Pre-Conference Workshop – June 2007 BUILDING A NATIONAL TEAM: Theatre Education Assessment Models Robert A. Southworth

1. Pre-Conference Workshop – June 2007 BUILDING A NATIONAL TEAM: Theatre Education Assessment Models Robert A. Southworth, Jr., Ed.D. TCG Assessment Models Website: www.TCG.ORG/tools/education/teams/TEAMindex.cfm

2. National Conversation • NEED: How do theatres know they are being effective in their educational programming? • GOAL: Think creatively about the use of assessment • SOLUTION: National models are conversation vehicles

3. New Forms of Assessment • Assessment is the process of judging the educational value of student work • Authentic assessment is the process of setting up tests that are more like "real-life” • Performance assessments are forms of testing designed to get students to demonstrate their learning through extended tasks and projects

4. Assessment Drives Learning • Clarify the learning you value • Create assessments that reveal that learning • Use the results to improve learning • Change assessment to drive the process

5. Example of “Test” Process Assignment: Read King Lear Assessment: Answer a multiple-choice test Result: • Good learning = student recall • Knowing = memorizing • Teaching = coverage of material • Memorizing = smart • Value = “We love it when students know the play backwards and forwards”

6. Example of a “Performance Assessment Task” Process Assignment: Read King Lear Assessment: Rewrite the ending Result: • Good Learning = rewriting • Knowing = understanding • Teaching = helping students show their learning • Smart = Insight • Value = “We love it when students understand and can take a personal viewpoint”

7. T.E.A.M. • Theatre Education Assessment Models • Models are complex prototypes • Physical models aid discussion • Models are transportable to theatres • Education Directors improve learning

8. Aligning Assessments • Review theatre mission statement • Align education department program with mission • Derive your learning goals • Construct objectives • Assess what you value

9. Education Programs • Align program goals with school standards • Set criteria for success of what you value • Create benchmark examples of student success • Handout examples at beginning for clarity

10. Four Models for Performance Assessments

11. I. OBSERVATION Model

12. What is an OBSERVATION?An observation is an informal visual assessment of student learning. • What is an OBSERVATION's objective?To help the teacher see student learning in order to check on the effectiveness of instruction, to change instruction, and/or to assess student learning. • What does a good OBSERVATION accomplish?Provides immediate feedback to a teacher about student learning.

13. Choose the “Observation” assessment when you want to… • See some but not all individual work • Check on the general progress of a group on a task • Look in depth at one student's work • Document one student's progress over time

14. “Observation” Demographic Information • Assessment type: e.g., "Observation" • Name of Observer • Student name or alias • Theatre name and address • Name of education program • School / Teacher / Teaching Artist • Grade and section of student(s) • Date of assessment use and version

15. Standardized “Observation” Protocol • Use precise language on what to observe • Either count the number of times the item is observed, OR, • Within a given 5-10 minute time frame, how often does it occur?

16. Open-ended “Observation” Questions • At top of paper write open-ended question, e.g., “How does the student rehearse?” • Draw a line down the middle of your paper • In the left column put the time, or the activity • In the right column, write observations

17. Increasing “Observation” Validity • Match your observations to what really happens • Write using language that describes what you see • Reflect on the accuracy of what you see • Pilot the instrument and Improve it

18. Increasing “Observation” Reliability • Ask others to read your observations • Can they see what you see? • Ask others to observe with you • Change and improve your instrument • Pilot the instrument in other classrooms

19. Increasing “Observation” Rigor • Observe things you can see • Lower the number of inferences • Use another observer • Observe over time

20. II. SURVEY Model

21. What is a SURVEY?"A survey is a system for collecting information from or about other people to describe, compare, or explain their knowledge, attitudes, and behavior" (Fink, 2003). • What is a SURVEY's objective?A survey's objective is to answer essential questions by asking for the opinion of a group of students or a group of audience members. • What is a good SURVEY question?A good survey question uses specific questions framed as complete sentences that are logically connected to the survey's objectives.

22. Open-ended “Survey” Questions • Place them at the end of the survey • Use them to get at non-standardized thinking • Put lines in to make writing more clear • Limit answer space to five lines • Consider placing them on back of survey

23. Increasing “Survey” Validity • Pilot the survey • After piloting, ask for feedback from respondents • Change the survey if they are unclear or confused • Analyze the answers and where they cluster • Change or rework the Likert Scale for clarity in answers • Change and improve your instrument over time

24. III. PERFORMANCE TASK Model

25. What is a PERFORMANCE TASK?A performance task requires a student to create, manipulate or rework intellectual academic content in a practical and authentic performance that demonstrates student learning. • What is a PERFORMANCE TASK's objective?To help the teacher see tangible evidence of student learning progress toward the level of standards for what students should know and be able to do. • What does a PERFORMANCE TASK accomplish?Provides immediate, tangible, and practical demonstration of student learning.

26. Choose the “Performance Task” assessment when you want to… • Create a common performance assessment • Extend the learning into an authentic real-life task • Give students practice demonstrating their learning • See tangible evidence of student learning • Judge student learning through a rubric of what they know and can do

27. IV. PORTFOLIO Model

28. What is a PORTFOLIO?Portfolios are collections of student work representing a selection of performance. • What is a PORTFOLIO's objective?Portfolios are useful as a support to the new instructional objectives that emphasize the student's role in constructing understanding and the teacher's role in promoting understanding. • What does a good PORTFOLIO accomplish?A portfolio accomplishes the documentation of student achievement by containing a student's best pieces and the student's evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the pieces.

29. Choose the “Portfolio” assessment when you want to… • Create a common or standardized assessment • Check on progress of a student and their work • See progress over time, e.g., pre, mid and post • See progress from drafts to final product • Document student learning

30. RUBRICS

31. Use Rubrics to Establish Common Language of Standards

32. Data: Continuous Feedback • Discuss rubrics at the beginning of performance task • Refer back to rubrics for non-judgmental clarity • If needed, increase rubric use; decrease assignment length • Multiple short tasks reveal more about student learning • Multiple short tasks promote more time for feedback

33. Use Your Data To: • Advance student accountability for achieving standards • Improve teacher instruction • Enhance conversation about effectiveness of theatre education programming • Ground outcomes in tangible numbers: e.g., 86% of students meet standards • Strengthen theatre education community values

34. Transportable Assessment Ideas

35. Design assessment to assess what you value • Choose models that show evidence of student learning • Require every student to achieve goals and standards • Embed assessment so that it is practical and clarifying • Use rubrics of what students will know and be able to do • Give frequent non-judgmental feedback and increase rigor • Use assessment data to learn how to improve

36. Thank You for Joining Our Conversation!