, and
assessment with what was prescribed.
• That the Enhanced Support Document
(bridge building) is needed, as its
creation process revealed
unintentional gaps in teaching that
could be corrected.
• That further guidelines for actual test
construction/use would also be
helpful.
What should our own multiple
choice test items look like?
Use test items developed by the state as a
model.
Go to the released items on the SCDE
website!
Grade 3
Standard 3-2:
The student will demonstrate an understanding of
the exploration and settlement of South Carolina
and the United States.
Indicator 3-2.4:
Compare the culture, governance, and geographic
location of different Native American nations in
South Carolina, including the three principal nations
– Cherokee, Catawba, and Yemassee – that
influenced the development of colonial South
Carolina.
How were Native American tribes in
South Carolina most alike when
European settlers first arrived?
A. They used gold to trade for 23%
goods.
B.
Their religious beliefs were
based on nature.
34%
C.
They used the ocean to get
most of their food.
25%
D.
Their governments were
based on written laws.
18%
Grade 3
Standard 3-4:
The student will demonstrate an understanding of
the events that let to the Civil War, the course of the
War and Reconstruction, and South Carolina’s role in
these events.
Indicator 3-4.5:
Summarize the effects of the Civil War on the daily
lives of people of different classes in South Carolina,
including the lack of food, clothing, and living
essentials and the continuing racial tensions.
What did most slaves in South Carolina
do during the Civil War?
A.
They stayed on plantations.
19%
B.
They escaped to Northern
states.
45%
C.
They revolted against their
owners.
14%
D.
They fought in the
Confederate army.
22%
Grade 4
Standard 4-2:
The student will demonstrate an understanding of
the settlement of North America by Native
Americans, Europeans, and African Americans and
the interactions among these people.
Indicator 4-2.3:
Identify the English, Spanish, and French colonies in
North America and summarize the motivations for
the settlement of these colonies, including freedom
of worship, and economic opportunity.
Which country colonized
most of the land between
the Atlantic coast and the
Appalachian Mountains?
A.
Portugal
12%
B.
Spain
26%
C.
France
18%
D.
England
44%
Grade 5
Standard 5-4:
The student will demonstrate an understanding of
the economic boom-and-bust in America in the
1920s and 1930s, its resultant political instability,
and the subsequent worldwide response.
Indicator 5-4.4:
Explain the principal events related to the United
States’ involvement in World War II – including the
bombing of Pearl Harbor, the invasion in Normandy,
Pacific island hopping, the bombing of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki – and the role of key figures in this
involvement such as Winston Churchill, Franklin D.
Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin, and Adolf Hitler.
In World War II, how were the German
and Soviet governments alike?
A.
They were communist.
36%
B.
They were dictatorships.
31%
C.
They declared war on
Japan.
15%
D.
They declared war on the 18%
United States.
Grade 5
Standard 5-3:
The student will demonstrate an understanding of
major domestic and foreign developments that
contributed to the United States’ becoming a world
power.
Indicator 5-3.4:
Summarize the significance of large-scale
immigration and the contributions of immigrants to
America in the early 1900s, including the countries
from which they came, the opportunities and
resistance they faced when they arrived, and the
cultural and economic contributions they made to
this nation.
A transatlantic ship entering New
York harbor in the 1920s most
likely carried the largest number of
immigrants from which country?
A.
Ireland
23%
B.
Canada
11%
C.
China
42%
D.
Italy
24%
Grade 6
Standard 6-2:
The student will demonstrate an understanding of life in
ancient classical civilizations and their contributions to
the modern world.
Indicator 6-2.1:
Compare the origins, founding leaders, basic principles,
and diffusion of major religions and philosophies as
they emerged and expanded, including Judaism,
Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism,
and Taoism.
Secondary alignment to Indicator 6-4.5:
Summarize the characteristics of the Islamic civilization and the
geographic aspects of its expansion.
To which region did the Islamic
religion first spread after the death
of its founder, Muhammad, in A.D.
632?
A.
Australia
06%
B.
Northern Africa
42%
C.
America
06%
D.
Western Europe
46%
Grade 6
Standard 6-2:
The student will demonstrate an understanding of life
in ancient classical civilizations and their contributions
to the modern world.
Indicator 6-2.2:
Summarize the significant political and cultural
features of the classical Greek civilization, including
the concept of citizenship and the early forms of
democratic government in Athens; the role of
Alexander the Great as a political and military leader;
and the contributions of Socrates, Plato, Archimedes,
Aristotle, and others in philosophy, architecture,
literature, the arts, science, and mathematics.
