Transcript Talk About Assessment: Eight Big Ideas NESA Spring Educators Conference Keynote

Talk About Assessment: Eight Big Ideas
to Improve Learning for All Students
NESA Spring Educators Conference
Keynote
April 5, 2011
Damian Cooper
(905) 823-6298
[email protected]
Session Outcomes
Understand how the purposes of
assessment and grading are changing
 Learn about 8 Big Ideas that should
guide our practices
 Explore assessment strategies related
to the Big Ideas in the context of our
own schools and classrooms
 Begin to develop a plan to improve our
own practices

Why, in 2011,
are we reexamining our
assessment
beliefs and
practices?
Mission: to sift and sort students
Mean
Mission: excellence from ALL
Range of Competent
Achievement
If the new goal of education is success for
all, then we have no choice but to
Differentiate Instruction & Assessment



Instruction
Students bring different
knowledge &
experience to school
Students learn at
different rates
Students learn in
different ways



Assessment
Not all students are
able to demonstrate
their learning in the
same way
Not all students
respond the same way
to test pressure
Some students need
more scaffolding than
others
Research on Effective Assessment
•The provision of effective feedback to students
•The active involvement of students in their own
learning
•Adjusting teaching to take account of the results of
assessment
•Recognition of the profound influence assessment
has on motivation and self-esteem
•The need for students to be able to assess
themselves and understand how to improve
Crooks, 1988; Black & Wiliam, 1998
The Big Ideas of Classroom
Assessment
1. Assessment serves different purposes at different times: it
may be used to find out what students already know and
can do; it may be used to help students improve their
learning; or it may be used to let students, and their
parents, know how much they have learned within a
prescribed period of time.
2. Assessment must be planned and purposeful.
3. Assessment must be balanced, including oral and
performance as well as written tasks, and be flexible in
order to improve learning for all students.
The Big Ideas of Classroom
Assessment
4. Assessment and instruction are inseparable because
effective assessment informs learning.
5. For assessment to be helpful to students, it must inform
them in words, not numerical scores or letter grades,
what they have done well, what they have done poorly,
and what they need to do next in order to improve.
6. Assessment is a collaborative process that is most
effective when it involves self, peer, and teacher
assessment.
The Big Ideas of Classroom
Assessment
7. Performance standards are an essential component of
effective assessment.
8.
Grading and reporting student achievement is a caring,
sensitive process that requires teachers’ professional
judgement.
The Big Ideas of Classroom
Assessment
1. Assessment serves different purposes at
different times: it may be used to find out
what students already know and can do; it
may be used to help students improve their
learning; or it may be used to let students,
and their parents, know how much they
have learned within a prescribed period of
time.
Assessment for Learning
“Assessment for learning is
any assessment for which the
first priority in its design and
practice is to serve the purpose
of promoting students’
learning. It thus differs from
assessment designed primarily
to serve the purposes of
accountability, or of ranking,
or of certifying competence.”
Black, Wiliam et al. 2004
Assessment of Learning
“Assessment of learning
includes those tasks that are
designed to determine how
much learning has occurred
after a significant period of
instruction. The data from
such assessments is often
used to determine report
card grades.
The Big Ideas of Classroom
Assessment
2. Assessment must be planned and
purposeful.
“Backward Design” Program
Planning
Stage 1: Identify targeted understandings
Stage 2: Determine appropriate assessment
of those understandings
Stage 3: Plan learning experiences and
instruction that make such
understanding possible
Wiggins and McTighe, Understanding by Design
Plan Backward from What’s Essential…
Worth being
familiar with
Important to
know and do
Enduring
understandings
Wiggins and McTighe,
Understanding by Design
Grade 4 – Pulleys and Gears
Sample learning outcomes:

Describe how rotary motion in one system is
transferred to rotary motion in another

Describe how gears operate in one plane(e.g.
spur gears, idle gears) and in two planes (e.g.
crown, bevel, or worm gears)

