Chief Instructional Leaders Title I Fall Conference

October 5, 2010 Waterfront Place Morgantown, WV

Balanced Assessment: What Is It? Do You Have It?

Monica Beane

Office of Instruction

Lisa Youell

Office of Title II, III and School System Improvement

Assessment Literacy

We need to provide the language and the tools to administrators, teachers and students so they can communicate accurately about assessment.

Assessment Literacy

Brooke Godbey Second Grade Student Poca Elementary School Putnam County

In an Effective School System…

Continuous (Formative) Classroom Assessment For Learning Classroom Level Users (Students, Teachers and Parents) Common Formative Assessments Content Level Users Job-Alike Collaborative Teacher Teams Periodic Benchmark Assessments Program Level Users

(Teacher Teams and School Leaders)

Annual Accountability Testing

(State Summative Test)

Institutional/Policy Users

(School, District and State Leadership)

Page 11

Critical Questions

• • •

What is the primary aim of assessment?

Who will use the information gathered?

What decisions will they make?

Primary Aim of Assessment

The primary purpose of assessment is not to rate, rank and sort students, but to provide meaningful feedback that informs decisions.

A Balanced Assessment System

• •

Assessment of Learning Summative Assessment

– An event after learning

Benchmark Assessment

– An event after learning • •

Assessment for Learning Formative Assessment

– A process during learning

Classroom Assessment For Learning

– A process during learning

A Balanced Approach

“Teachers involve their students in classroom assessment, record-keeping, and communication during learning. But, when it’s time for students to be accountable for what they have learned, the teacher takes the lead in conducting assessments OF learning.” -Richard J. Stiggins

Formative

or

Summative

• It isn’t the method of assessment that tells us whether it is an assessment

of

learning (summative) or assessment

for

learning (formative) . Many assessment methods – tests, quizzes, performance tasks, writing essays and data gathered through observation of skills and product - can be used either way. How the results are used tells us if the assessment is of or for learning.

Summative Assessment (Assessment OF Learning) • • Summative assessment is the attempt to summarize student learning at some point in time.

Summative assessments are not designed to give feedback useful to teachers and students during the learning process.

News

Formative Assessment (Assessment FOR Learning) All those strategies undertaken by teachers and by their students [that] provide information to be used as feedback to modify the teaching and learning activities in which they are engaged.

Black & Wiliam, 1998

Advice

Assessment OF and FOR Learning

• • •

Sort Activity: Assessment for Learning Assessment of Learning Not Sure

Authentic Request

Email: “What do you recommend using for formative assessment? We have STAR math in all of our high schools, but am not sure that it has the capabilities of doing what we want it to do. We want a formative assessment for each 6 or 9 weeks. Do you know of a tool that other counties are using that is effective. Or are they all using Acuity?” • • • • What is the core issue?

Where is the teacher looking for answers?

What questions would you ask?

What suggestions would you give?

Reflection

1. Can you explain the key differences in summative, benchmark, formative and classroom assessment for learning?

2. Can you provide examples of each?

3. Can you explain how the results of each type of assessment should be used?

4. How will you use this information in your work?

Formative Assessment Strategy: Laundry Day

Clean Up Any Misunderstandings

Tide

Select this if you believe the tidal wave of information might drown you.

Gain

Select this if you understand the basics of the concepts taught, but are missing some of the nuances or finer details.

Bold

Select this if you are fairly confident you have mastered the learning targets but still have a few lingering questions.

Cheer

Select this if you are certain you will be successful on the summative assessment

Self-Assessment Tool

This self-assessment outlines significant commonalities among the practices of the leaders and professional staff in high performing schools—collaborative processes and assessment practices that produce quality results for student learning.

This self-assessment can help each school gauge where it functions on the continuum of implementation.

Ink Think

What is a Balanced Assessment System?

Four Areas of Assessment

• Classroom Assessment for Learning • Common Formative Assessment • Benchmark Assessment • Summative Assessment

Individual Reflection: Ink Think • Focus your thinking on these 4 areas of assessment.

• Jot down preliminary responses for what each means to you, and how each is important in supporting student learning to raise student achievement.

• Work silently.

• Be prepared to record your responses on wall charts when directed.

Prepare for Ink Think

• Number off from 1-4.

• Re-group with others who have your same number at the paper that corresponds to your number.

Ink Think

• For your assigned area,

silently

create a mindmap with others in your group. Add to the ideas that others post as well as creating your own.

Move in a Clockwise Direction • Continue using your group’s marker color. Read through the ideas generated by the previous group(s). • Add to them; provide examples; continue to expand.

Ink Think: Making Meaning • Return to your original chart.

• Read through all of the ideas; Identify 3-4 dominant ideas that emerge • Be prepared to share with the large group

Questions?