- develop a deeper understanding
- summative vs formative
How do you assess students in your classroom?
- clickers
- observation notes
- standardized tests
- whiteboards
- CFAs
- Chapter tests
Teachers are constantly assessing. Many tests are not formal
Assess:
- means to "sit with"
- in assessment one is supposed to sit with the learner.
- the process of gathering, interpreting, recording, and using informatin about pupils' reponses to and educational task.
Values and Attitudes about Assessment
- teachers value and believe in students
- sharing learning goals with the students
- involving students in self assessment (most successful way to get students to improve their scores)
- providing feedback that helps students recognize their next steps and how to take them (second most successful way to get students to improve their scores.)
- being confident that every students can improve
- providing students with examples of what we expect from them
The State of Assessment
- "A wealth of research - a poverty of practice." (Black and William, 1998)
- A shift from "teaching" to "learning"
- Confusion of terms and conditions
- evaluation -
- assessment
- pre-assessment
- formative
- summative
Assessment Process
- Pre-assessment
- to determine what students know
- determine flexible grouping patterns and should be used regularly
- Pre-assessment strategies
- checklist
- pre-test
- kwl charts
- graphic organizers
- student discussions
- student work samples
- teacher observation
- formative and summative assessments are interconnected.
- the vast majority of genuine formative assessments are informal
- formative assessment has the greatest impact on learning and achievement
- Formative Assessment
- assessment for learning
- taken at varying intervals throughout a course to provide information and feedback that will help improve
- the quality of student learning
- the quality of the course itself
- provides information on what an individual student needs
- to practice
- to have re-taught
- to learn next
- ".....learner centered, teacher directed, mutually beneficial, formative, context-specific, ongoing, and firmly rooted in good practice" (Angelo and Cross, 1993)
- Formative Assessment Strategies
- conference
- demonstrations
- exit cards
- I learned statements (I can statements)
- interviews
- journal entries
- kwls
- learning logs
- peer evaluations
- problem solving activities
- quiz
- response groups
- self-evaluations
- Summative Assessment
- assessment of learning
- generally taken by students at the end of a unit or semester to demonstrate the sum of what they have or have not learned
- summative assessment methods are the most traditional way of evaluation student work
- good summative assessments -- tests and other graded evaluations -- must be demonstrably reliable, valid and free of bias
- Summative Assessment Strategies
- Unit tests
- performance task
- product/exhibit
- demonstration
- portfolio review
Factors Inhibiting Assessment
- a tendency for teachers to assess quantity and presentation of work rather than quality of learning
- greater attention given to marking and grading, much of it tending to lower self esteem of students, rather than providing advice for improvement
- a strong emphasis on comparing students with each other, which demoralizes the less successful learners
Self - evaluation
- Where would you place your assessment practice on the following continuum
quantity or work/presentation <------------------------------------------------------------->quality of learning
marking/grading <-------------------------------------------------------------------------> advice for improvement
comparing students <--------------------------------------------------------------> identifying individual progress
Classroom Assessments
- Some teachers talk about learning while Some teachers talk about grades
- Can these co-exist peacefully?
- if you are focused on learning and select your grading scale carefully, your grading can become a reflection of your learning
- Should one receive emphasis over the other?
Math Endorsement Materials (article is found on this wikispace)
- read the article
- what is the role of the CFA in your classroom
- Respond to this statement: "A CFA is formative so much as the teacher uses the information to inform instructional decisions. (Example: the teacher reteaches misunderstood concepts.) If a teacher chooses to not take any instructional action based on student performance on a given CFA, that test then becomes summative"
- Who or what resources do I have available to me if I have any concerns or questions as I implement a balanced math "assessment toolkit"?
A Balanced Assessment System
- Screening assessments
- diagnostic assessments
- formative assessment - assessment for learning
- summative assessment - assessment of learning
- classroom
- standardized
Which stakeholder group currently makes the best use of assessment information?
- teachers
- screening assessments (example: CBM)
- determine interventions and what students
- progress monitoring
- diagnostic assessments
- highlight problems
- to find holes in learning
- formative assessments
- to decide what to teach and how to teach
- summative assessments
- for a grade, to determine mastery
- standardized tests
- some send it on, or don't look at it
- some preview student scores at beginning of year
- some improve instruction
- students
- screening assessments
- comparison to other students
- formative assessments
- demonstrate what they are learning to teacher
- summative assessments
- they compare
- they feel good or bad
- standardized tests
- they don't
- administrators
- screening assessments
- school-wide interventions
- diagnostic assessments
- where to put the resources
- where to spend the money
- what teachers need support
- formative assessments (don't have much say in this)
- if involved in PLC can help teachers fill those holes
- summative assessments (not applicable)
- standardized tests
- AYP
- parents
- screening assessments
- how can they help students improve learning at home
- support student at home
- diagnostic assessments
- how can they help students improve learning at home
- formative assessments
- parents can see student progress, and areas of improvement that they can support at home
- summative assessments
- to see their student has learned a concept
- standardized assessments
- look at scores when deciding what school to send their students to
- community
- screening assessments (don't see these scores)
- diagnostic assessments (don't see these scores)
- formative assessments (don't see these scores)
- summative assessments (don't see/use these scores)
- standardized assessments
- legislatures use it to say how well our state is doing
What type of assessment methods can be used?
- selected or closed response
- multiple choice, matching, fill in the blank....etc
- extended written or open response
- short answer
- performance assessments
- students are given a situation, a practical application
- forced to produce something
- term essays
- projects
- example: science fair project
- personal communication
- journaling
- reflections
- learning logs
- personal interaction with student (in person and/or responding to their logs)
Homework
Read the article, Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment, by Black and Wiliam in preparation for next week’s class.