Why do we need pulleys and gears?
Topics Compared to Essential Questions
Consider how these “topics” differ from the corresponding INTU questions:
Topic
INTU…
Testing Consumer Products on Animals
I need to understand both sides of the
debate concerning whether it is right to test
consumer products on animals.
Video Gaming
I need to understand whether video gaming
is helpful or harmful to learning for
teenagers.
Downloading Music
I need to understand the arguments for and
against downloading music made by
consumers, record companies and artists.
The Big Ideas of Classroom
Assessment
3. Assessment must be balanced, including
oral and performance as well as written
tasks, and be flexible in order to improve
learning for all students.
Plan Backward from What’s Essential…
Worth being
familiar with
Assessment Types
Traditional quizzes & tests
-paper/pencil
Important to
know and do
Performance Tasks & Projects
-open-ended
-complex
Enduring
understandings
-authentic
Oral Assessments
-conferences
-interviews
Adapted from Wiggins and McTighe,
Understanding by Design
-oral questionning
Triangulation of Data:
Classroom Assessment
Performance task
Valid & Reliable
Picture of Student
Achievement
Written test data
Oral defense/
conference
You Need to Ensure a Balance of
Assessment Types

Students: write, do or say

Teachers: mark, observe or listen

Authenticity is key –
change a book report
into a book review!
The Big Ideas of Classroom
Assessment
4. Assessment and instruction are
inseparable because effective assessment
informs learning.
The “zone of proximal development”
Lev Vygotsky
What do students currently know and
what can students currently do?
 Where do I want them to get to?
 How big is the gap?
 How do I ensure the gap is just right to
challenge students in a way that
maximizes learning?

Differentiating Instruction
To develop skills, simplify the content
e.g. Simpler texts, less depth/breadth,
etc.
 To master content, present using a
different mode suited to student’s
strengths e.g. Graphics, audio, video,
manipulatives, etc.

Differentiating Assessment

Content standards:
learning outcomes

Must be within
student’s “ZPD”

Performance standards:
rubrics/checklists

Keep consistent for all
students

Student products &
performances

May be adapted to be
within student’s “ZPD”

Assessment conditions
Reporting to Parents

Grade level at which
student is working


Achievement level at
which student is
performing

Rubric levels

Anecdotal comments

Degree of support
provided
Learning outcomes
(incl. IEP ref. if applicable)
The Big Ideas of Classroom
Assessment
5. For assessment to be helpful
to students, it must inform
them in words, not numerical
scores or letter grades, what
they have done well, what
they have done poorly, and
what they need to do next in
order to improve.
When the classroom culture focuses on
rewards, gold stars, grades, or class ranking,
then (students) look for ways to obtain the best
marks rather than to improve their learning.
One reported consequence is that, when they
have any choice, (students) avoid difficult
tasks. They also spend time and energy
looking for clues to the “right answer”.
“Inside the Black Box”, Black & Wiliam, 1998
“…assessment which is explicitly designed
to promote learning is the single most
powerful tool we have for both raising
standards and empowering lifelong
learners.”
Assessment for Learning: Beyond the Black Box, 1999,
University of Cambridge School of Education
The Big Ideas of Classroom
Assessment
6. Assessment is a collaborative process that
is most effective when it involves self,
peer, and teacher assessment.
Math Class
Pete has his students use “Traffic Light” signs at
the start of a lesson on equivalent fractions,
decimals and percentages to assess prior
knowledge.
Teacher: Do you know what the word “equivalent”
means?
Students show either the red or green side of the
“traffic light” in response.
He orally checks a sample of the “green”
responses to see if they do, in fact, understand the
term.
Self and Peer Assessment


Assessment for learning ONLY
Requires training
and modelling

Focus assessment
on what was taught

Begin with short sessions

Needs to be part of your routine
The Big Ideas of Classroom
Assessment
7. Performance standards
are an essential
component of effective
assessment.
Most students can hit the
target if they can see it
clearly and it stays still for
them.
Rick Stiggins
Clear Targets
Clarity of curriculum standards
 High quality assessment tasks
 Rubrics to describe what quality looks
like
 Anchors to show students what quality
looks like
 Checklists to enable students to monitor
their own progress

The Big Ideas of Classroom
Assessment
8. Grading and reporting student
achievement is a caring, sensitive process
that requires teachers’ professional
judgement.
Grading involves summarizing a
large amount of assessment of
learning data into a single letter
or numerical score….it has little
to do with teaching and learning!
How much evidence is “enough”
for reporting?
In other words…
How do we ensure that the body
of evidence selected for
evaluation and reporting in a
given subject or course is a valid
sample?
What are the requirements of
a “valid sample”?