Use the picture to answer the question.
Where are the ancient ruins shown in the
picture most likely located?
A. on a hilltop in Greece
73%
B. along the Nile River in Egypt
10%
C. in the Andes Mountains in Peru
07%
D. along the Tigris River in Mesopotamia 10%
Grade 7
Standard 7-3:
The student will demonstrate an understanding of
political, social, and economic upheavals that
occurred throughout the world during the age of
revolution, from 1770 through 1848.
Indicator 7-3.2:
Explain the causes, key ideas, and effects of the
French Revolution, including the influence of ideas
from the American Revolution and the Enlightenment
and ways that the Revolution changed social
conditions in France and the rest of Europe.
What was one cause of the French
Revolution of 1789?
A. Louis XVI forced the citizens of France 20%
to serve in the army.
B. Napoleon Bonaparte declared himself 33%
France’s emperor.
C. A small percent of France’s population 19%
owned most of the land.
D. France’s government passed laws to
restrict religious freedoms.
28%
For more
information,
look on the
Web!
Indicator 6.2: Explain the influence of the SpanishAmerican War on the emergence of the United States as a
world power, including reasons for America’s declaring war
on Spain, United States interests and expansion in the
South Pacific, debates between pro- and anti-imperialists
over annexation of the Philippines, and changing worldwide
perceptions of the United States.
How did the results of the Spanish American War affect the
expansion of the United States?
A.
The war ended U.S. expansion because
of the extraordinary costs of the war.
14%
B.
The war allowed the United States to
acquire the Texas territory.
54%
C.
The war led to increased U.S. expansion
into South America.
14%
D.
The war gave the United States
territories in the South Pacific.
18%
Develop Your Own Items
Questions on a multiple-choice test
should
• be short.
• be written as a question and end
with a question mark (?).
• have the omission at the end of the
stem for incomplete statements.
Develop Your Own Items
• have the options – distractors and
correct answer -- arranged in a
logical order (e.g., alphabetically,
numerically, chronologically, short
to long).
• offer three or more options per
item.
Multiple-Choice Items should
• have distractors that do not overlap.
• rarely include multiple options, “none-of-the
above” options, or “all-of-the-above” options and
then only if items do not include “best” in the
stem.
• not be negative, asking students to chose the
incorrect answer (using “except”) or think in a
way contrary to the way they typically do.
Items for a multiple-choice test should have
appropriate punctuation.
Incomplete Sentence
A lower case letter begins each option, except where
proper nouns are present.
Use punctuation at the end of each option.
Make sure options are parallel in form.
Items for a multiple-choice test should have
appropriate punctuation.
Question Format (most respected, used by the SCDE)
Punctuate the end of the stem with a question mark (?).
A lower case letter begins each option, except where
proper nouns are present.
Do not use punctuation at the end of each option.
Make sure options are parallel in form.
Multiple-Choice Items should
• not have patterns in correct
answers (e.g., AABBCC).
• not include repetition of words in
the stem and the correct
response.
Multiple-Choice Items should
• not contain exact wording in the
textbook; otherwise the question is
a knowledge level item.
• not provide answers to other
questions.
Multiple-Choice Items should
• not provide clues involving grammar
(e.g., plural vs. singular stem noun
markers), qualifiers (e.g., all, none), or
lengthy choice options.
• not contain unnecessary information
in the stem or alternatives.
To Summarize
• The item relates directly to a specific standard.
• The item matches the rigor of the specific
standard.
• The stem is a direct question or an incomplete
statement; the wording is simple and clear.
• Information in the stem does not cue the answer.
To Summarize continued
• The position of the answer is varied; short to
long options and “abc” order are used
• Each option is believable to a student who lacks
knowledge of the topic.
• Each option is independent and mutually
exclusive of other options.
• Options are parallel in language structure,
grammar, and appearance.
To Summarize continued
• Options are equal or nearly equal length.
• Options avoid repeated words that are better
suited in the stem.
• Wordy stems and options are avoided.
• Negative questions are not used.
• The use of “all of the above” and “none of the
above” is rare and with extreme care.
Questions? Concerns?
Please
utilize the
resources
on the
SCDE
website!
And contact us!!!
For Social Studies assessment information, contact:
Leslie W. Skinner, Ph.D., NBCT
803-734-8532
[email protected]
For Social Studies curriculum information, contact:
Lewis Huffman
803-734-0322 [email protected]
Chanda Robinson
803-734-8537 [email protected]