No diagnostic evidence

Includes a variety of
modes to allow for
differences in learning
style (write, do, say)

Includes multiple
(3+)pieces of evidence
for each learning cluster

Provides evidence of
the essential learning in
the subject

Tasks represent
polished work:
– Not practices or early
tries
– Feedback has occurred
previously and been
implemented
How do I currently try to ensure
that students complete the set of
assessment tasks that comprise
evidence of essential learning?
Guidelines for Ensuring that Critical Tasks are
Completed




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identify for students and parents the tasks
that are essential as proof of learning
operate on the understanding that all of these
must be completed to meet the requirements
of the subject or course
timelines for completion of these tasks must
be communicated to students and parents to
facilitate students’ and teacher’s workload
conduct frequent “process” checks
provide plenty of in-class time to work on
essential tasks
Guidelines for Ensuring that Critical Tasks are
Completed

identify strategies for addressing noncompletion of essential tasks: e.g.
-completion contract
-supervised learning centre
-”Recovery Week” & “Just Do It!”
 have a school-wide policy concerning interim
and final grade determination: e.g.
-use “Incomplete” on interim report card
-consistency regarding what “Incomplete”
becomes on the final report card
Reporting Student Achievement
Given that it’s a crude summary of lots of
information, what do we want the report
card grade to represent?
The recent trend in
a student’s
achievement.
Report Card Comments…


Purpose:
• strengths, weaknesses, next steps
• invitation to further discussion
Audience: non-educators
 Focus on quality of work, not personality
of student.
 Differentiate between achievement
issues and behavioural issues.
Communicating with Parents…

When describing achievement, reference
appropriate standards:
– NOT other students
– NOT siblings
– Provincial achievement standards

Avoid all labelling of students: there are NO
“A” students or “Level 4” students, only “A”
performances and “Level 4” performances.
Commitment to Action

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Spend a few moments reflecting on the 8 Big
Ideas of Assessment ….
What was your most significant learning?
What specific actions do you plan to take
immediately and/or between now and June 2011?
What results would you like to see from these
actions?
How will you assess the effectiveness of these
actions?
50
Suggested Reading
1. Black, Paul and Wiliam, Dylan. “Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards
Through Classroom Assessment”, Phi Delta Kappan, October, 1998
A seminal article on the value of formative assessment that summarizes
effective assessment practices as described in 250 studies in the UK, the US,
Australia, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Africa.
2. Cooper, Damian. Talk About Assessment: Strategies and Tools to Improve
Teaching and Learning, Nelson Education, 2007.
3. Cooper, Damian. Talk About Assessment: High School Strategies and Tools,
Nelson Education, 2010
4.
Davies, Anne. Making Classroom Assessment Work, Connections Publishing,
2000
A short and very useful overview of the basics of assessment in today’s
classrooms, with particular relevance to elementary schools.
5. Marzano, Robert J. Transforming Classroom Grading, ASCD, 2000
An excellent examination of past and present trends in classroom grading
practice.
6. O’Connor, Ken. How to Grade for Learning 3rd. Edition, Skylight, 2009
A solid treatment of the grading dilemmas that arise in intermediate and senior
grades.
7. Stiggins. Richard. Classroom Assessment for Student Learning, Assessment
Training Institute, 2004.
An in-depth “textbook” for students of assessment, organized according to
principles of assessment, assessment methods, and communication.
8. Wiggins, Grant. Educative Assessment, Jossey Bass, 1998
A comprehensive publication from a true expert in the field, this work
provides all the background to Wiggins” approach to classroom assessment.
9. Wiggins, Grant and McTighe, Jay. Understanding By Design, ASCD, 1998
A concise and very readable guide to designing program from an assessment
point of view.